ABSTRACT
The classic case of conflict between Western science and religion is the confrontation between Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) and the Roman Catholic Church in the early decades of the seventeenth century. This episode involved four central issues: (1) the state of the scientific debate at the time over the comparative merits of the older Earth-centered astronomy of Claudius Ptolemy of Alexandria (second century A.D.) and of the relatively more recent but conflicting sun-centered theory of Nicholas Copernicus (1473-1543); (2) the question of what are the proper exegetical standards to be used for understanding the meaning and the truth of the Bible; (3) the historical events and their rationale that led the Roman Catholic Church in 1616 to condemn Copernicanism as false; and (4) the charges, the legal ground, and the course of events in Galileo’s trial and condemnation in 1633.
