FINAL NOTES

Nicolaus Copernicus (1473 - 1543)

o Endorsed the view that Aristotle refuted
o Order of the Planets by Periods of Revolution
Sun (at rest)
Mercury (88 days)
Venus (335 days)
Earth (365 days) + Moon ( ~30 days)
Mars (2.1 years)
Jupiter (12 years)
Saturn (30 years)
Fixed stars
o Logic of Copernicus' Major Claim
If the Earth moves annually around the resting sun and daily on its own axis, then:
1. All the phenomena (angular positions) are "saved" (i.e. their angular positions are
predicted)
2. Planets are ordered by their periods of revolution
If A, then 1, 2
1, 2 affirmed
Therefore, A.
Valid or Invalid?
Invalid, although we can affirm the 1 and 2 parts, it does not mean that part A is necessarily
true
The planets don't follow in an orderly sequence
Ptolemy's Ordering and Periods of Revolution
o Earth: at rest
o Moon: 30 days
o Mercury: 365 days + 88 days epicycle
o Ptolemy's Physical Argument against the Earth's motion
"[A] If the earth had a single motion in common with other heavy objects, then [B] it is obvious
that it would be carried down faster than all of them because of its much greater size: living
things and individual heavy objects would be left behind. "
If A, then B
Not-B
Therefore, not-A
Valid or Invalid
Valid
Copernicus' Counter-Argument
It is natural for spheres to revolve and for the parts that composed them to stay together
("Gravity is nothing but a certain natural desire which the Creator has implanted in the
parts to gatherin the form of a globe")
The Earth is a sphere
Therefore, any earthy bodies in the air (birds, arrows, Frisbees, etc.) will rejoin the revolving
Earth
Consequently, nothing is left behind
Consequently:
Sensory observations does not uniquely determine the choice of one theory over another
Sensory evidence underdetermines the choice between the heliocentric and the geocentric
planetary arrangements
Criteria for Choosing a Theory (notice "criteria" is plural, not singular as in "criterion")
Mathematical economy and simplicity

Physical coherence
Scriptural agreement
Catholic and Protestant Reactions to Copernicus' Theory
o Martin Luther (1483 - 1546)
Member of the Catholic Church
A monk
Professor of Theology
University of Wittenburg
All Saints' Church (Wittenburg)
Door to which 95 theses were nailed
Posted for debate
o Philipp Melanchthon (1497 - 1560)
Argued against Luther, saying that the stars influence human behavior, so we should be paying
attention to the stars
Strong believer in astrology
Georg Joachim Rheticus (1514 - 1574)
Hired by Melanchthon
Wanted to visit Copernicus in 1539
Stayed with Copernicus for 2.5 years
Copernicus' ideals are out there and published under the name "Rheticus"
Took the book to Nuremburg to publish it (1543)
Andreas Osiander (1498 - 1552)
A big leader of the Lutherans
Became an overseer to the production and publication of the book
However, the book was written to the Pope and dedicated to the Catholic Church Pope, so
he was not sure about publication of the book.
Wrote anonymously in the book, to the reader, that the work is fiction and not true,
but enjoy it anyway
When it got to Rheticus, he was not happy and crossed out Osiander's letter to the reader
at the start

Galileo and the Telescope

o Up until the telescope, all observations were made with the naked eye
Nova of 1572
o Bright object appeared in the sky
o Grew brighter and brighter and was at one point visible in daylight
o After a couple years, it suddenly disappeared
o Was it above the moon?
The aether is never supposed to change, the earth and water and fire and air can change, but not
the aether
Comet of 1577
o New object, again
o Had a tail
o Believed that it was made by the Earth "coughing up" into the atmosphere
o Aristotle believed you could only observe comets in between the Earth and the Moon
o Stellar Parallax
Our TWO eyes are focused on a single object
Object appears to move
These two events were interpreted as evidence for the end of the world, that the Earth was hitting the 6,000
year mark
o Seven-headed Hydra

