Galileo Galilei and the Roman Curia / From Authentic Sources

by Karl von Gebler

Meanwhile, after having been repeatedly urged to it by Mgr. Dini,[120] he had completed his great apologetic treatise, in the form of a letter to the Grand Duchess Dowager, Christine. As it accurately defines the standpoint which Galileo desired to take as a natural philosopher and sincere Catholic, with respect to the Church of Rome, it seems necessary to give a sketch of its contents.

Galileo begins with the motive of his Apology. Several years ago he had made many discoveries in the heavens, the novelty of which, and the vast consequences they involve, which are opposed to many of the principles of the modern Aristotelian school, have incensed no small number of professors against him, as if he had placed these phenomena in the heavens with his own hands in order to overturn nature and science. Placing a greater value on their own opinions than on truth, these men had taken upon themselves to deny the existence of these discoveries, whereas if they had only consented to observe them, they would have been convinced. Instead of this, they assailed the new discoveries with empty arguments, and worst mistake of all, interwove them with passages of Scripture which they did not understand. But when the majority of the scientific world was convinced with its own eyes, so that it was impossible any longer to doubt the truth of these phenomena, their opponents tried to consign them to oblivion by obstinate silence; and when that did not avail they took another course. Galileo says that he should pay no more heed to these attacks than to former ones, at which, confident of the final result, he had always laughed, but they seek to cast an aspersion on him which he dreads more than death. His opponents, knowing that he favoured the opinion of the double motion of the earth, and thereby attacked the Ptolemaic and Aristotelian principles, and perceiving since the universal recognition of his observations that they could never combat him successfully on the field of natural philosophy, are trying now to make a shield for their false statements out of a fictitious piety and the authority of Holy Scripture. They have therefore first tried to spread the opinion that the views he defends are opposed to the Bible, and therefore heretical and worthy of condemnation. They then easily found some one to denounce them from the pulpit, and he hurled his anathemas not only at the Copernican doctrines, but against mathematicians in general. They also gave out that the modern views of the system of the universe would shortly be pronounced heretical by the highest authorities.

Galileo then points out that Copernicus, the originator of these doctrines, was not only a good Catholic, but a priest highly esteemed by the Roman curia, both for his learning and piety. He had dedicated his famous work: “De Revolutionibus Orbium Cœlestium,” to Pope Paul III., and no one had felt any scruples about his doctrines, although some ill-disposed persons want to have the book pronounced heretical, without ever having read, to say nothing of studied it. As an adherent of the Copernican theory, Galileo now feels compelled, in order to justify himself, to discuss in detail these arguments from Scripture brought forward by his opponents, and he hopes to prove that he is animated by a greater zeal for true religion than his adversaries; for he by no means demands that the book should not be condemned, but that it should not be condemned without being understood or even looked at. Before proceeding to discuss these arguments, he protests that he will not only always be ready publicly to rectify the errors he may from ignorance have fallen into on religious matters in this treatise, but that it was not in the least his intention to enter into dispute with any one on such subjects; it is rather his desire, by these remarks, to incite others to deliberations useful to the Church. As to the decision about the Copernican system, we must bow to the opinions of the ecclesiastical authorities, and should it be adverse to him, let his work be torn up and burnt, for he had neither wish nor intention to promote results that were not catholic and pious.

After this long and cautious introduction, Galileo comes to the matter itself,—the discussion of the principles of exegesis of Scripture with respect to natural science. He employs the same arguments as in his letter to Castelli, only more in detail, and cites several passages from St. Augustine in support of his views, as to how far questions of natural philosophy should be left to the understanding and to science. He also quotes a saying of Cardinal Baronius: “The Holy Spirit intended to teach us how to go to heaven, and not how the heavens go.” Galileo then illustrates by examples how derogatory it will be to the dignity of Holy Scripture if every unauthorised scribbler is permitted to adduce passages from it in support of his views, which he often does not interpret rightly; and experience shows the futility of this method of proof. He then turns to the claim of theologians to enforce upon others in scientific discussions opinions which they hold to agree with passages of Scripture, while maintaining that they are not bound to explain the scientific phenomena which are opposed to their decisions. In support of this they affirm that theology is the queen of all the sciences, and need not condescend to accommodate herself to the teachings of other sciences far beneath her: they must submit to her as their sovereign, and modify their conclusions accordingly. This leads Galileo to some considerations which he will here set forth, that he may learn the opinions of others more expert on such questions than he is, and to whose decisions he is always ready to bow.

