Compare And Contrast Venus And Galileo

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In 1610, Galileo published Sidereus describing the observations that he had made of the phases of Venus and the moons of Jupiter. He went on to propose a theory of tides in 1616. He argued that the tides were evidence for the movement of the Earth, and believed the heliocentric theory of Nicolas Copernicus. His findings proved that the Earth moved, and directly contradicted Christian doctrine. In particular, the phases of Venus, which showed it to circle the sun, and the observation of moons orbiting Jupiter contradicted the geocentric model where the orbit of all celestial bodies was centered on the Earth. For Galileo, saying that the Earth went around the Sun contradicted the teachings of the Catholic Church. Some in the Church believed that his observations were correct; many members of the Church believed that he must be wrong. His observations contradicted the Bible. An example used was a passage in Joshua where God causes the Sun to stand still and lengthen the day. This was but one of the points of evidence for the basis of the geocentric model. His…show more content…
Galileo was found guilty, and the sentence of the Inquisition, issued on 22 June 1633. Galileo was found "vehemently suspect of heresy," and of having held the opinion that the Sun is motionless at the center of the universe, that the Earth is not at its center, and that he held and defended the theory after it has been declared contrary to Holy Scripture. He was ordered to abandon those theories. He was sentenced to house arrest, which he remained under for the rest of his life. His works were banned and he was forbidden from further writing. The trial was intended to discredit Galileo and publically denounce the notion of a heliocentric universe. In order to keep the western world under the influence of the Church, it had to do everything it could to discredit and silence all who opposed the ancient and sacred beliefs of the Catholic

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