The Galileo case does not cease to intrigue. It has been used and abused in a simplistic way most of the time. Galileo is usually presented as a heroic intellect taking a courageous stance on behalf of science. The Church, which condemned him, is, for the most time, depicted as a villain standing in the way of progress. Undoubtedly, Galileo's condemnation was a painful lesson for the Church, which wisely kept silent about Darwinian evolution. But the Galileo case means for the Church much more than the counsel of caution. What triumphed in the Galileo case was the respect for the quantitative ordering of things, which is independent of any revelation and cannot be overruled by it as long as the Creator and the Redeemer are the same God. Scientists in turn may learn an all-important scientific lesson from Galileo's failure to provide an "absolutely demonstrative proof" of heliocentrism, which at that time stood for the universe. As it turned out, the actual ordering of the universe cannot definitively be fathomed by science. Worse, a new Galileo case may loom large, which may discredit not the Church but the scientists' use of science.

By Fr. Stanley L. Jaki

ISBN 978-1-892548-19-1  •  32 pages  •  softcover