Why did Christians once execute people for stating the earth was not the center of the universe?

Question

What science are you willing to accept next?

Answer 1

Because the pontifs were control freaks.

Answer 2

Good question. The Bible never actually said anything about the earth being the center of the universe, so science was not really contradicting the Bible in saying that.
What happened was, religious leaders taught that God put Earth in the center of the universe, believing that it was the only place that had life and reasoning that if Earth was the most important planet, God would have made the universe revolve around it. Since, this new idea about the sun being the center contradicted with what they were teaching, they assumed it was heresy.
Also, people can be very close minded, especially back then, and they used their religion as an excuse to get rid of people who were simply teaching something different from what they believed. But the Bible never said that the Earth was the center of the universe, so it really wasn't heresy.

Answer 3

You show ignorance when you say Christians executed people. The Church State did the executing and it happened to be Catholic at the time. Even then it wasn't the common people but the higher authorities who made the decisions. Just because you say you are Catholic, Baptist, Pentecost or whatever doesn't make you a Christian. It's getting a little tiresome to hear that all the wars, executions and brutalities down through history was committed by Christians. True Christians are followers of Christ's principals and he certainly did not teach brutality, cruelty or ignorance. I'm sure there were some atrocities committed by non-believers. Does that mean that non-believers are responsible for every crime committed down through the annals of time. You know history wise, we could really get into some cruel people who didn't claim to be Christians if we wanted to dig up history since time immemorial but what's the point.

Answer 4

Well yes they did, and Galleleo only escaped because of his fame, and his connections. The Charge of heresy was not just about being in conflict with the word of the bible. It was even more importantly about challenging the authority of the Pope. The Church at that time was the ultimate power. The Pope ruled over Kings. The Pope was supposedly the direct link to God and was (still is) totally infallible. If the Pope says something is so then you had better believe it is so. Any contradiction was Heresy and could carry the death penalty. The penalty of an extremely unpleasant death.
So Why it was like that has more to do with the Politics of a Totalitarian form of government mantaining its control. Think of the worst stories you ever heard about any dictatorship and multiply it by factors of tens. They controlled through fear. Not just the fear of horrible death but also the fear of never ending torment in Hell. It was all driven by the need for control ever since it became the state religion of the Roman Empire in 325AD

Actually those who say the bible does _not_ say the Earth was flat, or that the bible does _not_ place earth in the center with the Sun and Moon traveling over it have Not read their bibles.
Even when the story is told about Satan tempting Jesus it has Jesus on top of a mountain able to see All of the earth. Impossible with a spherical planet.
Read the description of the creation in Genesis again while you are at it folks.

Edit to below:
I just finished reading epostle's link to the Catholic answers pages. Those links support my statements. In fact the works of Galleleo would have been acceptable if he had of said that it was just an illusion that the planets had moons circling them and the heliocentric system was just a mathematical trick to make calculations easier, and that the Pope was totally correct. He expected stronger support from his friends and counted the Pope himself as a friend. But the fact is that even the Pope could not allow a challenge to his authority. If it was not for Galleleos connections in the Courts of the Princes and inside the Church itself He would have suffered far worse. As it was he not only lost his rights to travel but he also lost his teaching (non-Church) position, was Banned from publishing and his books were put on the list of banned books to be burned.
Epostle should not mount personal attacks so much and should spend more time on his scholarship. The apology by the Catholic Church is a bit self serving in this case.

Answer 5

Heliocentricism was first formulated by Copernicus, and later developed by Christians.
Nobody was executed for it.
Galileo was not the first scientist to say the earth rotated and orbited the sun. He got into trouble for claiming the Bible was false, (it says the sun rises and sets) and lost his travel privledges. Since the Church was paying his salary, they had every right to do this. Galileo could continue in his work, complete with salary and maid service. Remember, it was a CATHOLIC university that was housing all these scientists....you know... the ones you think they executed.

