In the 16th century Europe faced social, political and religious conflicts. Historians argue that conflict is a leitmotif of change; it awakens society from slumber and stagnation and leads to the creation of new ideas and thoughts so that, consequently, the society has to change its structure according to the need of time.

In the same century, the Christian community was divided into two when Martin Luther challenged the Catholic Church and its outdated institutions.

The Catholic Church on its part launched the Counter-Reformation to restructure its institutions. But then the Thirty Years’ War ravaged Germany and also other European countries and under these circumstances, the Catholic Church became very sensitive to signs of dissent. The Inquisition, which was a group of institutions within the judicial system of the Roman Catholic Church, took harsh steps against ‘heretics’ to check any deviation from the approved faith in order to retain its unity.

The most effective challenge that the church faced was the emergence of new knowledge which contradicted the Holy Scripture, the very basis of the faith. Until now the Ptolemaic idea that the earth was stationary and the sun revolved around it was firmly believed by the church. However, it was scientifically challenged by Copernicus (d.1543), the Polish scientist, who proved that earth revolved while the sun remained stationary. It was the heliocentric theory which contradicted Ptolemy’s geocentric concept as well as that of the church. The Catholic Church responded with fury and put the book of Copernicus in the Index Librorum, a list of ‘banned’ books which Catholics should avoid.

The argument of the church was that in the old testaments, Joshua ordered the sun not to move and it obeyed, remaining still so the nation could prepare for the war. The contention of the church was that if the sun was stationary, why would Joshua ask it not to move? Hence it was considered heretical to oppose this Biblical interpretation.

The first philosopher to face charges of heresy was Giordano Bruno (d.1600) who propagated the idea that the earth moved and that there were a number of galaxies behind the sun.

All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them — Galileo Galilei

The inquisition arrested him and tried him as a heretic. It was the practice of the Inquisition to torture prisoners and force confessions out of them. Giordano Bruno endured all kinds of torture but refused to abjure his ideas. Finally, he was taken out of prison, paraded in the streets as a heretic and burnt at the stake. When he was at the pyre, a priest tried to put a cross before his face which he angrily set aside and surrendered to being burnt alive.

Another scientist and philosopher who created lot of problems for the church was Galileo (d.1642). He was a prominent scientist and invented the telescope, the microscope and a number of small gadgets. With the invention of the telescope, he discovered new facts about heavenly planets. He proved that there were dark spots in the sun and the moon was also not as clean as it appeared. In one of his books, Dialogue, he supported Copernicus’ theory about the movement of earth. His discoveries and ideas disturbed the authorities of the church. Pope Urban VIII, who was once an admirer of Galileo, became angry and appointed a council to draw charges against him. Galileo was tried by the Inquisition as a heretic. He was given the choice either to renounce his views or be ready to be tortured and punished. Having no other alternative Galileo confessed his guilt and apologised to the Church for his mistakes. First he was imprisoned in Rome and finally in his house at Florence. He was not allowed to meet anybody to discuss the controversial issues and remained isolated for the rest of his life.

The insult and humiliation did not dampen his spirit. He continued to work, and sent his new manuscript about the theory of motion for publication to France secretly. He also received some visitors such as Hobson, the English philosopher and Milton, the English poet in spite of a strict ban. In the end of his life, he became blind and died a restless man.

The church closed all doors for the creation of new knowledge, which relegated the Catholic world into backwardness. On the other hand, free from such religious restriction, the Protestant countries created new knowledge and progressed politically and economically.

Through his lifetime, Galileo was condemned by the church, yet the new knowledge created by the scientists and philosophers overpowered the extremist religious views and transformed the world. In 1992, 350 years after his death, the case of Galileo was reopened by the Catholic Church and the Pope John Paul recognised the error of the church authorities and declared Galileo, the right of his views. This rehabilitation is a triumph of knowledge against faith.

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, September 20th, 2015

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