Galileo's Arguments: Science, Religion, and the Authority of the Bible

This homework assignment examines Galileo Galilei's perspective on the relationship between science and religion, focusing on his arguments regarding the authority of the Bible and the role of nature in understanding truth. The assignment analyzes Galileo's criticisms of those who used religious arguments to oppose scientific findings, emphasizing his belief that the Bible should not be used to make scientific claims. It explores the inherent differences between the Bible and nature as sources of truth, highlighting Galileo's view that nature provides physical proof, while the Bible offers spiritual explanations. The assignment concludes by discussing Galileo's argument for the separation of science and religion, suggesting that they should not be intertwined, and that individuals should focus on examining nature rather than scriptural passages. It references key texts and concepts to support Galileo's arguments, providing a historical context for his views.

HISTORY 1
HISTORY
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HISTORY 2
Question 1
According to Galileo, the enemy’s motives are to “make a shield for their misconceptions
out of the mantle of bogus authority of the Bible and religion.” This basically means that they
shield themselves with the quotes from the holy book like the Bible, in case it may be true or not,
and they do not pass beyond borders to prove their statements and beliefs. In Galileo’s view,
these people use spiritual point of view against him since they are disturbed by the reality, which
is different from the norm of beliefs, and they are afraid of changing their beliefs (Ferngren,
2017). The motive of his enemies is to disapprove of the new things. They employ religious
argument because they are using passages from the scriptures which even they do not
understand.
Question 2
From Galileo, it is hazardous to use scripture on science because the Bible quotes that the sun
mobile while the earth is immobile (Ecclesiastes 1:5), and since there are no errors in the Bible if
someone opposed this, they would be considered posing a side that is erroneous. He believed that
the words in the Bible might not be the direct meaning of what it is trying to portray, and instead
of not questioning it, people should try to deeply understand it and find the real significance
behind these words (Winslow, 2011). It is unsafe to use quotes from the scriptures since people
are using them without fully understanding. Religious people are hiding in their hypocrisy by
denying the news and saying it is bad and dangerous. And again from the Bible (Joshua 10: 13),
the sun stood still while in reality, the sun does not move and it is the earth which moves.

HISTORY 3
Question 3
According to Galileo, the Bible and nature differ as to the source of truth, because the
words in the Bible may appear to be dissimilar from reality, while nature physically proves the
argument. Galileo says that nature is “immutable and inexorable”, it never contravenes the laws
enacted by nature, and it gives sense-experience and necessary demonstrations. In other words,
the Bible is more of spiritual unseen explanations (for believers) while nature is physical proof of
explanation. For spiritual explanations, most people do not inquire more and dig deep into the
proof from the scripture. According to the Bible, the sun mobile while the earth is immobile
which is not true according to nature (Andrea, 2015). Religious people differ with Galileo
because they say the Bible cannot be wrong. The truth from the Bible is difficult to prove but it is
full of belief as opposed to proof and that is why Christians are believers. Nature always tries to
give a reason for the occurrence and operation of some phenomena.
Question 4
From Galileo’s perspective, a suitable link between religion and science is basically that
they should not interlace. The spiritual book (Bible) has a different inner meaning ( spiritual
meaning) and individuals should not blindly believe on the spiritual meaning without any proof
instead individuals need to logical proof and explanation He believes that people ought to
examine nature, and physical environments, not scriptural passages (Leveillee, 2011). Galileo
believed that the Holy scripture´s understanding fully relies on how leaned an individual and
their ability to fathom the actual meaning of the passages of the Scriptural From science,

HISTORY 4
sunshine warms our body, enable humans to see and grows food. The sunshine always occurs
due to natural processes that produce some balance in opposing forces and it has been lasting for
about billion years.
According to the bible, it is God who created the sun which provides the sunshine. It is
God's actions´ are always natural occurring and rarely miraculous occurring. Since God always
works in a natural process, it is vital for daily life for science. For people´s daily life, believers of
different religions believe that God can change the thought, actions, and situations and this is
from prayers (Dawes, 2016). And this gives us the spiritual resources that we require for a
living. Natural actions do not imply without God since it is God who created and designed the
natural processes and continued sustaining the operation of these natural processes (Mogk,
2014). In most cases, science and religion do not conflict and if they do religion is used for
reference as opposed to science. Therefore, Galileo believes that faith and science are actually in
harmony.

HISTORY 5
References
Andrea, A. The Human Record: Sources of Global History, Volume II: Since 1500. 2nd ed.
Cengage Learning: Chicago, 2015.
Dawes, G.W. Galileo and the conflict between religion and science.3rd ed. Routledge: Liverpool,
2016
Ferngren, G.B. ed. Science and religion: a historical introduction. 4th ed JHU Press: Sydney,
2017
Leveillee, N.P. Copernicus, Galileo, and the church: science in a religious world. Inquiries
Journal: Florida, 2011
Mogk, K. The framing of science and religion in seven children’s books about Christopher
Columbus and Galileo Galilei. Cadernos de História da Ciência. New York, 2014
Winslow, M.W. and Scharmann, L.C. Evolution and personal religious belief: Christian
university biology‐related majors' search for reconciliation. Journal of Research in Science
Teaching. Hull, 2011