Galileo's Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina of Tuscany, 1615

After reading this article, I found it extremely important in proving Newton's favor towards Galileo's case.  Galileo makes arguments that are rational and concise. He provides his reasoning for why the church should not be charging him as a heretic when they can not prove his findings to be false. 


First, in this letter, Galileo differentiates between the study of physical science and the study of theology to prove that men who "throw out bible versus" as their claim to the falsehood of his heliocentric view are making a grave mistake. He believed that there was a difference between the study of theology and the study of physical science, "physical conclusions pertaining to the celestial motions deal with astronomical and geometrical demonstrations, founded primarily on sense experiences and very exact observations." The Bible can not alone explain all of these physical meanings, "it has the occasion to speak of any physical conclusion, but it is not necessary for the Bible to prove all of the phenomenas of nature. " From here , Galileo voices that "nothing physical which sense experiences set before our eyes, or which necessary demonstrations prove to us, out to be called into question upon the testimony of biblical passages." 


Now, with this argument, Galileo was basically paving the way for the separation of church and state, however, he did not want his opponents to believe that he was not a religious man. Galileo believed that his argument had nothing to do with the power of God. He states, "I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with senses, reason and intellect has intended us to forego their use and by some other means to give us knowledge which we can attain by him. " This statement caught my eye because Newton had the same belief system as well, these scientific findings were meant to prove the power of God, and not to reject him. Both of these men argued that "If the sacred scribes had any intention of teaching people certain arrangements and motions of the heavenly bodies, or had they wished us to derive such knowledge from the Bible, then they would not have spoken of these matters so sparingly in comparison with he infinite dumber of admirable conclusions which are demonstrated in that of science." This is what upset the church authorities, they believed that Galileo was undermining the power of the scriptures, when all he was trying to say is that God left "couch mysteries in that book,  so profound and concepts so sublime that vigils, labors, and the studies of hundreds upon hundreds of the most acute minds have still have not pierced them, even after continual investigations for thousands of years." His findings exemplify God's splendor and magnificence, because they prove his power to create a universe so complex and divine, that even the most "acute minds" have difficulty in understanding. 


Now moving into some of the points that Galileo makes to prove the inconsistencies of the church's claims, and whether or not Galileo was trying to put sarcasm in these comments, I found then rather funny. 


1. " I cannot deny that I feel some discomfort which I should like to have removed when I hear them pretend to the power of constraining others by scriptural authority to follow in a physical dispute that opinion which they think best agrees with the Bible, and then believe themselves not bound to answer the opposing reasons and experiences." - Basically, they have not counter argument!


2. " They say that since theology is the queen of sciences, she need not bend in any way to accommodate herself to the teachings of less worthy sciences which are subordinate to her." - Basically even if you see something with your own eyes and can prove it with detailed observations, if it goes against the "queen of science" meaning what the church wants, you have a duty to disregard it. 


3. " Again, to command that the very professors of astronomy that they must not see what they see and must not understand what they know, and that in searching they must find the opposite of what they actually encounter is beyond any possibility of accomplishment." 


4. " I entreat those wise and prudent Fathers to consider with great care the difference that exists between doctrines subject to proof and those subject to opinion."