“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Galileo had these same rights, from God. The church trampled upon them.
Galileo had these same rights, from God. The church trampled upon them.
Does anyone have a God-given right to promote an unproven theory as fact?
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Freedom of speech is a civil right, not a natural right or a God-given right. If the opposite were true, we would have to say that we have a God-given right to lie, detract slander, and spread false ideologies, which is absurd. These evils represent an abuse of God-given free will.
The reason why we, as a society, allow freedom of speech (still within limits) is because we have judged that the damage to society caused by the suppression of lies, slander, calumny and false ideologies is greater than the damage to society from the promulgation of these things. Consider the devastation caused by the spread of false ideologies like Communism and Islam.
Moreover, the Church that Christ established has the God-given authority to settle intra-Church controversies.
“If your brother sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.Galileo was obedient to Christ in subjecting himself to the decision of the Church court.“Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
The Church had no objection to research into heliocentrism. Most theological objections came from Luther and Protestant astronomers, because they interpreted Biblical passages that seemed to support geocentrism literally.
"And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed . . ." (Josh. 10:13).Cardinal Bellarmine, who headed the tribunal, took a classically Catholic position regarding the interpretation of Scripture:
If there were a real proof that the sun is in the center of the universe, that the earth is in the third heaven, and that the sun does not go round the earth but the earth round the sun, then we should have to proceed with great circumspection in explaining passages of Scripture which appear to teach the contrary, and rather admit that we did not understand them than declare an opinion to be false which is proved to be true. But as for myself, I shall not believe that there are such proofs until they are shown to me."Although the Church had no objection to the research of Copernicus, Galileo or Kepler, Galileo demanded that the Church teach his theory as fact. In fact, Galileo's evidence was erroneous.
Nevertheless, Galileo petitioned the Holy Office, and Cardinal Bellarmine issued a certificate that forbade Galileo from promulgating his theory, but allowed him to conjecture it.
Galileo met with the new pope, Urban VIII, in 1623, and he received permission to write a work on heliocentrism, but the new pontiff cautioned him not to advocate the new position, only to present arguments for and against it.
Galileo rejected the Pope's decision, and the rest is history.
In an age when Protestants were burning witches in Salem, the Pope subjected Galileo to house arrest for a brief period of time, a very mild punishment.
"The pope told me that he had shown Galileo a favor never accorded to another" (letter dated Feb. 13, 1633); " . . . he has a servant and every convenience" (letter, April 16); and "[i]n regard to the person of Galileo, he ought to be imprisoned for some time because he disobeyed the orders of 1616, but the pope says that after the publication of the sentence he will consider with me as to what can be done to afflict him as little as possible" (letter, June 18).
Nonsense. Galileo attempted to usurp Church authority and rewrite the Bible to suit his contentious theory. It wasn’t until he pulled that stunt did the Church put the brakes on. Remember, it was university professors who first brought charges against him.