A seven headed beast was reported to appeared. Also served as evidence that strange things
were beginning to happen due to the "end of the world"
Master Narrative
o Aristotelian natural philosophy
o The Bible
o Biblical Prophecies: Antichrist, false prophet, return of Christ
o Big Problem
Where do unanticipated natural events belong in the Grand Narrative of the Creation?
Nova of 1604 (Kepler's Nova)
Galileo Galilei (1564 - 1642)
o 1589 - Galileo did not get in as a physician at University of Bologna
o Instead went to Pisa for a job for 3 years
Had a friend in Padua where Galileo moved and got a job in Padua
o Hans Lipperhey created the first telescope by taking and putting a concave and convex lens together in
one tube
Galileo made one for himself after he read about it
Tried to convince the leaders of Venice to support him to further his work and observations
Trying to support his family
Casted horoscopes to gain money from them
Instead of looking across the horizon, Galileo took his telescope to look at the moon and the
stars
Published book in 1610, "Sidereus Nuncius" = The Sidereal Messenger
He presented himself as a messenger to deliver the message of the heavens
Dedicated the book to Cosimo II, Duke of Tuscany
Galileo finds many more stars that aren't visible without the aid of an
instrument, telescope
Orion stars
Pleides stars
Surface of Moon is rough, yet it should be perfect since the Moon was
made of aether
If the surface is rough, there are parts of the moon that stick out
and are higher than other parts, therefore there are shadows that
are created
Jupiter's "Planets" I
Four new planets that didnt know existed before Galileo found
them in the vicinity of Jupiter
Galileo became the messenger of a new universe, not the messenger of a dying or
"ending" universe
He grew enemies with this idea
Needed a "big man" to help him
Used the Duke of Tuscany
Invited to join the Duke of Tuscany
Received twice the salary than before
"Professor of Mathematics at the University of Pisa" title
This instrument could make Galileo make stars appear and disappear when looking
through the telescope vs. naked eye

Chapter 2: Bellarmine's Views Before the Galileo Affair

o By the turn of the 17th C., Robert Cardinal Bellarmine had taken his place as the preeminent Catholic
theologian of the day.
o Bellarmine believed that God wrote the Scriptures and since he cannot deceive anyone, the Scriptures must
be true.

Everything in the Bible must be true whether it is essential to salvation or merely a piece of accidental
historical information.
Meanings of Sacred Scripture:
Literal or Historical (Meaning which the words immediately present)
Simple (Proper meaning of words)
Figurative (Words are transferred from their natural signification to another)
Spiritual or Mystical (Refers to something else other than that which the words immediately
signify)
Allegorical (Signifies something pertaining to Christ or the Church)
Tropological (Signifies something pertaining to morals)
Anagogical (Signifies eternal life)
Spiritual meaning is based upon, and thereby presupposes, literal meaning, which thus is the primary
meaning of Scripture.
Chapter 3: Foscarini's Bombshell
o In 1615, Foscarini's short book was published that discussed and defended Copernicanism by reconciling it
with all the passages of the Scripture
Reinterpretations of the passages of the Scriptures from a heliocentric perspective
If a heliocentric view was to be proven true in the future, then the Church could use his
reinterpretations to avoid the scandalous impression that there is error in the Bible
Says this is his motivation to write this project and publish it
Six groups of objections to Copernicanism which say the following:
The earth is stationary and does not move
The sun is moved and rotates around the earth
The heavens are at the top and the earth at the bottom
Hell is in the center of the earth
The earth is contrasted to the heavens as a center to a circumference
After judgment day the sun will stop in the east and the moon in the west
Jupiter's Planets IV
o "Planet" = moving star
Galileo tutored the Grand Duke
o Named the four wandering stars after the Grand Duke and his three other brothers (Medicci family)
o Says the stars going around Jupiter are much like the Moon going around the Earth and the Earth going
around the Sun
Makes an analogy that the Earth is going around the Sun and the Moon is going around the
Earth
He is a follower of Copernicus
Church Standards for Interpreting the Bible
o Structure of the Roman Catholic Church
The Pope
The leader of the Roman Catholic Church, elected by the cardinals for life
Cardinals
The cardinals are elected "government" of the RCC. They elect the Pope from among
their number
Archbishop
Rule over a large area called an archdiocese responsible for making sure that the
bishops follow the church "rules"
Bishop
Responsible for a diocese, the main administrative unit of a church. Supervises all the
activities of his church, visits all religious institutions at regular intervals and is
responsible for teaching the Christian faith in his diocese. Also have a responsibility to
arrange works of charity in their areas and to speak up for the poor.
Priest
o Martin Luther (1483 - 1546)

