>
Allan Harvey responding to Chuck Noren's question wrote:
>
> There is a nice and accessible discussion of this in Charles Hummel's
> book _The Galileo Connection_ (InterVarsity Press, 1986). Hummel's book
> is also IMO the best introductory book around for developing a mature
> Christian view of science/faith issues. I wrote a review of the book for
> another list which can be found at:
> http://www.students.uiuc.edu/~s-schim/scichr/reviews/hummel.html
>
I have not read Hummel or Allan's review. However, I had a colleague
who worked in history and philosophy of science (Steven Wykstra of
Calvin's Philosophy Dept.) who was critical of the book, I believe
because he thought it took some liberties with the historical data,
and possibly with Galileo's theology.
I have one excellent short essay by a historian titled Galileo and
the church in "God and Nature", edited by David Lindberg and Ronald
Numbers (University of California Press). The other essays are also
very good.
The book does a very good job of describing and documenting the social
situation (there actually were no secular scientists/philosophers at
the time and the reformation and counter-reformation made for a very
unstable social situation). In a nutshell, Galileo's science was not
the real problem but his audacity at lecturing the religious scholars
at how they should be interpreting the bible. The author also argues
that Galileo's innocence regarding the dangers of what he is doing
contributes. Copernicanism had been discussed without being proscribed
since the time of Copernicus, but some bounds had been earlier placed
on Galileo (essentially, not to hold to it as true, but only as a
theoretical possibility).
One thing that is difficult for us to comprehend is that there were
very good reasons to believe the Sun was at the center of the solar
system so it was not simply a case of ignorance versus enlightened
views.
Some of my favorite quotes are from Cardinal Bellarmine,
"If ther were a true demonstration that the sun is at the center of
the world and the earth in the third sphere, and that the sun does not
revolve around the earth but the earth around the sun, then we would
have to use great care in explaining thoses passage of Scripture that
seem contrary....But I cannot believe that there is such a
demonstration until someone shows it to me."
Like many other items in this article, there appear to be some very
clear parallels today.
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Joel W. Cannon | (318)869-5160
Dept. of Physics | (318)869-5026 FAX
Centenary College of Louisiana |
P. O. Box 41188 |
Shreveport, LA 71134-1188 |
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