Galileo Question for Christans (With Bible Verses)?

Question

Galileo.

A man that had right ideas about the earth revolving around the Sun but his beliefs clashed with what was said in the Bible.
In the Bible it states that the earth does not move and then it was believed that the planet earth was actually in the centre of our solar system.
So the bible is wrong, Galileo proved it, an amazing advancement in science and astronomy, and does he get a prize for this? no, he gets imprisoned by the Catholic church.

So what do modern day Christians think of this? the man has new FACTS that showed that something in the bible was false, he rpesented these facts, and was just imprisioned.
How is that fair?
What kind of religion is that?

Bible:

Psalm 93:1, Psalm 96:10, and Chronicles 16:30 state that "the world is firmly established, it cannot be moved." Psalm 104:5 says, "[the LORD] set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved." Ecclesiastes 1:5 states that "the sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises."

Answer 1

The Bible speaks about things as they appeared.

The earth is moving around the sun but it cannot be moved, by us.

Even the US Navy almanac refers to sun rise and sun set.

Actually the Bible was telling us back 800 years before Jesus was born that the earth is round, Isaiah referred to it as a circle.

The Bible told us the stars cannot be counted.

Whenever the Bible has spoken about science it is correct.

When it appeared to be wrong, as time has gone on, science has been proving the Bible to be more and more correct.

All your question has shown is that the Roman Catholic Church is a false religion and it is not led by Bible believing Christians.

Its a man made religion full of hate and not love.

Pastor Art

Answer 2

Psalm 93:1, Psalm 96:10, and Psalm 104:5, says the earth cannot be moved, but does that have to mean its rotation or orbit. Does the earth move out of its place of orbit, no. This is what is meant that the earth does not move. You do not see the earth moving closer to the moon or to Mars, no it stay on its path of orbit. In Ecclesiastes 1:5 all it is saying is that the sun rises and then sets, then it rises in the same place it rose before. It does not say the sun moves around the earth. Let's look at this verse, "Have you commanded the morning since your days; and caused the day to spring(dawn) to know his place?....It (the earth) is turned as clay to the seal." Job 38:12,14. Here it is saying that dawn is commanded by God because He turns the earth as clay to a seal. A seal is the machine that potters use that spins. Clay (the earth) to a seal(a spinning device). So the Bible does say the earth spins on it axis, by the way Job was written about 4000 years ago. As for the center of the universe part, how could you ever know? Do you know where the edges of the universe is? So how could you know the center? God bless.

Answer 3

Read the verses in context sometime. Both Psalms 93 and Psalms 96 are speaks of the kingdom of the earth (Israel) being established and not moved by its enemies in battle. Psalms 104 says that the foundations of the earth can not be removed, referring to the continents, not the globe itself

Ecclesiastes 1 is one of many times where the Bible refers to the sun rising and the sun setting, which it used to do back then, and still does today. Try watching it sometime. It can be very pretty.

Then go and look up the facts about Galileo sometime. First, he was NEVER imprisoned. Did not happen. He was confined to house arrest for about 30 days, but that was over a contract that he had violated.

When he presented his theory, his book included a lengthy section that challenged the reliability of scripture based on his discoveries. Before the book was published, Galileo decided to head off trouble by going to Rome and presenting his ideas to the Pope. Pope Urban meet with him, examined the book and looked through the telescope. He gave his permission for the publishing of the book with the condition that Galileo allow the Pope to write a three page article to be added to the end of the book which would dispute, not Galileo's theory, but his assertion that the theory disproved the Bible. Galileo agreed to the condition in writing.

However, when the book was published, Galileo had taken the Pope's article and moved it. In the book itself several characters have a dialogs about the theory and it implications. He had taken the Pope's word and placed them into the mouth of one of the other characters (one was the "fool" in the rest of the dialog).

At was for that Galileo was arrested and tried. During that time, the lawyers conducting the case did ridicule the teaching and call on him to renounce it. But the trial was for breach of contract and heresy because he had placed the pope's words into the mouth of a "fool".

He was found guilty and placed under house arrest until such time as he agreed to honor his legal contract and reissue the book with the Pope's article in the agreed upon place.

Answer 4

Psalm 93:1, Psalm 96:10, and Chronicles 16:30 state that "the world is firmly established, it cannot be moved." - Okies, you go move the world, and I'll say the Bible is wrong. Can you move the world?

Psalm 104:5 says, "[the LORD] set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved." - Again, go move the world and then I'll believe you.

Ecclesiastes 1:5 states that "the sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises." - Riiiiight, the sun doesn't rise or set, does it.

Again, show me the verse that says the earth does not move around the sun and is the center of universe. You have yet to show me the verse.