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What did Luther do?

Abandoned certain church sacraments
Challenges authority of Catholic Bible
Challenges pope's authority
Sets new criteria for salvation:
Sola scriptura (Scripture alone)
Sola fide (Faith alone)
Challenges relationships of secular authorities to Rome
Says we dont need a priest to tell us the meaning of the Bible
Each individual should read the Bible and interpret the meanings for
themselves, without the help and need of priests to tell them what the Bible
means
Because people couldnt read Latin (what the Bible was written in) Luther
translated the Bible out of Latin and into German for the common people to be
able to read (Lutheran Bible)
Pope Paul III (1468 - 1549)
Copernicus dedicated his book to Pope Paul III
Called the Council of Trent
What is a church council?
What did the Council of Trent do?
Council of Trent (1545 - 1563)
Trying to undo what Luther had succeeded in doing
Try to reassert Catholic doctrine
Try to correct some of the grievances that were susceptible to change
Try to correct/discuss the issues of indulgences
"Decree on Tradition and on the Canon of Sacred Scripture"
Affirms the "Latin Vulgate" as "sacred and canonical, both as wholes and in all
parts, as they have been customarily read in the Catholic Church"
Anyone who disagrees: "Let him be anathema"
Creation of a new institution of the church
Called the Inquisition
A church court to discover and process heresy
Another one created called The Holy Index
List of books considered to be dangerous
Someone has to read every book thats published and decide if they're
dangerous or not
If an author or publisher was considered Lutheran or Protestant,
all of their works are considered dangerous and put on the
Index, so not every single book was read necessarily
Charles V., Holy Roman Emperor
Peace of Augsburg (1555)
Cuius regio, eius religio
"Whose realm, his religion"
Secular nobles determine religion of their citizens

Council of Trent (1545 - 1563)

o Purpose was to deal with this big break away from the Church, with Lutheran Church and others
Became the beginning of the protestant revolution
Before publishing something, a publisher needed to send it to the Church to approve before it
could be published
Specific Measures on Books:
Accuracy

Proper name of author must be on the front

Books have to be examined in advance of publication
If not, then the author and publisher are declared anathema
If you circulate a manuscript in advance before gaining approval, you are also subject
to fines
If you own such a book, you are subject to penalties
Books approved by the Church will be declared so at the front of the book
Council of Trent gave Bishops the power and responsibility to give penalties and enforce the laws
Jesuit Order (Society of Jesus)
o Catholic religious orders: a group of men or women who pronounce public vows and lead a common
life together devoted to certain general aims
o Founded in 1540 by Ignatius Loyola (1491 - 1556)
Wounded in the Battle of Pamplona, 1521 - has spiritual conversion
o Jesuit Order: devoted to poverty and obedience, education and conversion
Would obey all church teachings and obey the Pope
Dedicated to educate and convert people, develop new schools and universities
o Cardinal Bellarmine, S.J. (1542 - 1621)
Wrote many books aimed at the Protestants to show them where theyve gone wrong so they can
be guided back into the Church
Scripture contains two meanings:
Literal and Historical or Spiritual and Mystical
Literal meanings can be "simple" - ordinary meanings
Literal meanings can be "figurative" - words are transferred from their ordinary
meaning to some other meaning
Three Kinds of Figurative meanings
Allegorical: something in the Old Testament stands for something in the New
Testament
Tropological: moral meaning
Anagogical: Words or events are used to signify (i.e. refer to) eternal life
Bellarmine argues that the way of interpreting and finding the correct meaning of the
Scriptures is through the Holy Spirit
Who has the ultimate authority? The Pope or the Council?
The judge of the true meaning of Scripture and of all controversies is the Church, that
is, the pontiff with a council, on which all Catholics agree and which was expressly
stated by the Council of Church, Session 4
Who gets to decide what is "the word of God"?
Bellarmine quotes Brenz: "It pertains to each individual person to judge the doctrines
of religion and to distinguish the true from the false. But there is a differences
between the individual person and the prince; namely, the former has the private
power, and the latter has the public power, to judge and to decide the doctrines of
religion."

