What Is Galileo's View Of Religion

Galileo is known as the “the father of science”. He is famous for discovery of the “stars” revolving around Jupiter (MACHAMER, 19). He was also infamous for “Galileo affair” which is the name given to his trails by the church for heresy. This essay will show that Galileo had little regard for the stunting of science in the name of religion and that a literal translation of the bible in face of science is erroneous. In 1543, Copernicus wrote ‘De revolutionibus orbium coelestium’ in which he describes a heliocentric view of the universe (GUERLAC, 111). This model was in direct opposition to the geocentric model proposed by Ptolemy. The older geocentric model was that the earth was the center of the universe and that everything else rotated around it. The heliocentric view was that Sol was the center of the universe and that the earth rotated around it. This would be the foundation on which Galileo develop his own theories.

He is famous for his theories of the motions of heavenly bodies, and his promotion of the heliocentric model of the universe (MACHAMER, 20). It was this theory that got him in trouble with the church. While Galileo was a man of god, he believed that the bible should be interpreted based what the scientific community deemed correct which is stated in his ‘Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina’ (MACHAMER, 20). In this letter, Galileo says that scientific findings do not render void teaching of the bible (RUDAVSKY, 622). He says that they in fact compliment the bible because the study of nature and scripture, both reflect the lessons of God (RUDAVSKY,