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The Life Of Galileo

**EDWARD D. ANDREWS** (AS in Criminal Justice, BS in Religion, MA in Biblical Studies, and MDiv in Theology) is CEO and President of Christian Publishing House. He has authored over 200+ books. In addition, Andrews is the Chief Translator of the Updated American Standard Version (UASV).

Galileo was born in Pisa in 1564 to a Florentine father. Initially, he studied medicine at the University of Pisa, but his passion for physics and mathematics led him to abandon medicine. In 1585, he left the university without obtaining any formal qualifications. Nonetheless, his talents in mathematics earned him the respect of renowned mathematicians of his time, eventually securing him a position as a mathematics lecturer at the University of Pisa.

After his father’s death, financial difficulties prompted Galileo to move to Padua, where he was appointed as the chair of mathematics at the University of Padua. During his 18-year tenure in Padua, he had three children with his mistress, a young Venetian woman. In 1610, Galileo returned to Florence, where he found a better economic situation that allowed him to dedicate more time to research. However, this came at the cost of the freedom he had previously enjoyed in the Venetian Republic’s territory.

The Grand Duke of Tuscany appointed Galileo as the “first philosopher and mathematician.” Unfortunately, his later years were marred by conflict with the Inquisition, which led to his condemnation and subsequent house arrest. Galileo passed away in Florence in 1642 while still under house arrest.

Galileo, Science, and Religion

Between the 14th and 16th centuries, European scientists and philosophers started to comprehend the universe in ways that contradicted the teachings of the Catholic Church. A significant figure in this paradigm shift was Galileo Galilei.

Before Galileo’s era, the widely accepted belief was that the sun, planets, and stars revolved around the Earth. This concept was part of the Catholic Church’s official doctrine. However, Galileo’s telescopic observations revealed evidence that challenged these prevailing scientific beliefs. For instance, he discovered that the sun rotates on an axis by observing the movement of sunspots across its surface. While these findings expanded human understanding of the universe, they also led to a direct conflict between Galileo and the Catholic Church.

In the realm of science and religion, Galileo’s decision to publicize his discoveries was preceded by the Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus, who proposed the theory that the Earth revolves around the sun. Galileo, after studying Copernicus’ work on celestial bodies’ movements, gathered evidence supporting the theory. Initially, he was hesitant to reveal some of his observations due to the fear of ridicule and derision. Eventually, though, he shared his findings with the public, provoking some scientists and causing clergymen to denounce him from their pulpits.

In 1616, Cardinal Bellarmine, a prominent theologian of the time, informed Galileo about a new Catholic decree condemning Copernican ideas. Bellarmine strongly advised Galileo to adhere to the decree, and for several years, Galileo refrained from publicly advocating the heliocentric theory. In 1623, when Pope Urban VIII, a friend of Galileo’s, ascended to power, Galileo requested that he revoke the 1616 decree. Instead, the pope encouraged Galileo to present Copernicus’ and Aristotle’s opposing theories in a neutral manner.

Subsequently, Galileo wrote a book titled Dialogue on the Great World Systems, which, despite the pope’s instruction to maintain neutrality, appeared to favor Copernican conclusions. Galileo’s adversaries soon accused him of mocking the pope in his book. Charged with heresy and facing the threat of torture, Galileo was forced to renounce Copernican teachings. In 1633, the Roman Inquisition sentenced him to perpetual house arrest and banned his writings. Galileo passed away in his residence near Florence on January 8, 1642.

Although some of Galileo’s works remained on the Catholic Church’s index of prohibited books for centuries, the church reassessed the Roman Inquisition’s actions in 1979. Finally, in 1992, Pope John Paul II admitted that the Catholic Church had erroneously condemned Galileo.

Galileo Galilei, born in 1564 in Pisa, Italy, taught at the University of Padua before living and working in Florence. He significantly improved the telescope’s magnification, enhancing its practicality. Due to his controversial beliefs about the universe, he was summoned before the Inquisition—the Catholic tribunal tasked with punishing those who deviated from church doctrine—on two occasions.