Galileo's Approach to the Interpretation of the Bible

o In 1610, the publication of his book means his leaving of the University of Padua and he goes back to
Florence
o Benedetto Castelli (1573 - 1643)
Writes to Galileo saying that Boscaglia, an opponent of Galileo, is telling Grand Duchess Christina
that the Earth' motion is impossible and contrary to the Holy Scripture
Galileo writes back and says that the Bible and Scriptures aren't wrong but the interpreters are
wrong and are erroneous
In the case of natural disputes, Scripture ought to be put off to the last place

"Scripture says many things which are difference from absolute truth in the impression it
gives and in the meaning of its words."
"As a result it seems that natural effects, which either sense experience places before our
eyes, or necessary demonstrations reveal, should never be placed in doubt by passages of
Scripture whose words give a different impression. Not everything said in the Scriptures
ought to be associated strictly with some effect in nature."
Where does Galileo get the standard of a "Necessary Demonstration?"
Aristotle!
Example
All planets rotate on their axes and revolve around the Sun
The earth is a planet
Therefore, the earth rotates on its axis and revolves around the sun
Galileo's Necessary Demonstration
The earth is a planet
The earth's two motions, daily and annual, alone cause the ocean's tides
A demonstration is casual. It explains
And: The explanation cannot be otherwise
Cites Cardinal Baronio "The purpose of Holy Scripture is to teach 'how to go to
heaven, not how the heavens go.'"
Galileo says that the Bible and Scriptures are not science textbooks, but books
on morality
Joshua says that the Sun stopped to win the battle
However, Galileo argues to stop the sun would mean to stop
EVERYTHING.
But by 1613, Galileo had shown (with his telescope) that the Sun rotates
on its axis once every month on its axis at the center of the universe
Therefore, to make more daylight and allow Joshua to win the battle,
stop the sun's rotation on its own axis
Was Galileo Alone?
University of Salamanca
Augustinian Order (most famous was Luther)
Diego de Zuniga and Paolo Antonio Foscarini
Both, more or less, held the same principles that Galileo did
Galileo has friends in the Church and also enemies (amici e nemici)
Foscarini's letter
Epistemological Status of the Pythagorean/Copernican Opinion
Episteme - knowledge
Etymology - study of the origins of words
"epistemological status" - the extent to which a certain piece of knowledge can
be known OR "knowing that"
Example - "knowing that 2+2 = 4 is true

Foscarini: The Unexpected Ally

o Reason and Scripture
"If the Pythagorean opinion is true, then without doubt, God has dictated the words of Sacred
Scripture in such a way that they can be given a meaning which agrees with, and is reconciled
with, that opinion. This is the motive which has led me to look and search for ways and means to
accommodate many passages of Sacred Scripture with it in such a way that they are not openly
contradictory."
"If by chance this opinion should in the future become explicitly established as a certain truth, no
obstacles would arise which would worry or hinder anyone, and thus unfortunately deprive the
world of that venerable and sacred association with truth which is desired by all good people."

