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posted by chromas on Tuesday February 12 2019, @03:41PM   Printer-friendly

Submitted via IRC for Bytram

The truth about Galileo and his conflict with the Catholic Church

Today virtually every child grows up learning that the earth orbits the sun.

But four centuries ago, the idea of a heliocentric solar system was so controversial that the Catholic Church classified it as a heresy, and warned the Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei to abandon it.

Many people believe that Galileo was hounded by the church for almost two decades, that he openly maintained a belief in heliocentrism, and that he was only spared torture and death because his powerful friends intervened on his behalf. But an examination of the fine details of Galileo’s conflict with church leaders doesn’t bear that out, according to English department distinguished research professor Henry Kelly.

In an article published this month in the journal “Church History,” Kelly clarifies some popularly held notions around Galileo’s travails with the church.

“We can only guess at what he really believed,” said Kelly, who for his research undertook a thorough examination of the judicial procedure used by the church in its investigation of Galileo. “Galileo was clearly stretching the truth when he maintained at his trial in 1633 that after 1616 he had never considered heliocentrism to be possible. Admitting otherwise would have increased the penance he was given, but would not have endangered his life, since he agreed to renounce the heresy — and in fact it would have spared him even the threat of torture.”

This year marks the 400th anniversary of the beginning of the Catholic Church’s investigation into Galileo.


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  • (Score: 2) by Bot on Tuesday February 12 2019, @09:22PM (3 children)

    by Bot (3902) on Tuesday February 12 2019, @09:22PM (#800332) Journal

    > suspension of disbelief
    AKA belief

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    Account abandoned.
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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 12 2019, @10:13PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 12 2019, @10:13PM (#800364)

    > suspension of disbelief
    AKA belief

    No, suspension of disbelief: basically, telling yourself "OK, I know this is stupid, but let's say it's real..." in order to accept what follows. You don't actually believe it, but you're willing to stipulate that something false is true for a given scenario, else the scenario is implausible. Generally you only do it for a brief time.

    It's like going to the movies or watching TV. "OK, I know people can't actually fly/aren't invulnerable/can't turn into giant rage-monsters/can't gain the proportionate strength and agility of a spider by being bit by one, but..." in order to enjoy the latest superhero blockbuster; "OK, I know people aren't generally that stupid, but..." to enjoy the latest slasher movie; etc.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 13 2019, @05:49PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 13 2019, @05:49PM (#800668)

      Bot's neural net is incapable of processing double negatives or contractions.

  • (Score: 2) by aristarchus on Tuesday February 12 2019, @10:13PM

    by aristarchus (2645) on Tuesday February 12 2019, @10:13PM (#800365) Journal

    Like any good Greek skeptic, since the days of the Pseudo-Dionysis the Aeropagite, I prefer the via negativa, even if it does seem like a mere double negation at times.