Running Head: GALILEO VS THE CATHOLIC CHURCH 1

Galileo vs the Catholic Church: Cardinal Bellarmines view

Joni Everett

University of Arkansas at Little Rock

Perspectives
GALILEO VS THE CATHOLIC CHURCH 2

Introduction

In the 1600s, the Church ruled the people and the beliefs of the people. In those times,

everyone believed that everything in space revolved around the Earth because scripture from

the bible said so. Around 1543, Copernicus published his findings on the solar system which

debunked the previous beliefs. He proposed that the everything actually revolved around the

sun. Anti-Copernicans started to become more popular as years after his publications went by.

These non-believers were typically from the Church which then sent clergymen into a frenzy to

find passages in the bible explaining how the earth moved. In 1610, the Catholic Church chose

to be against Copernicanism and the charge for those who believed Copernicus was heresy

(When the Earth Moved, 2000).This opens up to Galileos problems when he introduced that

he believed Copernicus theory was correct.

Cardinal Bellarmine was very against Galileo and his findings mainly because he was in

the Holy Office. He became archbishop in 1602 and in 1616, he became involved with the

Copernican controversy. Bellarmine was the final say in whether Galileo would be given an

admonition about his findings and publications. To Bellarmine, Galileos findings went against

the Catholic Churchs beliefs and when he continued to write about Copernican theory, he

disregarded his admonishment and was then put on trial for heresy.

Counter Argument

Galileos findings were pure science. He built his first telescope in 1609 and with this he

examines space. He found many things while looking up into space. At this time, everyone
GALILEO VS THE CATHOLIC CHURCH 3

thought the moon was smooth and perfect because it was in the heavens. He discovered that

the surface of the moon was uneven and that it was round. In this way, he found that it was

much like the Earth. Another thing he uncovered was that Jupiter had moons. These moons

revolved strictly around Jupiter. This finding left the geocentric theory a little out of whack

because it believed everything revolved around the Earth. One thing that confused people in

the geocentric model was the phases of Venus. This could not happen in the Ptolemaic model,

but it can with the heliocentric model which is another reason Galileo believed it to be true. He

proved it rotated around the sun (Galileo and the Telescope, n.d.).

He published all of these findings in The Starry Messenger. The Church was not happy

about this because his findings rebuked Aristotles and also went against scripture. In 1632 he

published Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems. This publication mainly argued in

favor of the heliocentric system.

Main Argument

The Catholic Church disagreed with everything Galileo taught. They believed in the

geocentric model and Aristotles teachings. Their main argument was from the bible and almost

nothing scientifical. They used many scriptures in the literal sense. Such as Psalms (93:1) which

says The Lord is king. He is clothed with majesty and strength. The earth is set firmly in place

and cannot be moved (American Standard Version). This verse simply states that the Earth is

still. Through the Churchs eyes, this is enough proof for them that everything revolves around

the Earth. When Galileo brought up his findings, he was charged for heresy because it went

against the Bible. Cardinal Bellarmine wrote to Paolo Antonio Foscarini discussing the events
GALILEO VS THE CATHOLIC CHURCH 4

happening with Galileo and his opinions. In this letter he states that Galileos publications

...harm the Holy Faith by rendering Holy Scripture false, (Cardinal Bellarmine's Letter to

Foscarini, 1615). Another argument they had against the heliocentric model was Jupiters

moons. This argument was mainly a stretch because it also rebuked their own beliefs. At the

time, Jupiters moons threw everyone for a loop because they didnt revolve around the sun or

Earth.

Conclusion

Galileos findings went against the Catholic Churchs beliefs and when he continued to

write about Copernican theory the Church threatened to charge him with heresy. Although

they did this, he continued writing about Copernicus.He was eventually sent to trial for heresy

against the Church. The outcome of the trial was house arrest because he was too old and ill to

go to prison, but he continued to write about his beliefs even though he was punished for it. All

of his publications were put under the prohibited list. The Church actually didnt accept the

heliocentric model until 1983 which is quite recent (The Trial of Galileo, 2002).
GALILEO VS THE CATHOLIC CHURCH 5

References

Galileo and the Telescope. (n.d.). Retrieved November 30, 2016, from

http://www.atnf.csiro.au/outreach/education/senior/astrophysics/galileo.html

Kreis, S. (n.d.). Cardinal Bellarmine's Letter to Foscarini (1615). Retrieved November 29, 2016,

from http://www.historyguide.org/earlymod/foscarini.html

Linder, D. (2002). The Trial of Galileo: An Account. Retrieved November 30, 2016, from

http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/galileo/galileoaccount.html

odziowski, S. (n.d.). When the Earth Moved Copernicus and his Heliocentric System of the

Universe by Dr. Severyn odziowski. Retrieved November 29, 2016, from

http://info-poland.buffalo.edu/classroom/kopernik/copernicus.shtml