Galileo, Science & Scripture

Galileo Galilei’s interaction with the Roman Catholic hierarchy takes on a different perspective when a dispassionate review of events and texts is considered.

In three parts, Kenneth Howell, Ph.D., will paint an historical picture of astronomy of this period and how the appearance of Copernican cosmology provoked a controversy about the ultimate picture of the universe. After a review of the state of astronomy at the time of Galileo, Howell will sketch Galileo’s life and work on astronomy. He will then offer an interpretation of his famous Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina which reveals enduring issues in the interaction of the empirical sciences and Christian revelation.