Galileo and the Church
Submitted by Ford Prefect on March 31 2000 18:49:48
In reply to Galileo and the Church submitted by Forgiven on March 31 2000 15:39:55
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I disagree that the case against Galileo was an example of abuse of church authority. Galileo was quite effective in defending Copernicanism which was (and still is) in direct conflict with scripture. The church first used its authority to warn Galileo against continuing his actions. When this did not deter him, he was ordered before the inquisition and found "vehemently suspected of heresy." This was no attempt to marginalize a new religious movement, it was (in their view) a rightful defense of the Word of God. It's just that they turned out to be wrong.....and demonstrably so. So, herein is the danger: not in the blatant misuse of authority (which is easily seen), but in using it properly against someone who is believed to be wrong, but actually isn't (which can be continually overlooked.) In my church, divorce and remarriage (without annulment) are seen to be always contrary to scripture, the authoritative teaching of the church, and "God's will." Yet, this is not the authoritative teaching of many other churches, nor do they see it as necessarily contrary to scripture or against "God's will." I believe this is a case, similar to ours, where one must go beyond scripture and church authority and discover the experiences of those who have lived through the situation, and then with prayer, find what seems to be appropriate. Personally, I put my faith in God's mercy as exemplified by the quotation from Thomas Merton in the post "The Road Ahead." ---Ford |
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