Historians have speculated that the Roman Inquisition may have physically tortured Galileo. The sentence against him declared that a “rigorous examination” was necessary to determine his true intentions, a phrase that often implied torture or the threat thereof. The specific nature of Galileo’s “rigorous examination” remains a subject of debate among scholars.

Galileo’s Clash With the Church

On June 22, 1633, an elderly man, Galileo Galilei, knelt before the court of the Roman Inquisition. As a renowned scientist of his time, his convictions were based on extensive study and research. However, to save his life, he had to renounce what he knew to be true. The Galileo case has provoked doubts, questions, and controversies that persist over 370 years later. This case has left an indelible mark on the history of religion and science. But why has it garnered so much attention, and why is it still relevant today? Does it truly symbolize a “fracture between science and religion,” as one writer suggested?

Many consider Galileo to be the “father of modern science.” As a mathematician, astronomer, and physicist, he was among the first to study the skies using a telescope. His observations supported the contentious idea of his time that the Earth revolves around the Sun, challenging the belief that our planet is the center of the universe. This groundbreaking perspective has led some to regard Galileo as the founder of the modern experimental method.

Galileo’s discoveries and inventions were numerous. As an astronomer, he identified Jupiter’s moons, determined that the Milky Way is composed of stars, discovered the Moon’s mountains, and observed Venus’s moon-like phases. As a physicist, he examined the laws governing pendulums and falling objects. He also invented instruments such as the geometric compass and an early version of the slide rule. Utilizing information from Holland, he crafted the telescope that unveiled the universe to him.

Nevertheless, an extended confrontation with the ecclesiastical hierarchy transformed the esteemed scientist’s career into a drama – the Galileo case. How did this clash begin, and what were its underlying causes?

Conflict With Rome

As early as the end of the 16th century, Galileo embraced the Copernican theory, which posited that the Earth revolves around the Sun, rather than the other way around. This concept is also known as the heliocentric (sun-centered) system. After using his telescope in 1610 to observe celestial bodies that had never before been discovered, Galileo became convinced that he had found evidence supporting the heliocentric system.

According to the Grande Dizionario Enciclopedico UTET, Galileo aimed to do more than merely make discoveries; he sought to persuade “the highest-ranking personages of the day (princes and cardinals)” that the Copernican theory was accurate. He hoped that with the assistance of influential friends, he could overcome the Church’s objections and potentially even secure its support.

In 1611, Galileo journeyed to Rome, where he encountered high-ranking clergymen. He utilized his telescope to demonstrate his astronomical discoveries to them. However, events did not unfold as he had anticipated. By 1616, Galileo found himself under official investigation.

The Roman Inquisition’s theologians declared the heliocentric thesis “philosophically foolish and absurd and formally heretical since, in many places, it expressly contradicts the sentences of the Holy Scriptures according to their literal meaning, the common exposition, and the sense of the Holy Fathers and doctors of theology.”

Galileo met with Cardinal Robert Bellarmine, widely regarded as the foremost Catholic theologian of the era and known as “the hammer of the heretics.” Bellarmine formally admonished Galileo to cease advocating his opinions on the sun-centered system.

Facing the Inquisition Court

Galileo attempted to act prudently, but he did not renounce his support for the Copernican thesis. Seventeen years later, in 1633, he appeared before the Inquisition court. Cardinal Bellarmine had passed away, but now Galileo’s primary opponent was Pope Urban VIII, who had previously been favorable towards him. This trial has been described by writers as one of the most infamous and unjust in history, even compared to the trials of Socrates and Jesus.

What provoked the trial? Galileo wrote a book entitled Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, which essentially advocated heliocentrism. The author was instructed to present himself to the court in 1632, but Galileo delayed, citing illness and his advanced age of nearly 70 years old. He made the trip to Rome the following year after being threatened with bonds and forced transportation. By the order of the Pope, he was interrogated and even threatened with torture.

Whether the elderly and ill man was actually tortured remains a matter of controversy. As recorded in his conviction sentence, Galileo underwent a “rigorous examination.” According to Italo Mereu, an historian of Italian law, this phrase was the technical expression of the day used to describe torture, a view shared by numerous scholars.

