Episode 104. With Galileo's letter to the Grand Duchess Christina being circulated in 1615, it was not long before the Roman Catholic Church was informed that Galileo was interpreting the Bible. Of course, this was the Protestant problem that contributed to the Reformation. So in 1616, the Church placed Copernicus' On the Revolutions, on the Roman Index and this book was suspended for correction. It's important to note the committee that came to this decision was made up of only theologians and pastors. And they consulted for only a few days. They examined the following two propositions. Number one, the sun is at the center of the world, and does not move. And number two, the earth is not at the center of the world, and is in motion. The judgement of the committee appears in quote seven, and it was an 11 to 0 vote. All committee members said that this proposition referring here to the first proposition and the idea that the Sun is at the center of the world and does not move. This proposition is foolish, and absurd in philosophy referring here to natural philosophy or science. And formally, heretical since it explicitly contradicts in many places the sense of holy scripture according to the literal meaning of words. And according to the common interpretation and understanding of the holy fathers, and the doctors of theology. Continuing with Quote 7, all committee members said, that this proposition referring here to the second proposition and the idea that the earth is not at the center of the world, and that the earth is in motion. This proposition receives the same judgment and philosophy. And that in regard to theological truth, it is at least erroneous in faith. This judgement by the committee of theologians and pastors is quite revealing because it shows that the church was entrenched. In scientific concordism and that hermeneutics was a significant factor in the Galileo affair. Still in the year of 1616, Galileo was summoned to Rome and he met Cardinal Bellarmine. Bellarmine warned Galileo against the realism of heliocentrism and asked him to call it a hypothesis. It's worth noting, Bellarmine was correct because at that time there was no experimental evidence that the earth moved. This evidence only appears in 1838 with stellar parallax. In 1618, three comets appear in the sky, and the Jesuits of the Roman college published a book on comets. They use an Aristotelian interpretation in which comets are not celestial, but sparks between air and the lunar sphere. In 1623, Galileo's book, The Assayer is published. This is Galileo's work on comets and in it, he attacks the Jesuits and alienates them, but as you will see, in the end, they will get Galileo. Galileo visited Rome in 1624, and he met with Pope Urban VIII. This pope was a friend of Galileo's and he encouraged Galileo to write up his views as a hypothesis. Galileo then worked on a book between 1624 and 1630. And he argued that tides are evidence of the earth's motion. End of episode.