December 27, 2005
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Galileo
"...I think that in discussions of physical problems we ought to begin not from the authority of scriptural passages, but from sense-experiences and necessary demonstrations..."
This is an excerpt from Galileo's 1632 letter to the Roman Catholic Church explaining why he would not (at that time) recant from his heliocentric view of the solar system. If you have time, read the whole letter... it's extremely fascinating. The complete article can be found at http://home1.gte.net/deleyd/religion/galileo/galileo.html
I may get time later to post my thoughts about this... here are a few quick thoughts- (1) I think he's right that we ought not to be dogmatic about things that the Bible is not clear about, (2) I think we OUGHT to unflinchingly teach what the Bible CLEARLY teaches about things, even if it's in areas other than "salvation", such as "scientific" or "historical" areas (i.e. I think Galileo is wrong about this), (3) it would be wise also to understand the difference between historical "scientific" reconstructions versus observational/experimental science, and understand the key role of testimony in the former (i.e. do the planets orbit the earth - experimental science... testimony is irrelevant; how long were the first six days of creation - reconstructional science...testimony is extremely relevant), (4) and finally, when one speaks of "beginning", if one means finding an appropriate epistemological basis for one's beliefs, I think it is legitimate to start from the most incontrovertible evidence we know - sense experience/etc. This allows us to ascertain not only WHETHER or not to believe in Scripture, but also WHICH Scripture to believe in... (today's culture has more 'live options' than Galileo's culture did). Once the Bible is believed as a repository of truth, it may at times supercede other moments of contrary sense-data... this is a key aspect of "faith." Yet "blind faith" is irresponsible... what we should have is justified faith - faith based on good solid reasons.
What do you think? (especially about his whole letter, but also about the brief excerpt that I quoted...)
Comments (3)
http://www.answersingenesis.org/tj/v14/i1/galileo.asp
Says it all.
Thanks for the comments on my "Church and Sex" post, it helped me sharpen my thoughts a little better. I don't think that for the church to talk about sex, it has to be done in large group meetings, etc. I agree that it (and actually, just about everything) is better discussed in smaller groups, families, etc. That is the church! (Maybe I should just use Christian community rather than the church because of hte different connotations, etc.) The question is whether the Christian community even does that? In youth ministry, we often get frustrated with parents because they want us to do THEIR job. However, perhaps I need to recognize that often the church has failed to equip parents to be parents. If parents are afraid and misinformed on sex, of course kids are only going to learn through the culture. That's where the Christian community needs to start.
Go ahead do such. In fact I encourage it. You destroy the judeo-christian collection of books very quickly in this manner as a source of authority, as passages of the bible fairly clearly indicate that the people who wrote it thought the Sun revolved around the Earth. And since 'God inspired these people' to write such, the judeo-christian collection of books promotes such a belief. Since geocentrism has few adherents even among non-scientists, that collection of books as authortative ends up demolished quite quickly. So much the better, for blindly believing that any book speaks authortatively without weighing and considering it generally leads to a blind dogmatism. The other way of weighing and considering things generally leads to meaningful conversations, ideas, thoughts, and behaviors.
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