Hi, Robert —
Let me make a few points about Galileo. First, the Church was not so much opposed
to knowledge as she was opposed to going about things the way Galileo was
going about them. Copernicus had advanced similar ideas without censure.
What got Galileo in trouble is that he published a dialogue that viciously
made fun of the Pope — a very career-limiting move.
The Church was concerned about how to reconcile Scriptures that seemed
to imply that the sun revolved around the earth with the heliocentric scientific
discoveries. She didn't reject heliocentrism but she wanted to proceed
slowly and carefully so as not to disrupt the applecart.
Galileo however decided to force the issue and basically make an unnecessary
stink, though I'm sure both sides behaved badly. Basically, the Church
wanted a bit more time to evaluate this new idea and reconcile it with
Scripture, but Galileo would have none of it.
Don't take this personally, but what I find odd about Protestants criticizing what the
Pope did with Galileo is that he did so out of a zeal for preserving the
integrity of the Scriptures. In short, Galileo appeared to be contradicting
the Scriptures, and the Pope was concerned. You would think Bible-believing Protestants
would sympathize with this.
That said, we don't have the Church being opposed to science so much as we have
Her wanting to exercise caution with ground-breaking ideas. I am not going
to argue that everything was done right in the Galileo case but, in general, this caution
is not such a bad idea.
Today you will find few churches embracing science as readily as the Catholic
Church. She's spent the most time of any church finding ways to reconcile
Evolution with the Christian faith. There is a pontifical academy (basically
an advisory body to the Pope) on scientific matters staffed by high ranking
scientists. She has defended the balance of faith and reason. Heck, universities
in the West originated when the Church erected them. She is, I think you
will find, the most deeply intellectual of all of the churches. Let's not
forget Gregor Mendel, Copernicus, and all the Catholic monks and clergy
that have advanced science with the Church's blessing. I think among Christian
churches you will find few, if any, churches so dedicated to dialogue with
science.
What I would challenge you to do is find another conflict between the
Church and science comparable to Galileo in recent times. If my explanation
of the Galileo issue doesn't convince you, show me where, right now or
in the last three hundred years, the Church has proven itself to be the
sworn foe of science.
Yes, the Church will make rulings on ethical issues
that involve science, but ethics is within her purview; these are not oppositions
to science per se but to applications of science in specific ways. The Galileo
case happened half a millennium ago, things have changed, the Vatican issued
a public apology, let's move on.
Some good reading might be John Paul II's document on the relationship
between faith and reason:
- Fides Et Ratio (Faith and Reason) by Pope St. John Paul II
[Vatican]|[EWTN]
Hope this helps!
Eric Ewanco
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