Traditional Religion Dbq Essay
A last factor that influenced scientists was the traditional religious beliefs stated in the church doctrine. Until the Scientific Revolution many people had accepted that they were not supposed to understand all the mysteries of the universe because they believed certain knowledge could not be obtained by humans. This was called skepticism, as humans were skeptical of the range of their abilities. A popular advocator for this view was Michel de Mointaigne, who often asked the question, “What do I know?” The answer to this question was, of course, “Nothing.” People would put all their faith in their religion, thinking that it held the knowledge they could not obtain. {CONT.} Often times, like in the case of Galileo, the church would find scientists’
…show more content…
He applied mathematics to his experiments and also used a telescope to make astronomical observations. He discovered mountains on the moon, spots on the sun, and also the four moons of Jupiter; observations that contradicted traditional beliefs that the heavens were perfect. {EXT.} In a letter to Galileo, an Italian monk named Giovanni Campioli tells Galileo, “remove the possibility of malignant rumors by repeatedly showing your willingness to defer to the authority of those who have jurisdiction over the human intellect in matters of the interpretation of Scriptures.” (Doc. 6) This document may be biased because Campioli was a monk, a religious figure, and only considered the universe a religious subject and that, therefore, he thought would make him a more reliable source than Galileo. He wrote this letter perhaps to try and withhold his authority over religious persons and suppress Galileo by insinuating it was in everyone’s best interest. [POV] Galileo was eventually brought before the Italian Inquisition for his theories. The traditional religious beliefs obviously affected his work in a similar way as Copernicus as he had to be careful who he talked to for fear of being found out by the church. Both scientists were limited in what they could do because of the fact that they were contradicting what the church
He applied mathematics to his experiments and also used a telescope to make astronomical observations. He discovered mountains on the moon, spots on the sun, and also the four moons of Jupiter; observations that contradicted traditional beliefs that the heavens were perfect. {EXT.} In a letter to Galileo, an Italian monk named Giovanni Campioli tells Galileo, “remove the possibility of malignant rumors by repeatedly showing your willingness to defer to the authority of those who have jurisdiction over the human intellect in matters of the interpretation of Scriptures.” (Doc. 6) This document may be biased because Campioli was a monk, a religious figure, and only considered the universe a religious subject and that, therefore, he thought would make him a more reliable source than Galileo. He wrote this letter perhaps to try and withhold his authority over religious persons and suppress Galileo by insinuating it was in everyone’s best interest. [POV] Galileo was eventually brought before the Italian Inquisition for his theories. The traditional religious beliefs obviously affected his work in a similar way as Copernicus as he had to be careful who he talked to for fear of being found out by the church. Both scientists were limited in what they could do because of the fact that they were contradicting what the church