Re: Liberal Christianity
chrisnice --
"anyways, since when is anyones political deftness a determining factor in whether something is true or not. "
I would point again to the Galileo Link.
From the Galileo Link:
"Since the Galileo case is one of the historical
bludgeons that are used to beat on the Church--the
other two being the Crusades and the Spanish
Inquisition--it is important that Catholics understand
exactly what happened between the Church and that very
great scientist. A close look at the facts puts to rout
almost every aspect of the reigning Galileo legend.
The Victorian biologist Thomas Henry Huxley, who had no
brief for Catholicism, once examined the case and
concluded that "the Church had the best of it." The
most striking point about the whole affair is that
until Galileo forced the issue into the realm of
theology, the Church had been a willing ombudsman for
the new astronomy. It had encouraged the work of
Copernicus and sheltered Kepler against the
persecutions of Calvinists. Problems only arose when
the debate went beyond the mere question of celestial
mechanics. But here we need some historical background."
And again from the Link:
"But Galileo was intent on ramming Copernicus down the
throat of Christendom. The irony is that when he
started his campaign, he enjoyed almost universal good
will among the Catholic hierarchy. But he managed to
alienate almost everybody with his caustic manner and
aggressive tactics. His position gave the Church
authorities no room to maneuver: they either had to
accept Copernicanism as a fact (even though it had not
been proved) and reinterpret Scripture accordingly; or
they had to condemn it. He refused the reasonable third
position which the Church offered him: that
Copernicanism might be considered a hypothesis, one
even superior to the Ptolemiaic system, until further
proof could be adduced."
The problem was that Galileo did not have Proof of his theory. The Church was willing to leave it open to further Scientific investigation but Galileo insisted the Church change the traditional interpretation of the scripture in question Right Now to suit him and before a rigorous proof had been produced.
You might also consider the fact that Galileo was just as belligerently trying to ram some of his other theories down the Church's throat that were just downright False and which the best scientific minds of the day knew were false.
PairTheBoard
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