Galileo Essays (532 words) - Galileo Affair, Copernican Revolution

Galileo After reading this letter I feel that Galileo had a very opinionated outlook on life and was heavily involved in a struggle for freedom of inquiry. Galileo was a person who had many strong beliefs and would not let people or a document have a say in what he believes. I think that according to Galileo an individual gains knowledge of nature threw observation. Galileo believed no one really went out into the world as he did and used the senses that God gave us when we where created, to observe the physical world. He was a very persistent individual and was always looking further into what he observed our read. Many people went along with how he gained knowledge of nature but the few who did not tried to find other ways to damage his beliefs and ideas. Galileos objections to using the bible where very clear. He objected to using the bible as a source of knowledge of physical things because it would not always speak the truth on the surface. He feels that the truth and meaning lie underneath what is actually written down on the page. He believes we must use our senses God gave us to find the truth in the bible. He thinks the bible leads us to the abandonment of reason and our senses. Galileo does not argue that the bible is untrue, he strongly believes in the bible. He does feel that the bible can not be taken as the absolute truth though. He mentions that during the passage the bible speaks untrue but then if looked further into the passage he states that you will find the truth. Galileo wants us to look further into the bible and not just what is written on the page. He thinks we shall look further by using the knowledge and senses God gave us when we where created. Science contradicts the bible in many ways according to Galileo because scientists are looking further into and past what the bible says. So therefore scientists have different meanings of what the bible says. Scientists are more complex than the bible and it words. He explains this by saying that in the bible you will find words that say the sun moves and the earth stands still. If looked further into you will find that science contradicts this because as we no the earth moves around the sun. I think the bible is saying that the world is the center of the universe therefor everything revolves around what the earth does as a place. I think Galileo does believe in God. Galileo believes that God has good advice when looked further into and interpreted differently then what the bible says. Most people believe in God and what he states in the bible but Galileo believes God gave us our senses to observe the bible and our surrounding into further details. Galileo uses God to justify knowledge by saying that we gain our knowledge through the senses God gave us to observe the physical world. God required we use these senses to look deeper into what we observe therefor we would gain knowledge of nature and our surroundings Philosophy Essays