Once again I direct your attention to the"What I'm reading"section of this blog at the bottom right.Here you will see a list of books I've read recently,though it is not an exhaustive or all inclusive list.From time to time I may take the time to make comments on certain of these books.
I have just finished reading a fascinating book on Galileo entitled Galileo's Daughter-A Historical Memoir of Science,Faith,and Love,by Dava Sobel.In this book we see Galileo revealed through both the authors narrative and through letters sent to Galileo by his eldest daughter,a nun.
The book deals,of course with Galileo's trials in which he ran afoul with the then seemingly all powerful Catholic Church for defending the position of Copernicus that the Earth revolved around the Sun,contrary to the literal position of the Church that the Earth was central to the universe and stationary.We see,through his communications with his beloved daughter a picture of his faith and commitment to that faith,as well as his steadfast refusal to deny what he can see and experience of the world he lives in.What is important here,and should be an important lesson for today's materialists is that Galileo was hardly dogmatic in faith when confronted with visible evidence of a reality contrary to the literal word of scripture.And,of course,the lesson is that we need not view God's word and Science as being mutually contradictions.
It is astonishing to the modern mind how much power the church exerted in Galileo's day.The elite institution literally had the power,then viewed as legitimate,of life or death over those it viewed as heretics.Such was it's influence that even civil authority had to bow before it's popes.Certainly it had the ability,used to full force,to destroy Galileo's reputation such that his credibility was never restored except in the light of fairly recent history-disturbingly recent so far as the Catholic Church is concerned.
Clearly there are some parallels to our time inherent in the story of Galileo,being as it is about dogmatism and the injustice that often results when the position of orthodoxy is occupied by a relatively small unpluralistic group with vested interests of it's own.Today,we could note that the shoe seems to be on the other foot.Whereas in the time of Galileo the Church held the orthodox view,today faith seems to be under attack by Darwin and his proponents as well as athiests such as Dawkins,Dennett,and Hitchins among others.In most "intellectual"(actually pseudointellectual) discussions,materialists,atheists or agnostics begin at the default position of their non-belief as though to question it causes one to lose all credibility in the academic arena.It may be that such things follow naturally from the entrenched attitudes of Galileo's time and the point is we need to be aware of their presence in our society so as to learn history's lesson adequately and not obscure reality behind a veil of dogmatic belief.In the meantime,a whole class of people with Dawkins as their vocal leader have raised spiritual ignorance to the status of a new religion,in the sense that it takes a good deal of faith to believe most of their suppositions.And while they claim atheism,they believe in it's tenants with religious fervor.
What is also strikingly evident in Galileo's story is that he did not view religion and reason as being mutually exclusive concepts.There was a deep seated knowledge that God provided men with intellect so that they might enjoy the discovery of His world.I would note that today,many people seem to reject faith because they view it as something that cannot be believed intellectually,when in fact,if we don't listen too closely to the current voice of orthodoxy,true science can affirm faith.Galileo got this concept and was possibly one of the first people about whom this can be said.As to his faith,in terms of actions,he was a loving parent,generous supporter of his community and steadfast in his support of what he knew to be true,in the face of overwhelming opposition.Hardly lacking in faith,as revealed by the letters from his daughter.
Take some time to read this amazingly insightful book.It comes with my highest recommendation.
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