In any case, Galileo was sentenced in a solemn hall before the members of the Inquisition on June 22, 1633. He was found guilty of “having held and believed false doctrine, contrary to the Holy and Divine Scriptures, that the Sun… does not move from east to west and that the Earth moves and is not the center of the world.”

Galileo, not wishing to become a martyr, was compelled to recant. After his sentence was read, the elderly scientist, kneeling and clad as a penitent, solemnly declared: “I do abjure, curse, and detest the said errors and heresies [the Copernican theory] and in general all and any other error, heresy, or sect contrary to the Holy Church.”

There is an unverified popular tradition that after abjuring, Galileo stamped his foot and exclaimed in protest: “And yet it does move!” Commentators assert that the humiliation of renouncing his discoveries tormented the scientist until his death. He had been condemned to prison, but his sentence was commuted to perpetual house arrest. As blindness engulfed him, he lived in near seclusion.

A Conflict Between Religion and Science?

Numerous individuals have deduced from Galileo’s experience that science and religion are irreconcilably incompatible. Over the centuries, the Galileo case has estranged people from religion, persuading many that religion inherently obstructs scientific advancement. But is this truly the case?

Pope Urban VIII and the theologians of the Roman Inquisition did indeed condemn the Copernican theory, asserting that it contradicted the Bible. Galileo’s adversaries cited Joshua’s statement, “Sun, stand thou still,” which, according to their interpretation, was to be taken literally (Joshua 10:12, ASV).* However, the Bible does not actually conflict with the Copernican theory.

* An honest reader would recognize that this passage is not meant to be taken as a scientific explanation but rather as a simple observation of how things appeared to the human witnesses. Similarly, astronomers use language like “rising and setting of the sun” to describe the apparent movement of celestial bodies across the sky rather than suggesting that the earth is the center of the universe.

The contradiction existed between science and a clearly erroneous interpretation of Scripture. This was Galileo’s perspective. He wrote to a student, “Even though Scripture cannot err, its interpreters and expositors can, in various ways. One of these, very serious and very frequent, would be when they always want to stop at the purely literal sense.” Any diligent student of the Bible would concur.

Galileo further argued that two books, the Bible and the book of nature, were authored by the same divine source and could not contradict each other. He added, though, that one could not “with certainty assert that all interpreters speak under divine inspiration.” This implicit critique of the church’s official interpretation was likely perceived as a provocation, resulting in the Roman Inquisition’s condemnation of the scientist. How could a mere layman dare challenge ecclesiastical authority?

In reference to the Galileo case, several scholars have questioned the infallibility of both the church and the pope. Catholic theologian Hans Küng asserts that “numerous and indisputable” errors committed by “the ecclesiastical teaching office,” including “the condemnation of Galileo,” have cast doubt upon the dogma of infallibility.

Galileo’s Name Restored?

In November 1979, a year after his election, Pope John Paul II expressed hope for a reevaluation of Galileo’s position, acknowledging that he “had to suffer a great deal . . . at the hands of men and organisms of the Church.” Thirteen years later, in 1992, a commission appointed by the same pope conceded: “Certain theologians, Galileo’s contemporaries, . . . failed to grasp the profound, non-literal meaning of the Scriptures when they describe the physical structure of the created universe.”

However, it must be noted that the heliocentric theory was not criticized solely by theologians. Pope Urban VIII, who played a significant role in the case, adamantly demanded that Galileo not undermine the long-standing church teaching that the earth is the center of the universe. This teaching originated not from the Bible, but from the Greek philosopher Aristotle.

After the modern-day commission meticulously reviewed the case, the pope described Galileo’s conviction as “a hasty and unfortunate decision.” Was the scientist being rehabilitated? “To speak, as some do, of Galileo’s rehabilitation is absurd,” asserts one author, “because history condemns, not Galileo, but the ecclesiastical court.” Historian Luigi Firpo stated: “It is not the place of persecutors to rehabilitate their victims.”

The Bible is “a lamp shining in a dark place” (2 Peter 1:19, ASV). Galileo defended it against misinterpretation. However, the church, by upholding a man-made tradition at the Bible’s expense, acted in opposition.