And we know by science that the earth is NOT the centre of the universe, neither is the sun. It gets me when people get all smug about it. The Church is not in the business of cosmology, but some people would have more to complain about if the Church had accepted a scientific error.

tuberoot and boxer are hate mongering revisionsist who know nothing of history, or the Catholic Church

Foxs Book of Martyrs is known for its extreme bias against Catholicism and its inaccuracies. It leaves out the atrocities Protestants committed against Catholics. http://www.catholic.com/library/Galileo_Controversy.asp

Answer 6

Alot of good answers here. All have bits of truth. But basically I believe it comes down more to fear. If enough people began to believe it several things would seem to be the result. 1.) Maybe God didn't care as much about us. Thus the ego comes into play. 2.) The church would lose the power to control & profit if there were possibly higher orders. 3.) Fear God would get mad if they didn't kill those who believed different than they felt God wanted them to. Even today you see all these things though more subtle & psychological in form. Any kind of terrorism whether home grown or overseas uses religion. It's too easy to justify the killing in the name of God. Some are sadistic & cruel by nature, some are deceived by ignorance or charismatic personalities & with some it's fear either inborn or instilled. But there's nothing like the fear of God to make people do things they'd never otherwise consider or rally around some ranting fool. Claiming to be a christian doesn't make you one anymore than laying in a garage makes you a car. So I believe it's safe to say claiming to be an Islamic& saying Allah Is Great doesn't make you holy either. It's in the condition of your heart & seeking the truth wherever that may lead because religious beliefs won't get you to heaven. Even an atheist religiously believes there's no God.

Answer 7

It was the Roman Catholic Church that did that. If you can get a hold of Foxe's Book of Martyrs you will find a bit about that in there. At the same time, other Christians were also being persecuted by the Roman Catholic Church. So it wasn't 'Christians' that were doing the persecuted, but the 'State Church' that was doing the persecuting.

The Roman Catholics (thank God) have not the ability to persecute, torture, and rape people for being Protsetant, Jewish, and Muslim. Now, the Muslims that are in power in particular countries have that influence.

Also, I contend that most Roman Catholics are not interested in persecuting others for their beliefs, one of the things that were accomplished over time.

I hope that helped you to understand the truth.

Answer 8

It proves that the Pope is not perfect and is human. Only the Wod of God is infallible and that is why the Inquistions took place. Revelation 13:28 and Rome is the only geographic location on earth that fits this description. The number 6 represents man. Revelation 17:9. The Revived Roman Empire!

Answer 9

As a Christian myself, I sense alot of hatred and bitterness in you. The Holy Spirit urges me to pray for you so that you may find peace and accept Jesus in your heart. It is true that there are alot of unloving Christians, but we are not all like that and nor are we perfect. It's all about Love read 1 John 4:19 God Bless you!

Answer 10

False religion, has had a terrible consequence on the human family. Please note what the Bible says about how responsible the world empire of false religion has been.

In the Bible Book of Rev. 17,18,19 there is a very notorious woman described as a very immoral harlot. She is described as having fornicated(illicit dealings)with all the kings of the entire earth.She is called Babylon The Great--

Please note:(Revelation 18:21-24) 21 And a strong angel lifted up a stone like a great millstone and hurled it into the sea, saying: “Thus with a swift pitch will Babylon the great city be hurled down, and she will never be found again. 22 And the sound of singers who accompany themselves on the harp and of musicians and of flutists and of trumpeters will never be heard in you again, and no craftsman of any trade will ever be found in you again, and no sound of a millstone will ever be heard in you again, 23 and no light of a lamp will ever shine in you again, and no voice of a bridegroom and of a bride will ever be heard in you again; because your traveling merchants were the top-ranking men of the earth, for by your spiritistic practice all the nations were misled. 24 Yes, in her was found the blood of prophets and of holy ones and of ALL THOSE(my caps)who have been slaughtered on the earth.”

If we trace murder to its beginning--we see the situation with Cain murdering his brother Abel over a religious issue. Note how frank the blame of murder is upon this world empire of false religion , as we see ALL THOSE have been slaughtered. That is a terrible responsibilty to be involved with in that kind blame.

Jesus and many of the faithful prophets of old , were murdered because of their practicing true worship. Even Galileo was threatened because of his not believing in the trinity. Isaac Newton had similar experiences.

Answer 11

If I kill you in the name of Jesus, that does not make me a Christian. Just because you call yourself a Christian, that does not make you a Christian.
Also, nowhere in the Bible does it say that the earth is the center of the universe (or that the earth is flat, for that matter).