My 101 Reasons for Leaving the Catholic Church:
Galileo
What is it ? Galileo (1564-1642) was an Italian physicist, mathematician, and astronomer. As a scientist, he is famous for his work on the laws of gravity. But as a Catholic, he is famous for being tried and imprisoned by his Church. Constructing a telescope, Galileo discovered four moons that were revolving around Jupiter. This and other discoveries led him to support the Copernican view of the solar system: that the earth revolves around the sun. He wrote a book (Sidereus Nuncius or Starry Messenger) in 1610 announcing his findings. The book contradicted the official teaching of the Church, which firmly held that the earth was the center of the universe. Galileo was summoned to Rome in 1615 by Pope Paul V to appear before the INQUISITION. There he was confronted by Cardinal Bellarmine, the staunch defender of Catholicism against the "heretics" of the Reformation. Bellarmine had a letter from the Pope that required Galileo to renounce his findings that the sun did not revolve around the earth. The letter threatened imprisonment for failure to recant his heretical teaching. Galileo agreed to desist, and he was forbidden to publish anything further. He was released in February, 1616. Two weeks later Sidereus Nuncius was placed on the INDEX OF PROHIBITED BOOKS. The Index stated that the theory that the earth revolved around the sun was false, and contrary to Scripture. Galileo returned to his studies in Florence. In 1624, Galileo composed a treatise comparing the two views. After nine years of negotiations, Galileo agreed to submit to any conditions that the Church might have, as long as the book was published. The Church's condition was that the preface to the book would strongly denounce the Copernican view. Unfortunately for Galileo, his arguments in the book were too strong for the Church's teaching. The book became popular, and the preface was ignored. The Pope became personally offended by the reception of the book. The second shoe was about to drop for Galileo. The Pope banished Father Ricciardi, the writer of the preface, and required that Galileo again be sent before the Inquisition. Galileo was again forced to recant, this time in public. I abjure with sincere heart and unfeigned faith, I curse and detest the said errors and heresies, and generally all and every error and sect contrary to the Holy Catholic Church. And I swear that for the future I will neither say nor assert in speaking or writing such things as may bring upon me similar suspicion; and if I know any heretic, or one suspected of heresy, I will denounce him to this Holy Office... Galileo's writings were removed from all universities in Catholic Europe, and his recantation was published and distributed. Galileo spent the rest of his life under house arrest, carefully watched by the Inquisition. After his death in 1642, his family was not allowed to bury him in his family tomb, and no monument could be erected in his honor. How did it come about ? At the time of Galileo, many thousands of "heretics" were being imprisoned, tortured and killed by the Holy Office of the Inquisition. The Catholic Church was threatened by the challenges to her authority by the doctrines of the Reformers. The so-called "formal" cause of the Reformation was the doctrine of Sola Scriptura, that Scripture is the sole and final authority over all matters of faith. The Catholic Church sought to regain its authority by persecuting those who threatened her teachings. The Catholic Church sought to retain her authority by suppressing those within her fold through the Index of Forbidden Books and by punishing dissent among her adherents. It attempted to keep the Scriptures from being translated into the vernacular - as this would promote private interpretation of the Bible. The writings of Galileo were seen as a threat to the Church on both fronts. His scientific teaching was contrary to the public teachings of the Church. And they were seen as an attempt at private interpretation of Scriptures. Therefore, Galileo had to be silenced. In 1822, the Inquisition officially determined that Galileo's teachings were "permitted." And in 1835 his works were officially removed from the Index of Prohibited Books. In 1979, Pope John Paul II commissioned a study of the Galileo affair. The commission reported that the theologians at the time of Galileo "did not recognize the formal distinction between Sacred Scripture and its interpretation, and this led them unduly to transpose into the realm of the doctrine of faith a question which in fact pertained to scientific investigation..."
Why it is wrong: 1) ...because the Church used force and coercion to suppress scientific truth; 2) ...because the Church used fear to suppress knowledge; 3) ...because the Church still holds that her popes are infallible, and that only she can correctly interpret Scripture.
Warnings from Scripture: Therefore, behold, I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city... Mt. 23:34 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness...
Rom. 1:18 I wrote something to the church; but Diotrephes, who loves to be first among them, does not accept what we say. For this reason, if I come I will call attention to his deeds which he does, unjustly accusing us with wicked words; and not satisfied with this, he himself does not receive the brethren, either, and he forbids those who desire to do so and puts them out of the church.
3 Jn. 9
? Point to Ponder The Catholic Church officially condemns to hell those who disagree with her infallible teachings. The majority of Catholics disagree with the infallible teaching that the Pope is infallible. Therefore...
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