Kepler,Copernicus et al - The Hostile Action of Religion?

BECAUSE OF SCIENCE… Johannes Kepler chose exile. Nicolaus Copernicus’ book was suppressed. Giordano Bruno was burned at the stake. Galileo was placed under house arrest – THE HOSTILE ACTION OF RELIGION!

The following references reveal the bankruptcy of the atheistic mindset.

Johannes Kepler

BECAUSE OF SCIENCE… Johannes Kepler chose exile.

FALSE: Johannes Kepler was exiled due to his Protestant belief and this has nothing to do with SCIENCE!

Kepler and his family lived in Grazis, a second-largest city in Austria that was governed by a local Catholic Duke who had vowed during the 30 Years' War to make ‘a desert of the country than rule over heretics’ thus anyone not professing the Roman Catholic faith were fined or put into exile. Kepler and other Lutheran Christian citizen chose the latter, with his wife and daughter; they travel to a Protestant country and continue his scientific work.

Again, there was a second problem that Rey has to deal with: Kepler is a Theist Person who said he could Glorify God through his mathematical and astronomical studies. A scientist who believed that there was an art and orderliness (or a mathematical precision) in God's creation and that the more religious person recognized the greatness of creation, the deeper their worship would be.

He also believed that God was geometry’s creator.

“For the Creator, who is the very source of geometry and, as Plato wrote, ‘practices eternal geometry,’ does not stray from his own archetype.” [Kepler, Johannes, Harmonies of the World, in On the Shoulders of Giants: The Great Works of Physics and Astronomy ed. Stephen Hawking (Philadelphia: Running Press Book Publishers, 2002), p. 645.]

During his astronomical research, he only wanted to, as he put it, "think God's thoughts after Him." His scientific notes were often mixed with prayers and praise to his God! Scientist's duty as he assert, was to discover what mathematical formula God had used.

In his book, (Harmonies of the World) he often paused in the middle of an explanation to mention his Creator, and sometimes even broke off into a hymn of praise. His book on planetary motion ends with this tribute to God:

Crying out with the royal Psalmist: Great is our Lord and great His virtue and of His wisdom there is no number: praise Him, ye heavens, praise Him, ye sun, moon, and planets, use every sense for perceiving, every tongue for declaring your Creator…To Him be praise, honour, and glory, wourld without end. Amen. [Kepler, Johannes, Harmonies of the World, in On the Shoulders of Giants: The Great Works of Physics and Astronomy ed. Stephen Hawking (Philadelphia: Running Press Book Publishers, 2002), p. 723.]

Throughout his scientific work, he never sought any glory for himself, but always sought to bring glory to his God. His last prayer was:

I give you thanks, Creator and God, that you have given me this joy in thy creation, and I rejoice in the works of your hands. See I have now completed the work to which I was called. In it I have used all the talents you have lent to my spirit.

Now, Rey portraying Kepler as a victim of RELIGIOUS HOSTILITIES is TOTALLY ABSURD!

Lesson#1: If you don’t want to call you a LIAR, don’t tell a lie.

Nicolaus Copernicus

BECAUSE OF SCIENCE… Nicolaus Copernicus’ book was suppressed.

The controversial book: De revolutionibus orbium coelestium

In 1533, Johann Albrecht Widmannstetter delivered a series of lectures in Rome outlining Copernicus' theory. Pope Clement VII and several Catholic cardinals heard the lectures and were interested in the theory. On 1 November 1536, Cardinal Nikolaus von Schönberg, Archbishop of Capua, wrote to Copernicus from Rome:

Some years ago word reached me concerning your proficiency, of which everybody constantly spoke. At that time I began to have a very high regard for you... For I had learned that you had not merely mastered the discoveries of the ancient astronomers uncommonly well but had also formulated a new cosmology. In it you maintain that the earth moves; that the sun occupies the lowest, and thus the central, place in the universe... Therefore with the utmost earnestness I entreat you, most learned sir, unless I inconvenience you, to communicate this discovery of yours to scholars, and at the earliest possible moment to send me your writings on the sphere of the universe together with the tables and whatever else you have that is relevant to this subject [Schönberg, Nicholas, Letter to Nicolaus Copernicus, translated by Edward Rosen.]