Question: What should take precedence? Natural knowledge or knowledge revealed

through Sacred Scripture?
o Foscarini does his homework
Six groups of scriptural passages or theological doctrines that constitute objections to the
Copernican hypothesis
The earth is stationary and does not move.
The sun is moved and revolves around the earth.
The heavens are at the 'top' and the earth at the 'bottom' with respect to us.
Hell is in the center of the earth.
The earth is to heaven as center to circumference.
After judgment day, the sun will stop in the east and the moon in the west.
o Foscarini's Main Principle of Interpretation: Accommodation to Ordinary Sense Experience
Scripture speaks according to our mode of understanding
When can the Church err?
"The Church together with its visible head, the Supreme Pontiffcannot err in matters of
faith and our salvation only. But the Church can err in practical judgments, in philosophical
speculations and in other doctrines which do not involve and pertain to salvation."
OK to err in philosophy; not OK in matters of Faith and Morals.
o Did Foscarini Err?
An unidentified theologian's censure: Foscarini favors a "rash opinion" (too hasty)
Foscarini says he can reconcile the heliocentric opinion with Scripture but his reconciliation
distorts Scripture and goes contrary to the consensus of the Church Fathers.
o Foscarini's Defense
Different types of rashness - cites the authority of Melchior Cano, Bishop of the Canary Islands,
why?
What do the Church Fathers say concerning "the teachings of philosophy?" - Foscarini
"The Holy Fathers were not concerned with the examination of the teachings of philosophy. They
either bad farewell to the books of the philosophers (to dedicate themselves completely to divine
wisdom) or they occasionally said "hello" at the borderline."
He then cites the views of Bishop Cano on the Relationship between Secular and Religious
Learning
o Foscarini's Conclusion
It is not rash to disagree with the Church Fathers in matters not pertaining to Faith and Morals
In matters pertaining to knowledge of the natural world, only HUMAN REASON is needed.
Therefore, "since every truth agrees with every other truth, it is not possible for the truth or the
sacred writings to be contrary to the true arguments and experiences of the human sciences."
St. Augustine: "When the wise men of this world are able to truly demonstrate something about
the nature of things, then we should show that this is not contrary to the sacred writings."
Cardinal Bellarmine's Letter to Foscarini
o First Point
It's OK for you to accept Copernicus as an assumption
However, it is a very dangerous thing to believe and assert that the sun is in the center of the
universe and does not move, except rotate, without moving from east to west, and believing that
the Earth rests and moves in the third sphere because it irritates all the philosophers and
scholastic theologians, but also because it is damaging to the Holy Faith by making the Holy
Scriptures false.
o Second Point
The Council of Trent prohibits interpretations of Scripture contrary to the consensus of the Holy
Fathers and "they all agree on the literal interpretation that the Sun Is in the heavens and rotates
around the earth with a great speed, and that the earth is very far from the heavens and stands
immobile in the center of the world."
This statement is a matter of faith because of who the speaker is, rather than because of the
matter of faith

Third Final Point

Once there is proof that the earth rotates around the sun, then we can go back to the Bible and
reconcile with it.
He believed that there was no such proof or demonstration to prove that the earth rotates
around the sun.
Galileo's Interpretation of the Boat Example
o Bellarmine misunderstood Foscarini.

