Then came Copernicus and he changed everything. A resident of 14th century Poland, Copernicus is one of the most significant and hesitant heroes in our story. In 1514 he published a little pamphlet that outlined his theory. He said that instead of the earth being at the center of it all, the sun occupied that position and that the earth and the planets and things revolved around it. This little pamphlet reached Rome and the church was very receptive to it at first. It wasn’t until near the end of his life that he published a full book on the subject. Many people think he waited so long to publish because he was afraid of the repercussions of his actions, especially from the church. He was right to fear it. 60 years later the church did denounce his theory because it “contradicted holy scripture.” I’ve read most of the holy scriptures of the Christian faith and I haven’t found any piece in it that contradicts Copernicus’ theory. So I pose my first question: why was the church so against it? What did they see wrong with it? It has since been proven accurate in at least the earth revolving round the sun part. What does the church think about it now? Why the change? What happens when something the church says conflicts with observed facts? I guess I don’t keep up with church politics much…but I do wonder these things. Anyway I want to hear your thoughts on the subject. Also, I’ve included a painting of Copernicus by Jan Matejko entitled “Astronomer Copernicus-Conversation with God.” I very much liked this painting.
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