What Is Galileo Heretic

Even though Galileo’s ideas were proven by observations, his ideas questioned the accuracy of the church and the Bible, making him a heretic. In a letter to Paolo Antonio Foscarini, Cardinal Robert Bellarmine wrote, “It would be just as heretical to deny that Abraham had two sons and Jacob had twelve, as it would be to deny the virgin birth of Christ”. Cardinal Robert Bellarmine is claiming that Galileo’s ideas about the universe go against the church as much as if one denied the virgin birth of Christ. This shows that religious figures believed that Galileo was a heretic and believed his ideas were similar to changing one of the religious stories. In addition, famous writers like those of religious stories like Genesis, Psalms, Ecclesiastes
In his letter to Duchess Christina of Tuscany, Galileo writes, “Since the Bible cannot err, it follows that anyone who claim that the sun is motionless and the earth movable takes an erroneous and heretical position”. Even though Galileo did not believe this himself, by saying this he acknowledged he took a heretical stance with his beliefs about the universe. By writing to a high powered figure also shows how he is looking above the society to defend his ideas. This is because most influential figures in the society were religious figures who didn’t believe in his ideas. He also published his own book, shortly after Paolo Antonio Foscarini’s book defending the heliocentric model was banned by the church. Galileo knowingly disregarded the church’s actions because he did not agree with their ideas and wanted more people to follow his ideas instead of the church’s. He also wanted to spread his ideas contradicting the Bible without the church’s permission, which led him to be placed under house arrest for his heretical
In Galileo’s letter to Duchess Christina of Tuscany, he states, “I do not believe that the same God who has given senses, reason, and intellect has intended us not to use them”. Galileo is arguing that God created humans to think and discover, and determines that the church shouldn’t be able to restrict these abilities. Galileo intended to use his intellect to improve society's view of the universe, and wasn’t going to let the church step in the way because God would approve of his actions. Also, in the letter to Duchess Christina of Tuscany, Galileo declared that the Bible is very complex and “may say things which are quite different from what its bare words signify”. Since Galileo was a religious person, his statements never were meant to say the bible is wrong. He instead described how it is very difficult to determine the true meaning of the Bible. By stating that the reason for different interpretations of the Bible was its complexity, Galileo showed he wasn’t trying to attack the church, and therefore was not taking a heretical position against the church. However, Cardinal Robert Bellarmine wrote that “the Council [of Trent] prohibits interpreting the Scriptures contrary to the common agreement of the holy Fathers.” By changing the set interpretations of the Bible, one would be taking a heretical stance, no matter how religious they were. In addition, even though God