Galileo and the Theologians

o Foscarini's Lettera: Feb. or March 1615
o 20 March 1615 A Dominican, Tomasso Caccini gives a deposition charging Galileo with suspicion of
heresy based on the content of his letter to Castelli and also Galileo's book on sunspots (1613)
o 12 April 1615. Bellarmine's reply to Foscarini - which also explicitly mentinos Galileo
o Sometime after: Galileo's notes on Bellarmine's letter
o Also: Galileo writes Letter to the Grand Duchess
o November 1615. Inquisition records. Rev. Attavanti hears that Galileo is suspected of heresy but he
states that he has never heard Galileo express heresies - including in his book on sunspots of 1613
o December 1615. Galileo goes to Rome to try to clear his name and prevent the condemnation of
Copernicus. He stays in the Tuscan embassy.
o January 1616. Galileo writes - but does not publish - his "Discourse on the Tides"
o A Bad Turn
24 February 1616. A committee of 11 Vatican consultants reports to the Inquisition
To say that the sun is the center of the world and devoid of motion is "foolish and absurd in
philosophy and formally heretical since it explicitly contradicts in many places the sense of Holy
Scripture according to the literal meaning of the words and the understanding of the Holy
Fathers."
To say that the earth is not the center of the world but moves as a whole and also daily receives
the same judgment and is "erroneous in faith."
o Bellarmine's Injunction
25 February 1616. The Pope orders Cardinal Bellarmine to warn Galileo to abandon his
Copernican views.
26 February 1616. Bellarmine calls Galileo to his palace and gives him the warning.
He is "henceforth not to hold, teach, or defend it in any way whatever, either orally or in writing;
otherwise, the Holy office would start proceedings against him."
"The same Galileo acquiesced in this injunction and promised to obey."
o Actions of the Congregation of the Holy Index, 5 March 1616
"In order that this opinion may not creep any further to the prejudice of Catholic truth, the
Congregation has decided that the books by Nicolaus Copernicus and Diego de Zuniga be
suspended until corrected.
"But that the book of the Carmelite Father Paolo Antonio Foscarini be completely prohibited and
condemned; and that all other books which teach the same be likewise prohibited"
o Bellarmine's Certificate 26 May 1616
"We, Robert Cardinal Bellarmine, have heard that Mr. Galileo Galilei is being slandered or alleged
to have abjured in our words We say that the above mentioned Galileo as not abjured in our
hands, or in the hands of others here in Rome, or anywhere else that we know.
o Pope Urban VIII (ruled 1623 - 1644)
Galileo goes to Rome to talk to the Pope to get his injunction removed/lifted
Tells Galileo that he does not mind if he talks about Copernicus. However, he says that God
could've made the universe and the world the way he wanted. And that you, Galileo, cannot say
that the world is contradictory to Scripture.
o The Patronage System
Grand Duke of Tuscany

Grand Duchess Christina

Benedetto Castelli
Pope Urban VIII
The Patron gives people a lot of power in change of advertising their name and such
o Simplicio's Speech at the end of the Dialogue
o The Pope's Reaction to ^
The Pope exploded into great anger. He did not want to be viewed as a simple person as Galileo
put in the end of his Dialogue
"He said that he had prohibited works which had his pontifical name in front and were dedicated
to himself, and that in such matters, involving great harm to religion, His Highness too [the Grand
Duke] should contribute to preventing it and to be careful not to get involved"
o Some Themes
Historical Narrative: Either/Or vs. Complexity
Local Complexity: Galileo's friends and enemies
Standards of Interpretation: Scripture, Nature
Scientific Proof Possibilities: absolute, probable
Views of Science: Realism vs. Anti-Realism (Dixon)
Realist --> believes that theories and models correspond to something in the actual world.
If our theories work, it's not a miracle and it's not an accident.
Anti-Realist --> believes that theories allow us to make predictions. It does not mean that
our equations only allow us to predict but not make sure.
Political Context: Church, University, State
Catholic Church: Absolute monarchy; obedience
Reasoned vs. Revealed Knowledge (Knowledge revealed by God)
Matter and Spirit: The 17C Mechanical Philosophy
o Luther 95 Theses (1517)
Friederich, Duke of Saxony became Luther's protector
o Religion and Politics
o The Church of England (Anglican Church)
King Henry VIII (1491 - 1547)
Needed to produce a male heir to the throne
Ended up trying with 6 different women in order to produce a male heir
to his throne
Disobeys the Pope and the Pope then excommunicates him and says
that his soul is damned.
Henry then starts his own church
The Church of England
What kind of church is this church going to be?
What is going to happen to all of the people in England
that want to remain faithful to the Catholic Church?
Anglican Church
Complete independence from Rome
King, rather than pope, is the head of the church - hence a State-Church (the
"Established Church")
Retention of office of bishop (e.g. Archbishop of Canterbury)
New liturgy: Book of Common Prayer (1549)
Archbishop Thomas Cranmer (1489 - 1556) in charge of writing new book of
common prayer (above)
Puritans: English reformation does not go far enough - too many Catholic
practices remain
People continued to be Catholic and so they had to keep it secret
Anglicans nervous of an unbalance of power from Catholics
o James VI and I (1556 - 1625; r. 1603 - 1625)

