leaving the shore to effectively illustrate this point, he writes, “...when a ship floats on over a tranquil sea, all the things outside seem to the voyagers to be moving in a movement which is the image of their own” (13). This optical illusion mirrors the geocentrism Copernicus was attempting to dispel.
Copernicus also noted that clouds and falling objects are not affected by the rotation of the Earth because they obey the same nature as earth.
9. “Whether Many Movements can be Attributed to The Earth, and Concerning the Center of the World.” Copernicus argues that the irregular patterns the planets follow make it apparent that the earth is not at the center of their rotation. Additionally, there is no reason why Earth is the only spherically …show more content…
But… it is often very abstruse, and may say things which are quite different from what its bare words signify” (33). Clearly, if the Bible is “often very abstruse” it is no wonder that it is easily misinterpreted.
Galileo exemplifies how easily the Bible can be misinterpreted when he urges that, “... it would perhaps fit in better with the decorum and majesty of the sacred writings to take measures for preventing every shallow and vulgar writer from giving to his compositions... an air of authority by inserting in them passages from the Bible, interpreted (or rather distorted) into senses far from the meaning of the scripture” (36).
As is demonstrated here by “distorters” of the holy text, the Bible can be used to make arguments that can be ridiculous or …show more content…
To get common people into heaven, expounding on the movements of the heavens was not important. In fact, Galileo argued that sometimes the transcribers of the Bible found it necessary to simplify the message of God to make the Bible’s meaning clearer to the common people. He writes, “These propositions uttered by the Holy Ghost were set down in that manner by the sacred scribes in order to accommodate them to the capacities of the common people, who are rude and unlearned” (33). Clearly, the Bible was tailored to the beliefs and puny intellect of the common folk, who might not believe the word of God if complex scientific theory they couldn’t observe was included in the Scriptures. Galileo states this in as many words, “Hence I think that I may reasonably conclude that whenever the Bible has occasion to speak of any physical conclusion (especially those which are very abstruse and hard to understand), the rule has been observed in avoiding confusion in the minds of the common people which would render them contumacious towards the higher mysteries” (33). Galileo argues that one of these simplifications was made in attributing earth as the center of the heavenly sphere. He writes, “It is sufficiently obvious that to attribute motion to the sun and rest the earth was
Copernicus also noted that clouds and falling objects are not affected by the rotation of the Earth because they obey the same nature as earth.
9. “Whether Many Movements can be Attributed to The Earth, and Concerning the Center of the World.” Copernicus argues that the irregular patterns the planets follow make it apparent that the earth is not at the center of their rotation. Additionally, there is no reason why Earth is the only spherically …show more content…
But… it is often very abstruse, and may say things which are quite different from what its bare words signify” (33). Clearly, if the Bible is “often very abstruse” it is no wonder that it is easily misinterpreted.
Galileo exemplifies how easily the Bible can be misinterpreted when he urges that, “... it would perhaps fit in better with the decorum and majesty of the sacred writings to take measures for preventing every shallow and vulgar writer from giving to his compositions... an air of authority by inserting in them passages from the Bible, interpreted (or rather distorted) into senses far from the meaning of the scripture” (36).
As is demonstrated here by “distorters” of the holy text, the Bible can be used to make arguments that can be ridiculous or …show more content…
To get common people into heaven, expounding on the movements of the heavens was not important. In fact, Galileo argued that sometimes the transcribers of the Bible found it necessary to simplify the message of God to make the Bible’s meaning clearer to the common people. He writes, “These propositions uttered by the Holy Ghost were set down in that manner by the sacred scribes in order to accommodate them to the capacities of the common people, who are rude and unlearned” (33). Clearly, the Bible was tailored to the beliefs and puny intellect of the common folk, who might not believe the word of God if complex scientific theory they couldn’t observe was included in the Scriptures. Galileo states this in as many words, “Hence I think that I may reasonably conclude that whenever the Bible has occasion to speak of any physical conclusion (especially those which are very abstruse and hard to understand), the rule has been observed in avoiding confusion in the minds of the common people which would render them contumacious towards the higher mysteries” (33). Galileo argues that one of these simplifications was made in attributing earth as the center of the heavenly sphere. He writes, “It is sufficiently obvious that to attribute motion to the sun and rest the earth was