He is in doubt whether some ambiguity has not crept in for want of more precision in defining why theology is entitled to be called a queen. It must either be because all that is taught by other sciences is comprised in and explained by theology, only in a higher sense; or because theology treats of a subject which far surpasses in importance all the subjects of which profane science treats. But even the theologians themselves will hardly maintain that the title belongs to theology in the first sense; for no one can say that geometry, astronomy, music, and medicine, are better treated of in Scripture than in the writings of Archimedes, Ptolemy, Boccius, and Galen. It appears then that the royal prerogative of theology must be derived from some other source. Galileo here remarks:—

“If then theology occupies herself solely with the highest problems, maintains her throne by reason of the supreme authority conferred on her, and does not condescend to the lower sciences as not affecting salvation, the professors of theology should not assume authority on subjects which they have not studied. For this is just as if an absolute ruler should demand, without being a physician or an architect, that people should treat themselves, or erect buildings, according to his directions, to the great peril of poor sick people and obvious ruin of the edifices.”

Galileo then demonstrates the vast difference between doctrinal and exact sciences, and says that in the latter opinions cannot be changed to order. Supported by the authority of St. Augustine, he maintains that opinions on natural science which have been proved to coincide with actual facts cannot be set aside by passages of Scripture, but these must be explained so as not to contradict the indisputable results of observation. Those, therefore, who desire to condemn an opinion in physics must first show that it is incorrect. But it must be made the subject of close investigation, and then a different result will often be obtained from the one desired. Many learned men who intended to refute the Copernican theory have been changed, by examination, from opponents to enthusiastic defenders of it. In order to banish it from the world, as many desired, it would not be enough to shut the mouth of any one individual, it would be necessary to prohibit not only the writings of Copernicus and his followers, but astronomy altogether. But to suppress his work now, when new discoveries are daily confirming his theory, after it has been quietly submitted to for so many years, appears to Galileo like opposition to truth itself; and to permit the book and condemn the doctrine would be still more pernicious to the souls of men, for it would allow them the opportunity of convincing themselves of the truth of an opinion which it was a sin to believe. To forbid astronomy altogether would be like rejecting hundreds of passages of Scripture which teach us how the glory of God is revealed in all His works, which are best to be studied in the open book of nature.

Galileo then applies these general principles to the Copernican theory. According to many, it ought to be pronounced erroneous because it is opposed to the apparent meaning of many passages in the Bible, while the opposite opinion is to be believed de fide. He sharply defines two kinds of scientific questions: those on which all man’s researches can only lead to probability and conjecture, as for instance, whether the stars are inhabited or not; and those on which, by experience, observation, and inevitable deduction, we either have attained certainty or may safely reckon on doing so,—as whether the earth or the heavens move. In the first case, Galileo is decidedly of opinion that it behoves us to be guided by the literal sense of Scripture; in the second, he repeats what he has said before, that two truths can never contradict each other. The Bible speaks of the sun as moving and of the earth as standing still to accommodate itself to the understanding of the people, and not to confuse them, otherwise they might refuse to believe the dogmas which are absolutely de fide. For the same reason the fathers have spoken about things not appertaining to salvation, more in accordance with usage than actual facts, and he confirms this by quotations from St. Jerome and St. Thomas.

Even the general agreement of the fathers in the interpretation of any passage of Scripture of scientific import should, in Galileo’s opinion, only confer authority on it when the question has been discussed by many fathers with knowledge of both sides. But this is not the case with the question of the double motion of the earth, for it had not come up at all at that time, and it could not occur to the holy fathers to dispute it, for the current opinion was in entire agreement with the literal meaning of the Bible. It was not enough to say that the fathers had all believed that the earth stood still, and that therefore it was to be held de fide, for it was very possible that they never investigated it, and only held it as generally current. If they had done so and found it deserving of condemnation, they would have said so, but it had never been discovered that they had. The writings of Diego di Zuñiga show, on the contrary, that when some theologians began to consider the Copernican theory, they did not find it erroneous or contrary to Scripture. Moreover, no argument could be drawn from an unanimous opinion of the fathers, for some of them spoke of the sun as stationary, others of the primum mobile.