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Atheism

Very uneasy period of time as James took the throne

Has to deal with the Catholic problem
Sets up a committee to make a new bible, not just the Book of Common Prayer
The job is to translate the Bible into English
Came known as the King James Bible
"Millenary Petition" (1603): Puritan Demands
Rejection of:
Making the sing of the cross during baptism
Confirmation
The administration of baptism by lay people
Use of the ring in marriage
Bowing at the name of Jesus
The requirement of the surplice and cap
Men given multiple ecclesiastical positions, and receiving pay for each
Want: Stricter observation of the Sabbath
Wanted to simplify religion and religious practices
King Charles I (1600 - 1649; r. 1625 - 49)
Son of James
Tried to acquire more and more power
English Civil War (1642 - 1651)
Finally in 1649, the King was captured by the Parliament and tried and convicted and executed.
Oliver Cromwell (1599 - 1658; r. 1649 - 1658)
Religious views (sympathetic with the Puritans)
Abolition of church hierarchy
Local control of congregations ("Congregationalism")
Cromwell: Congregationalist and Separatist
__________________________________________
Different kinds of Puritans
Crown returns to the Stewart Family in 1660
King Charles II (1630 - 1685; r. 1660 - 1685)
Charles tried to do whatever he could to stabilize his authority
Created the Royal Society of London (f. 1660)
Collects data and science stuff
Divine Sovereignty and the Passivity of Nature
Rediscovery of Lucretius's De rerum natura (1417)
Atomism vs. Aristotelian Essentialism
God as Cosmic Lawgiver: God imposes laws on the atoms and thereby creates order
Gassendi's Atomism
Existence of vacuum
Primary qualities of matter: solidity, hardness, resistance, impenetrability, extension
But: Motion is not inherent in matter
God imposes motion on atoms at the creation of the world
Materialism and Determinism
Materialism: reality is material, composed only of material entities
Entity: something that exists
Determinism: all future events are unavoidably caused by present events or events
prior to our present, not.
What is the State?
Thomas Hobbes (1588 - 1679)
A Theory of the State
Hobbes' Leviathan (1651)

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Rejection of belief in the existence of deities

Hence, the claim: there are no deities
Or: the absence of a belief that deities exist
Theism: the belief that at least one deity exists
Apologetics: A branch of Christian theology concerned with proving the truth of Christianity
Looking for Spirit IN Nature
o Henry More (1614 - 1687)
o Brute matter and motion are insufficient to produce the world we see and the natural phenomena we
see. "Spirit of Nature" or "Plastic Principle"
o Spirit must be "extended": it must be 3-dimensional
Robert Boyle (1627 - 1691)
o Boyle's Law
The volume of a confined gas at constant temperature varies inversely with its pressure
o Robert Boyle's Air Pump
A crank that would pump the air out of a glass tube, so there could be a void or vacuum in the
glass tube
Had to convince people that he created a vacuum
o Member of the Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge
Gathered some fellows together to show them that he had created a vacuum by showing that the
frog in the glass tube died
Beginnings of the scientific methods
o Boyle's Vision of the Natural Philosopher
Natural Philosopher as a "priest of Nature"
"Two Books": Book of Nature, Book of Scripture
o Robert Boyle's The Christian Virtuoso (1690)
To defeat atheism
Joseph Glanville (1636 - 1680)
o The Witch of Endor
Sir Isaac Newton (1642 - 1727)
o Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy (1687)
o Some Newtonian Theological-Physical Ideas
God is Absolute Space
Space is huge, infinite receptacle and it is EMPTY
Matter is composed of passive atoms
God is the only force that brings ORDER
We can only observe and know the EFFECTS of that force-universal gravitation- when a body
ACCELERATES
Acceleration can be measured
The principles of natural philosophy are MATHEMATICAL
o What is Gravity?
Newton: It is divine activity in the world
Natural Theology and Design
o Can the study of the natural world demonstrate the existence of God?
John Ray (1627 - 1705)
William Derham (1657 - 1735)
o "Physico-Theology"
Neologism: a newly coined word or new usage for an old word
William Paley (1743 - 1805)
o Natural Theology
o Paley's Watch: The Argument from Design
The order of the universe is proof of God's existence
o There is proof in social order
o There is stability in the social order that is mirrored in the natural order

