What was the conflict between Galileo and the Church really about?

Answer 1

Galileo said the earth was not the center of the universe. Galileo promoted the heliocentric idea.

The basis was that Galileo was accused of heresy for reinterpreting the scriptures.

Galileo promoted the new theory of the planets' movements among the stars devised by Copernicus. This was against the church's teaching at the time because it placed the Sun at the center, but Galileo was told he could teach the new theory as a convenient way of making predictions, but that he must not insist it was the absolute truth.

Copernicus's theory had some good points, and the old Ptolemaic theory failed to account for some of the discoveries Galileo had made with a telescope, but at that time there was no way of finding out conclusively which theory was correct.

After several years of this Galileo published a book with a summary of the argument, in which the Pope was portrayed as a simpleton for maintaining the Earth is at the centre. After that Galileo was put on trial for heresy and asked to provide proof. There was no proof and he was convicted, and he retracted his argument.

But many years later, after Newton's discoveries, it was found that Kepler's model, which used elliptical orbits but retained the idea of having the Sun at the center, was probably correct, and further discoveries in the next 200 years supported this view so that today it is generally accepted as right. So Galileo turned out to have been right all along, without being able to prove it during his lifetime.

Answer 2

Galileo agreed with the ideas of Nicolas Copernicus.
Galileo agreed with the ideas of Nicolas Copernicus.
Galileo promoted the heliocentric idea.
Galileo was teaching the heliocentric theory of the universe as fact when it was, at the time, unproven. The Church asked him to revise his teaching to reflect that it was not a fact but only a theory or hypothesis. Most Church officials were on Galileo's side but agreed that he should tone down is rhetoric. Galileo had a very sharp tongue and was quite sarcastic in his remarks and that did little to help his case.

Answer 3

Galileo agreed with the ideas of Nicolas Copernicus.
Galileo promoted the heliocentric idea.
Galileo was teaching the heliocentric theory of the universe as fact when it was, at the time, unproven. The Church asked him to revise his teaching to reflect that it was not a fact but only a theory or hypothesis. Most Church officials were on Galileo's side but agreed that he should tone down is rhetoric. Galileo had a very sharp tongue and was quite sarcastic in his remarks and that did little to help his case.

Answer 4

It was about Galileo's attempts to rewrite scripture by claiming that the church's beliefs about the planets were wrong.

The church said that they would have to reconsider the scriptures if enough evidence was presented to force them to reconsider. But in court Galielo was unable to produce enough evidence, in the court's opinion.

However many year after Galileo's death, further scientific discoveries were made that supported Kepler's model of the planets, which had the Sun at the centre, as Copernicus's model had done.

After that everyone was forced to accept that the Sun is in the centre.

Answer 5

When Galileo saw the movement of the planets and the relationship to the sun the Catholic church taught that man was the center of the universe. According to the Church man was supreme over all things. His theory that the sun was the center and everything else moved around it was seen as against the church teachings. It was more than argument for the sake of argument, but a discussion about the nature of man and his relationship to God. This was new thinking and hersay against the church so the church went after him with all the power they had.

Answer 6

Catholic Answer:
The basis of the argument was sin and pride. Galileo decided that he was right about supporting Copernicus theory that the sun was the center of the galaxy, not the earth. The Church, which had supported and approved Copernicus and his theory, told Galileo that he had to have some proof if he was going to support a theory which appeared to contradict the Church's understanding of Sacred Scripture. He refused, and got angry. The most inexplicable thing about the whole affair is that his personal friend was the Pope at the time, and instead of listening to his friend urge caution, he threw his friendship with one of the most powerful people at the time away to maintain that he was right. For a complete discussion of this sad man and the controversy, see the article at the link below; for a quote from that article go below the link:

The Galileo Controversy

The Church is not anti-scientific. It has supported scientific endeavors for centuries. During Galileo's time, the Jesuits had a highly respected group of astronomers and scientists in Rome. In addition, many notable scientists received encouragement and funding from the Church and from individual Church officials. Many of the scientific advances during this period were made either by clerics or as a result of Church funding. Nicolaus Copernicus dedicated his most famous work, On the Revolution of the Celestial Orbs, in which he gave an excellent account of heliocentricity, to Pope Paul III. Copernicus entrusted this work to Andreas Osiander, a Lutheran clergyman who knew that Protestant reaction to it would be negative, since Martin Luther seemed to have condemned the new theory, and, as a result, the book would be condemned. Osiander wrote a preface to the book, in which heliocentrism was presented only as a theory that would account for the movements of the planets more simply than geocentrism did, something Copernicus did not intend. Ten years prior to Galileo, Johannes Kepler
published a heliocentric work that expanded on Copernicus' work. As a result, Kepler also found opposition among his fellow Protestants for his heliocentric views and found a welcome reception among some Jesuits who were known for their scientific achievements

Answer 7

He was a man who enjoyed arguments and said that he was cleverer than all the cardinals. This was eventually proved to be not the case.