Handout for Galileo on Trial, Christopher Check Essays worth reading Galileo and the Tyranny of Truth, Paul Feyerabend Galileo, Exegete of Scripture vs. Rome, Advocate of Science, Christopher Decaen Galileo, The New Catholic Encyclopedia Books worth reading Galileo in Rome, Shea and Artigas (sympathetic to the Church) The Sleepwalkers, Arthur Koestler (sympathetic to Copernicus; hostile to Galileo) The Case of Galileo: A Closed Question, Annibale Fantoli (hostile to the Church) Robert Cardinal Bellarmine: Life and Works, James Brodrick Outline Prelude: Matthew 10:22, GKC I. The scene -The current thinking of natural philosophy (physics) on cosmology Geocentrism—sun and planets around earth (Aristotle, Ptolemy) Epicycles, equant Heliocentrism—Planets, including earth, around sun (Copernicus ) Hybrid—planets around sun, sun around earth (Tycho Brahe) -The (limited) role of Astronomy (applied mathematics) navigation, astrology, but not physics: hypotheses vs. reality -The world of the Counterreformation -The Scripture II The story of the Galileo Affair: Helpful Timeline 4th Century B.C. 2nd Century A.D. 1473-1543 1517… 1564 1585-1610 1605-1621 1610-1633 1609/1610 1611 1613-1615 Aristotle Ptolemy (Alexandria) Copernicus—De revolutionibus orbium coelistium, 1543 Protestant rebellion Galileo Galilei born in Pisa Experiments in motion (Pisa, Padua) Reign of Pope Paul V (Camillo Borghese) Astronomical discoveries and controversy (Padua, Florence, Rome) Moons of Jupiter, sunspots, phases of Venus, mountains on the moon; Sidereus nuncius (Starry Messenger) March 1610 Feted in Rome Letter to Castelli becomes Letter to Grand Duchess Christina (Galileo’s thoughts on the interpretation of Scripture) Nicolo Lorini sends a copy of Letter to Castelli to Inquistion Carmelite Paolo Antonio Foscarini publishes Letter of opinion over the Pythagorean and Copernican opinion concerning the mobility of the earth and the stability of the sun Handout for Galileo on Trial, Christopher Check Robert Cardinal Bellarmine, Letter to Foscarini (1615) Dec 1615-June 1616 Galileo in Rome, Inquisition censors Copernicus, Paul V directs Bellarmine to warn Galileo, Bellarmine certifies Galileo against rumors that he had been censored 1621-1623 Reign of Pope Gregory XV 1623-1624 Reign of Urban VIII (Maffeo Barbarini—Galileo’s friend) 1624 Galileo visits Urban VIII 1632 Dialogo sopra i due massimi sistemi del mondo (Dialogue concerning the two chief world systems) published in Florence 1633 Judgment of the Holy Office 1633-1642 Retirement; publishes on motion (Florence) th Mid 19 Century Heliocentrism proved III. The Take Away What the Galileo Affair is not Church vs. Science (Cardinal Newman) torture, dungeons, etc. What the Galileo affair is Collision of personalities, less of a deal than you think, etc. What to do, say/The correct perspective The humility of the Church The moral evaluation/Our strengths against us/pastoral solutions to speculative problems/ Why it won’t go away Christopher Check is the Director of Development at Catholic Answers, the largest lay-run apologetics and evangelization organization in the English-speaking world. Though its radio program, Catholic Answers Live, its speakers bureau, its Catholic Answers Magazine, its press and product line, its website (www.catholic.com) and online forums, and its team of full-time apologists who field thousands of phone calls, letters, and e-mails each year, Catholic Answers works to deepen the faith of existing Catholics, lead former Catholics home, and guide nonCatholics to the fullness of the Truth. Chris holds a degree in English Literature from Rice University. He served for two decades as Vice President of The Rockford Institute and before that for seven years as a field artillery officer in the United States Marine Corps in deployments and expeditions in the Far East and the Persian Gulf. His writings have appeared in, among others, Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture, This Rock, Touchstone, The Wanderer, Angelus, New Oxford Review, Culture Wars, and the Chicago Tribune. He has addressed audiences at home and abroad including at the University of London, the Pontifical Augustinian University in Rome, the Serbian Writers Union in Belgrade, the National Press Club, Catholic Answers, the American Chesterton Society, Legatus, Catholic Citizens of Illinois, Saint Michael's Abbey, Silverado, California, Saint Gregory's Academy, The Institute for Catholic Culture, The Thomas More College of Liberal Arts, Ave Maria University, Argument of the Month Club, and, most respectable of all, the Irish Rose Saloon in Rockford, Illinois. He is the creator of The Lepanto Lectures, a series of audio lectures on topics in Salvation History from ancient times to the present day. He and his wife Jacqueline and their four sons, Nicholas, Alexander, John Paul, and Nathanael, show and breed Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, famed companions of the Stuart kings. Their kennel name is Top Meadow Cavaliers (www.topmeadowcavaliers.com) named for G.K Chesteron’s Beaconsfield estate. Studio recordings Chris’s lectures in Church History are of this lecture is available at his table.