Answer 5

In reference to the first three verses, if they are read, not alone, but within the context of the chapters that contain them, they are meant to say that as the Lord created the Earth, so is it His to rule and to destroy. Psalm 93:2 states: "Your throne was established long ago; you are from all eternity." These verses are meant to be figurative in that they are absolute that the world will not be moved by the elements, the forces of Satan, or any other power that be.

If you read Psalm 104 in its entirity, it is evident that the verses contained are describing the power and majesty of God's creation. Not only that, but the amazing fact that God still holds all the power to cause the earth to work. The winds, fire, the waters and mountains, they are all at His command. But, there is a reassurance there for those who believe in Him! In verse 30, it says: "When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the earth." We know that God will allow the elements to work how they will on the earth, we know that God provides for us daily, and when we remember the One who controls all these things, He gives us a comfort: the Holy Spirit.

The first 2 chapters of Ecclesiastes talk about meaninglessness. They explore the feelings of those who do not have any hope in the world. In the ho-hum of the day, sometimes we wonder..."why do we work, why are we here, and what is the purpose to everything, when tomorrow is going to be the same as today?". But, the third chapter of Ecclesiastes goes on to explain the "seasons" of life, the times set apart for all good things, bad things, and "day-to-day" things. So, this verse is not in reference to the movement of the earth at all, but to the daily grind, so to say.

It may be interesting to you that the Book of Revelation outlines in great detail not only the destruction of the Earth as we know it, but also the creation of a new earth (which will be rebuilt right here on the existing one), and the new Heaven (after the battle between God and Satan, which will rage not only here, but in Heaven also). It is said that Revelation is figurative, but the end of times is prophesied all throughout the Bible, in the Old Testament and The New Testament. It is very literal. Revelation is an outline of events to come, in God's time.


As far as Galileo's inprisonment, he was treated just as Christians were treated before him. That is not to say that it is just or right. The early church did many many things that were wrong because it was corrupt with power-hungry leaders.

Answer 6

Psalm 93...in context...is referring to how things change. One of the Hebrew definitions of the word "established" is "formed". The world WAS formed; no?
Psalm 96...another definition of the same word is "prepared". The world is prepared, according to Scripture, to honor G-d...as this Psalm points out.
Ecclesiastes 1 is using the sun as a point of reference...comparing the ongoing faithfulness of the sun to the life cycle of mankind, or the fickle wind. It is not stating that that the earth does or doesn't revolve around the sun.
Read things in context.
ANYONE can take anything out of context by pulling a verse from here or there & claiming one thing or another.
Context; my good man.

Answer 7

The whole story is a little more complicated than the Catholic Church simply slamming Galileo into prison. In fact, Galileo had wide support in the Catholic Church including the Pope and a day to honor him at a Jesuit college. The church did not have an official position on whether the sun went around the earth of vice versa and what the church asked Galileo to do was to wait for additional study (peer-reviewed research as is common today) before declaring his theory as fact. At the time the Catholic church was having difficult relations with the Protestant church that tended to view those verses more literally than the Catholic church. In an effort to prevent unnecessarily complicating relations with the Protestant church by declaring something as fact rather than hypothesis, they ask him to hold off on presenting his theories as established fact.

Answer 8

You need to remember what time period the bible came from, we humans are far more enlightened now then we were when the bible was written.
If someone of Galileo's caliber existed today and had a theory that was contrary to something in the bible it would not be as much of an issue as it was in Galileo's time, it is much more likely that this theory would be picked apart and scrutinized by the scientific community itself, rather than any church or religion!

Answer 9

NO, it is a misinterpretation to say they conflict...

These things were KNOWN centuries before... Read about Eratosthenes, the mathematician who CALCULATED the EQUATORIAL CIRCUMFERENCE of the earth a few HUNDRED years BEFORE CHRIST. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eratosthenes

Psalm 104:5... speaks of LAND, not the earth as a planet.

The Hebrew word is erets, here is the definition for it:
world, earth, all inhabited lands; parts of the earth, land (in contrast to water), ground, soil; country, region, territory;
“heaven and earth” means the totality of creation;
“the ends of the earth” means “a very distant place”

... Yes, it probably is ALSO a misuse of the text to point to Isaiah 40:22 as describing the planet, though the visual effect of the horizon, especially from a boat or the seashore, does lead one to believe he is on the surface of a spheroid.

Answer 10

Joshua is actually the telling verse, and one the church and Galileo argued about. You know, the story of how God make the sun stand still to lengthen the day? Except think about that for a second. It wouldn't work... unless the sun revolved around the earth. Making the sun stand still while the earth revolved around it wouldn't change the day. Fat change getting Christians to admit this, however.