Heliocentrism

In astronomy, heliocentrism is the theory that the Sun is at the center of the Universe and/or the Solar System. The word is derived from the Greek (Helios = "Sun" and kentron = "Center"). Historically, heliocentrism is opposed to geocentrism and currently to modern geocentrism, which places the earth at the center. (The distinction between the Solar System and the Universe was not clear until modern times, but extremely important relative to the controversy over cosmology and religion.) In the 16th and 17th centuries, when the theory was revived and defended by Copernicus, Galileo, and Kepler, it became the center of a major dispute.

Religious disputes over heliocentrism

As early as the time of Aristarchus, the heliocentric idea was denounced as being against religion. The issue did not assume any importance, however, for nearly 2,000 years.

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Nicolaus Copernicus published the definitive statement of his system in De Revolutionibus in 1543. Copernicus began to write it in 1506 and finished it in 1530, but did not publish it until the year of his death. Although he was in good standing with the Church and had dedicated the book to Pope Paul III, the published form contained an unsigned preface by Osiander stating that the system was a pure mathematical device and was not supposed to represent reality. Possibly because of that preface, the work of Copernicus inspired very little debate on whether it might be heretical during the next 60 years.

Related Topics:
Nicolaus Copernicus - ''De Revolutionibus'' - Pope Paul III - Osiander - Heretical

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The term at that time for such a purely fictitious computing trick was hypothesis. In order to understand the disputes of the following 100 years, it is necessary to remember that the modern meaning, an idea that is to be confirmed or disproved by experiment, did not arise until later.

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There was an early suggestion among Dominicans that the teaching should be banned, but nothing came of it at the time. Some Protestants, however, voiced strong opinions during the 16th century. Martin Luther once said:

Related Topics:
Dominican - Martin Luther

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"There is talk of a new astrologer who wants to prove that the earth moves and goes around instead of the sky, the sun, the moon, just as if somebody were moving in a carriage or ship might hold that he was sitting still and at rest while the earth and the trees walked and moved. But that is how things are nowadays: when a man wishes to be clever he must needs invent something special, and the way he does it must needs be the best! The fool wants to turn the whole art of astronomy upside-down. However, as Holy Scripture tells us, so did Joshua bid the sun to stand still and not the earth."

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This was reported in the context of dinner-table conversation and not a formal statement of faith. Melanchthon, however, opposed the doctrine over a period of years.

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Over time, however, the Catholic Church began to become more adamant about protecting the geocentric view. Pope Urban VIII, who had approved the idea of Galileo's publishing a work on the two theories of the world, became hostile to Galileo; it is said that he believed Galileo mocked him in his Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, though evidence of this is scant or lacking. (The character who represents traditional views in the dialogue is named "Simplicio", after the classic philosopher Simplicius, who was admired at the time by followers of neoplatonism.) Over time, the Catholic Church became the primary opposition to the Heliocentric view.

Related Topics:
Pope Urban VIII - Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems - Simplicius

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The favored system had been that of Ptolemy, in which the Earth was the center of the universe and all celestial bodies orbited it. (The Catholic support for geocentricism should not be confused with the idea of a flat earth, which the Church never supported.) A geocentric compromise was available in the Tychonian system, in which the Sun orbited the Earth, while the planets orbited the Sun as in the Copernican model. The Jesuit astronomers in Rome were at first unreceptive to Tycho's system; the most prominent, Clavius, commented that Tycho was "confusing all of astronomy, because he wants to have Mars lower than the Sun." (Fantoli, 2003, p. 109) But as the controversy progressed and the Church took a harder line toward Copernican ideas after 1616, the Jesuits moved toward Tycho's teachings; after 1633, the use of this system was almost mandatory. For advancing heliocentric theory Galileo was put under house arrest for the last several years of his life.

Related Topics:
Ptolemy - Earth - Flat earth - Tychonian system - Clavius

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Theologian and pastor Thomas Schirrmacher, however, has argued:

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:Contrary to legend, Galileo and the Copernican system were well regarded by church officials. Galileo was the victim of his own arrogance, the envy of his colleagues, and the politics of Pope Urban VIII. He was not accused of criticising the Bible, but disobeying a papal decree.http://www.answersingenesis.org/tj/v14/i1/galileo.asp

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Catholic scientists also:

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:appreciated that the reference to heresy in connection with Galileo or Copernicus had no general or theological significance, (Heilbron 1999).

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Whether these modern interpretations of theology were generally held in the Church in Galileo's time may be judged from the words of the Inquisition when it tried and condemned Galileo in 1633. In the Inquisition's formal charges he was not accused of violating a papal decree; rather, the charges condemned his holding of "a false doctrine taught by many, namely, that the sun is immovable in the center of the world, and that the earth moves". During formal questioning by the Inquisition, Galileo was asked (first day) what orders he had been given in 1616 (clearly a reference to the supposed decree); but he was also questioned (fourth day) on his Copernican beliefs. The final verdict was on exactly the same lines as the indictment: he had rendered himself "vehemently suspected of heresy", but there was no mention of disobedience to a specific order.

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Cardinal Robert Bellarmine himself considered that Galileo's model made "excellent good sense" on the ground of mathematical simplicity; that is, as a hypothesis (see above). And he said:

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:If there were a real proof that the Sun is in the centre of the universe, that the Earth is in the third sphere, and that the Sun does not go round the Earth but the Earth round the Sun, then we should have to proceed with great circumspection in explaining passages of Scripture which appear to teach the contrary, and we should rather have to say that we did not understand them than declare an opinion false which has been proved to be true. But I do not think there is any such proof since none has been shown to me. (Koestler 1959, pp. 447–448)

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Therefore, he supported a ban on the teaching of the idea as anything but hypothesis. In 1616 he delivered to Galileo the papal command not to "hold or defend" the heliocentric idea. In the discussions leading to the ban, he was a moderate, as the Dominican party wished to forbid teaching heliocentrism in any way whatever. Galileo's heresy trial in 1633 involved making fine distinctions between "teaching" and "holding and defending as true".

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The official opposition of the Church to heliocentrism did not by any means imply opposition to all astronomy; indeed, it needed observational data to maintain its calendar. In support of this effort it allowed the cathedrals themselves to be used as solar observatories called meridiane; i.e., they were turned into "reverse sundials", or gigantic pinhole cameras, where the sun's image was projected from a hole in a window in the cathedral's lantern onto a meridian line.

Related Topics:
Meridiane - Sundial - Pinhole camera

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