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Galileo Letter To The Grand Christina Analysis

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Galileo’s Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina argues that Nicholas Copernicus’ idea about the Earth’s rotation orbiting the sun once a year does not in fact have anything to do with the scripture in the Catholic Bible. Galileo is simply stating a theory that he believes is true and scientifically proven. His ideas came to life in a time when many were questioning their beliefs surrounding the church and ideas that they have had in the past. Galileo was very science- oriented and many of his ideas and teachings did not align, and in some cases directly conflicted, with what the Catholic Church preached. The Catholic religion as a whole has a long history of promoting decision- making based on religious ideas or faith. Over the years, a number of the Catholic Church teachings and beliefs have been questioned by science. Based on certain circumstances, such as Catholic elementary and high school, an individual may be influenced to believe a …show more content…

In my home, I am free to ask questions and search for answers. An example would be, the story of Jesus’ birth by the Virgin Mary. Science tells us that it is impossible to have a child without a male involved, but the scripture is telling us that it happened. I think this is one of the stories that has many interpretations and people believe different meanings, like Galileo talked about. In my religion classes, however, I was expected to believe this story was supposed to be taken literally. It was hard to grasp this concept and as Galileo said, no one truly understands science and religion. The teachers ignoring my beliefs and questions only made me feel like I had to question more; it did not solve any problems or answer any of those challenging questions in my head. Galileo took it upon himself to ask questions and raise concern and I wish I could have been more like that in my high school religion and science

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Analysis of Galileo’s Letter to Grand-Duchess Christina During the time that Galileo wrote the letter to Grand-Duchess Christina, there was much debate about the orientation of the universe. There were two different theories of thought at this time. One was the Heliocentric Universe, which believed the sun was the center of the universe and the Earth orbits it.

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Galileo Galilei was an Italian astronomer who disagreed with the Roman Catholic theory of geocentrism. He was not a heretic because he was a Christian and had similar beliefs to the Roman Catholics, but he did not agree with the Church’s theory of the position and movement of Earth in the Solar System. Document A is an excerpt of a letter to Duchess Christina of Tuscany written by Galilei, counter-arguing the heresy claims. In the letter, Galileo wrote, “Can an opinion be heretical and yet have no concern with the salvation of souls?” Although he did not believe in the astronomical theory of the Church, he believed that his scientific thoughts should not interfere with his religious beliefs.

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He published these observations in the book Sidereus Nuncius (1610). The Catholic Church had formerly opposed Copernicus already in 1543, and met Galileo with the same opposition. The Church declared any documents on heliocentric theory were to be banned and considered heretical in 1616. That same year, Galileo proposed a new theory regarding tides, and three years later one regarding comets, claiming these as proof of the earth’s motion. Eventually in 1632, Galileo published Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, which became very popular, much to the alarm of the Catholic Church.

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The issue on whether religion and science can work together has been debatable for centuries. Neil DeGrasse Tyson in his article the Perimeter of Ignorance argues that science and religion cannot coexist. In his article, the author explains that religion is all about the Bible and the Bible primarily focuses on the explanation of the origin of the world. He puts forth the point that this concept is far different from what science is and that they do not complement each other. This essay intends to prove that religion and science can work together with no issues.

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When you are young you are taught what is generally right or wrong. You are not given a chance to choose what you believe in since you are only a baby, and cannot fully comprehend the concept of religion. Once you are old enough, you are exposed to the variety of cultures that may fascinate you, and will help influence how you think. The majority of individuals tend to follow their own beliefs when they are well into their adult life, since they were taught to believe what their parents believed in. In Bless Me, Ultima, by Rudolfo Anaya, Antonio a young Catholic is left to question his beliefs when a curandera named Ultima exposes him to her own beliefs.

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Galileo was fundamental in the origin of lunar study in being the first to use a telescope to observe the moon and publicize opinions about its surface. Another surveyor of the moon was Alfred Wegener. Wegener proposed meteoric impact long before anyone else. However, the scientific community did not listen to him because of his theory of plate tectonics and Pangea. Alfred Wegener found the correct origin of the moon and its surface features.