Hesitant at first to the request of the Church, Nicolaus Copernicus dedicated his most famous work De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (On the Revolution of the Celestial Orbs) [in which he gave an account of heliocentricity] to a Catholic Pope, Pope Paul III. He wrote:

Epistle Dedicatory to Pope John III

[…] My friends, however, in spite of long delay and even resistance on my part, withheld me from this decision. First among these was Nicolaus Schonberg, Cardinal of Capua, distinguished in all branches of learning. Next to him comes my very dear friend, Tidemann Giese, Bishop of Culm, a most earnest student, as he is, of sacred and, indeed, of all good learning. The latter has often urged me, at times even spurring me on with reproaches, to publish and at last bring to the light the book which had lain in my study not nine years merely, but already going on four times nine. Not a few other very eminent and scholarly men made the same request, urging that I should no longer through fear refuse to give out my work for the common benefit of students of Mathematics. They said I should find that the more absurd most men now thought this theory of mine concerning the motion of the Earth, the more admiration and gratitude it would command after they saw in the publication of my commentaries the mist of absurdity cleared away by most transparent proofs. So, influenced by these advisors and this hope, I have at length allowed my friends to publish the work, as they had long besought me to do. […] [Nicolaus Copernicus (1543)]

Around 400 to 500 copies were printed for both the first (Nuremberg 1543) and second editions (Basle 1566).

Even the Gregorian calendar, first adopted in 1582, was in fact based on computations that made use of Copernicus' work." [Thomas Kuhn (1957). The Copernican Revolution. Harvard University Press. p. 125.] 

BUT when the debate over Heliocentrism was becoming heated in 1616, seventy-three years after it was first published (I repeat 73 years after it was first published), the Inquisition ordered the book withdrawn from circulation. The De revolutionibus orbium coelestium as a result of the Galileo’s Trial was placed on the Index of Forbidden Books.  

Cardinal Bellarmine (head of the Inquisition team) expressed the opinion that Copernicus's book would not be banned; he had found no problem with Heliocentrism so long as it was treated as a purely hypothetical calculating device and not as a physically real phenomenon or unless it could be conclusively proved through current scientific standards. (One valid scientific objection raised by the Catholic Church that time was the so called Stellar Parallax, unfortunately, Copernicus’ book which Galileo used cannot give the answer and this was not answered until 1838) [from my old post click here plus kindly read the comment below, there is an additional info you can get on it]

By a decree of the Sacred Congregation of March 5, 1616:

[...] Therefore, in order that this opinion may not creep any further to the prejudice of Catholic truth, the Congregation has decided that the books by Nicolaus Copernicus [De revolutionibus] and Diego de Zúñiga [In Job] be suspended until corrected. [Original Latin text and an English translation. Also mentioned by W. R. Shea and M. Artigas in Galileo in Rome (2003), pp. 84–85, ISBN 0-19-516598-5.]

FACT: It was not proscribed, but was to be removed from circulation for pending review that would clarify the theory’s status as hypothesis since it create confusion among the public! And it was republished in 1620 and in 1758 the book was finally taken off on the Index of Forbidden books.

Lesson #2 Stop Look And Listen! Majority of Road-hit accident was cause by ignoring this simple safety measure!

Giordano Bruno

Giordano Bruno was executed for DOING SCIENCE?    

  

"in 1600 there was no official Catholic position on the Copernican system, and it was certainly not a heresy. When [...] Bruno [...] was burned at the stake as a heretic, it had nothing to do with his writings in support of Copernican cosmology." [Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]

CORRECT! He was not condemned for his Copernican belief but for his THEOLOGICAL ERRORS.

