“Men Of Galilee, Why Stand Gazing Up Into Heaven”: Revisiting Galileo, Astronomy, And The Authority Of The Bible -- By: Hoon J. Lee

Journal: Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
Volume: JETS 53:1 (Mar 2010)
Article: “Men Of Galilee, Why Stand Gazing Up Into Heaven”: Revisiting Galileo, Astronomy, And The Authority Of The Bible
Author: Hoon J. Lee


“Men Of Galilee, Why Stand Gazing Up Into Heaven”: Revisiting Galileo, Astronomy, And The Authority Of The Bible

H. J. Lee

Hoon Lee is a Ph.D. student at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, 2065 Half Day Road, Deerfield, IL 60015.

Four hundred years after Galileo Galilei’s (1564-1642) first observation through a telescope, the 62nd General Assembly of the United Nations and the International Astronomical Union dedicated 2009 as the International Year of Astronomy. The year’s commemoration brought together over 140 countries in an effort to promote worldwide recognition of the discovery of the telescope and the ongoing work in the field of astronomy. This international collaboration aspired to initiate a process that can potentially be as revolutionary as the discovery of the telescope itself.

While the year’s main objectives may have been scientific and pediological, it is equally important to reexamine the relationship between Galileo’s work and Christianity because the Church has not always celebrated his achievements like the General Assembly. In 1633, the Roman Catholic Church found Galileo holding views that contradicted Scripture and banned the scientist from conducting any work in astronomy. It was not until Pope John Paul II’s 1979 commemorative speech to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences that the papacy addressed grievances against Galileo. The actions of the pope spurred various efforts to vindicate Galileo and to rectify the condemnation of his work.

Despite subsequent scholarship since 1979, at least one aspect of Galileo has unfortunately been inadequately addressed. In the years following the invention of the telescope, Galileo found himself needing to defend his Copernican cosmology. His defense came in the form of the essay Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina (1615; published in 1636). In this piece, Galileo challenged the exegetical practice of his accusers and upheld his own views as biblical. Specifically, his opponents lacked the principle of accommodation, which was the key to the harmonization of astronomy and the Bible in the view of the astronomer’s view. Relying heavily on Augustine (354-430), Galileo attempted to establish a hermeneutic that brought together Scripture and his own scientific discoveries. This study asks on the four hundredth anniversary of Galileo’s invention of the telescope whether his understanding of accommodation compromised scriptural inerrancy.

I. Recounting The Events Of The Galileo Affair

The events surrounding the Galileo affair help to set up a clear picture of Galileo’s understanding of accommodation. It must be noted that Galileo was not unique among Catholics in adher...

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