History of Theology Vs. Science

                Since the emergence of Christianity, in the 1^st century C.E, the Catholic Church progressively became more influential in politics and other matters of world affairs. More and more their influence expanded into the world of science; their conclusions were based on the information found in the bible.  

This was the world Galileo Galilei operated in. Galileo was an astronomer who strove to obtain evidence to prove and disprove various commonly accepted theories of astronomy. He utilized revolutionary tools such as the telescope to gain a better understanding of outer space. He presented multiple assertions. The only accepted theories were those that did not contradict with the beliefs of the Christian faith. The issue came when Galileo asserted the validity of the heliocentric model, a model explored earlier by Nicolaus Copernicus. The heliocentric astronomical model states that the sun is The Catholic Church took offense to this due to the fact that it directly contradicted the bible; the Church advocated for the geocentric model. Galileo presented his points in his book, Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems.  I n this book he presented the two opposing viewpoints, but clearly favoured the heliocentric model.  

The Church and its supporters contended, that the bible on multiple occasions such as in 1 Chronicles 16:30, Psalm93:1, Psalm 96:10, Psalm 104:5, Ecclesiastes 1:5, the bible stated or alluded to the earth being the centre of the universe. Furthermore they stated that since Jesus, the son of god had chosen earth to come to, it is only reasonable that earth be the centre of the universe. Though these statements had little scientific evidence, they were deemed strong arguments due to the fact that they represented the views of the church.

  Galileo remained unconvinced of the Church’s arguments and actively supported his own beliefs. In 1633 Galileo was ordered to come to Rome to stand trial for heresy. He was charged with " holding as true the false doctrine taught by some that the sun is the center of the world," against the 1616 condemnation, since "it was decided at the Holy Congregation [...] on 25 Feb 1616 that [...] the Holy Office would give you an injunction to abandon this doctrine, not to teach it to others, not to defend it, and not to treat of it; and that if you did not acquiesce in this injunction, you should be imprisoned. " He was found guilty of heresy, sentenced to life in house arrest, and his works were banned from publication.

                 It was not till the 1700s when the scientific community provided indisputable evidence of the validity of the heliocentric model, that the Catholic Church dropped the prohibition on promoting the model. Furthermore in 1835, the Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems was dropped from the index of forbidden books. Moreover in 2000, the late his Holiness Pope John Paul II issued a formal apology for all the mistakes committed by Catholics over the last 2000 years, namely the trial of Galileo.