"Bruno was not condemned for his defense of the Copernican system of astronomy, nor for his doctrine of the plurality of inhabited worlds, but for his theological errors, among which were the following: that Christ was not God but merely an unusually skillful magician, that the Holy Ghost is the soul of the world, that the Devil will be saved, etc." [Catholic Encyclopedia (1908)]

Bruno had written satirical words against Christian systems. He published heretical books and obscene plays. He published numerous books with magical secret knowledge [http://www.bruno-giordano.net/magic.html] such as:

Cantus Circaeus ["Incantations of Circe"] (1582) this was his early work on the art of memory with strong magical elements.

De Magia One of the very few of Bruno's books that deal explicitly with magic. It remained unpublished until Tocco's edition of 1891.

Theses De Magia 

Magia Mathematica "Mathematical Magic" Magical practices that use characters, seals, and figures.

De vinculis in genere This is Bruno's other great book on magic (LOL), dealing with "bonding in general." It explains how the masses can be manipulated with psychological and magical bonds, and how one can escape these snares.

“Bruno pushes Copernicus’ scientific work back into a pre-scientific stage, back into Hermetism, interpreting the Copernican diagram as a hieroglyph of divine mysteries.” [Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition, by Frances Yates. Routledge and Kegan Paul, London]

In short, Bruno is a Hermetic philosopher devoted to the restoration of Egyptian magical wisdom! LOL

Interesting Article: http://www.setileague.org/editor/brunoalt.htm

Lesson #3 Do not throw bomb near you!

Galileo Galilei

Galileo was placed under house arrest?       

Read my old post entitled: The Galileo Affair and Hitler a devout Catholic? I will not going to repeat it.... 

Lesson #4 One word is enough for a wise man!

... opppssss you don't belong on that category.

“I render infinite thanks to God for being so kind as to make me alone the first observer of marvels kept hidden in obscurity for all previous centuries.” - Galileo

Here comes Galileo Galilei another CATHOLIC scientist.

The Church did not say that Heliocentrism (wherein Sun is the center of the Solar System) introduced by Nicolaus Copernicus of Poland, a CATHOLIC cleric (of course) was wrong and that Galileo who supported this was teaching heresy. The Catholic Church rightly pointed out that if the earth did orbit the sun then there would be a shift in the position of a star observed from the earth on one side, and then six months later from the other side of the sun. Unfortunately Galileo was not able to give an answer to this. (This is a valid scientific objection called Stellar parallax , and it was not answered until 1838, when Friedrich Bessel succeeded in determining the parallax of star 61 Cygni. [1])

The Church gave Galileo the following option: Copernicanism might be considered a hypothesis, one even superior to the Ptolemaic system, until further proof could be adduced. He refused to accept this. Still, this wasn’t a problem until he tried to make his argument on theological grounds.

In a letter to Cardinal Dini, who was sympathetic to his position, Galileo wrote:

To me the surest and swiftest way to prove that the position of Copernicus is not contrary to Scripture would be to give a host of proofs…thus, since no two truths can contradict one another, this and the Bible must be perfectly harmonious. [Annibale Fantoli, Galileo: For Copericanism and for the Church Vol. 3, trans. George V. Coyne S.J. (Italy: Vatican Observatory Publications, 1994) 179]

And another one:

“Holy Scripture and nature, are both emanations from the divine word: the former dictated by the Holy Spirit, the latter the observant executrix of God’s commands.” Thus, “…no truth discovered in Nature could contradict the deep truth of the Holy Writ.” [Sobel, Dava, Galileo’s Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith, and Love. Toronto: Viking Press, 1999, 63.]  

A wise Cardinal Robert Bellarmine told Galileo that it was perfectly acceptable to maintain Copernicanism as a working hypothesis, (remember the Scientific Method, right?) and if there were “real proof” that the earth circles around the sun, “then we should have to proceed with great circumspection in explaining passages of Scripture which appear to teach the contrary and we should rather have to say that we did not understand them than declare an opinion to be false which is proved to be true”[2]

Instead of heeding a Church’s advice to stop trying to change the interpretation of the Scripture until he has proof, Galileo ignored this and continue promoting his own biblical interpretation to the public.

He faced the tribunal not because the Catholic Church hates Science but simply because Galileo a scientist turned out to be a bad theologian.