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In 1936, Albert Einstein, a famous physicist, wrote a letter to Phyllis Wright, a sixth grader, answering her question on whether scientists prayed or not. Einstein 's response is rhetorically effective because of Einstein 's credibility, and because of its appeals to logic. As a major figure in the field of physics in the twentieth century who interacted with many scientists, Albert Einstein has the credibility needed to write about the religious views of the scientific community at large. Einstein states that scientists, being rational thinkers, “will hardly be inclined to believe that events could be influenced by a prayer”, suggesting scientists do not pray. This premise appeals to logical reasoning, grounded in Einstein 's earlier

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Few people were literate aside from those that ran the church and were in power, so they would be the ones teaching about science. However, what Galileo wanted to do with this piece was to make it as accessible as possible to the public. It is written in simple language and contains diagrams and illustrations that would be easy for people to understand. It also allowed people to replicate his experiments or understand how he did them so that they knew how verifiable his findings were. It was also so simple and easily understandable that the church couldn’t misconstrue it and use it to their own advantage, so they saw this as a serious threat.

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Most young beings have someone they emulate in hope that they will be as successful as them. These people will be successful even with their works still being an original piece. I find most of my inspiration and I try to emulate the scientist Galileo Galilei. Galileo had found many remarkable discoveries throughout his life and he executes it with originality as well. For example, he discovered the principle of inertia, which is the motion of objects and how they are affected by applied forces.

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There are still many mysteries yet to be discovered in the universe. Over the past 408 years we have been looking into the stars trying to find out all of the unsolved mysteries. We are even looking for a new planet to call home. This all really took off back at the days of Galileo when he found out that the telescope he invented for uses down here on earth could look up into the stars and find other planets and other moons (Galileo Galilei). When this was first discovered he devoted the rest of his life to finding these interplanetary bodies.

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For example, the New York Times Article “Vatican Science Panel Told by Pope: Galileo was Right” mentions, “Moving formally to rectify a wrong, Pope John Paul II acknowledged in a speech today that the Roman Catholic Church had erred in condemning Galileo 359 years ago for asserting that the Earth revolves around the Sun.” This excerpt states that Galileo’s theories about the sun centered universe was correct. The church admits to their mistake and have recognized the truth in Galileo’s beliefs. In addition, the article includes a comment form Pope John Paul, “This led them to unduly transpose into the realm of the doctrine of faith, a question which in fact pertained to scientific investigation.” This means that the Roman Catholic Church at the time was in the wrong and had interpreted the scriptures incorrectly.

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The play Galileo by Bertolt Brecht, written around 1945-47, showcases a time of pensiveness. Being true to the life and times of Galileo during the Renaissance period, it also shows the reign of the Inquisition, a group of institutions within the system of the Roman Catholic Church whose main aim was to combat heresy. To act against "heresy" was not considered enforcing church discipline or imposing doctrinal conformity. Heresy was seen as an evil that threatened both the salvation of souls and the very heart of the community. Heresy was not an individual acting alone; heresy was an attack on the whole community and the whole purpose of life [1].

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Copernicus developed the heliocentric theory which claimed that the earth revolved around the sun. This immediately challenged the authorities who believed the opposite. Galileo furthered Copernicus’ argument and promoted that the Bible, that God

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In a letter to Cristina of Lorraine, the Grand Duchess of Tuscany, Galileo gives a perfectly sound and rational argument as to why the church should not be charging him as a heretic for his belief in the heliocentric model when the bible is going against what they see with their own eyes. Furthermore, Galileo argues that, contrary to popular belief at the time, the bible should only be used to help us understand abstruse concepts and what is needed for salvation, not to explain the natural world. In a lot of ways, Galileo’s argument paves the way for separation between church and state, as well as the age-old conflict between science and religion that is still discussed even till today. However, what I found interesting here is that Galileo actually believed that his beliefs went hand in hand with the bible. He tries to justify his beliefs according to the bible by arguing that God gave us a brain in order

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Paul Chalus Mr. Corso Astronomy December 19th 2017 Religion and Science Religion can help answer questions that could not be answered from a scientific standpoint. Religion and science do not contradict each other but they can be used together to benefit science. If religion is correctly applied it can give science a purpose. An example of this how the earth was formed or how life developed on it . Religion can be used as a starting point for science, religion gives science something to prove or disprove.

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