Charles Darwin (1809 - 1882)

Natural Theology
o Can the study of the natural world demonstrate the existence of God?
David Hume (1711 - 1776)
o Why should a watch imply the existence of a watch maker?
Deists (not athiests)
o Only reason is necessary
o Reason gathers its evidence only from nature
o Revelation and the Church (any Church!) are unnecessary
Some Problems with Deism
o Argument from analogy
o Does the human eye imply a divine eye-maker?
o Is the eye made like a watch by a watchmaker? i.e. as an artificial device?
o Do watches give birth to other watches?
o If God works like a watchmaker, then doesn't this make him too human?
o What about things we can't explain? E.g. increased frequency and power of hurricanes
o "God of the gaps" - creation of life in a test tube?
Natural Theology
o Can the study of the natural world demonstrate the existence of God?
Paley's Watch: The Argument from Design
o Reason -> Revelation
o Analogy - reasoning from similarities
o The world is a complex place just like a watch
David Hume (1711 - 1776)
Deists
o Only reason is necessary
o Reason gathers its evidence only from Nature
o Revelation and the Church (and Church!) are unnecessary
o Not Athiests!
Thomas Jefferson (1743 - 1826), Principal author of the Declaration of Independence (1776); third president
of the U.S. (1801 - 1809); f. University of Virginia
o Deist
o Declaration of Independence very much based on reason
o Had works of Isaac Newton, Robert Boyle, David Hume, etc. in his bookshelves at his home
o Had architectural skills
o Slave holders
o Said the state will no longer be a monarchy with a state in church but that the state will be ruled by the
people
o Puritan minister founded Harvard College in 1636 (John Harvard)
Puritan institution
Goal was to train young ministers
Harvard College got money from slave trading
o James I was the king when Puritans moved to the New World
o Jefferson designed a new university - University of Virginia
Jefferson did not put a church into his design for the university
o Did not want a national or state church
No monarchy either
There would be something similar to Parliament, however, it will have two houses with the House
of Representatives and the Senate
o "Jefferson Bible": The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth (ca. 1804 - 1820) or "Diamonds in a
Dunghill"

Jesus's teachings have been "muddied up". They have been clouded by the words of the
Platonists and those trying to impose their own words upon his. They have been distorted.
Became known as the "Jefferson Bible"
There should be a wall between Church and State. He doesnt want to get rid of either of them,
just do away with the church-state
Geology, Cosmology, and Biblical Chronology
o James Ussher, Archbishop of Armagh (Ireland)
Came up with a number for the age of the universe
Came up with 4004 years, October 23rd
Based on the King James Bible
Meaning that the universe has a defined beginning and end
Apocalypse - end of the world
Thought that the end of the world would be signaled by famine, war, etc. The creation is
ending
The "master narrative" of the universe/creation is coming to an end
o Nicholas Steno (1638 - 1686)
Was interested in the age of the Earth
He was born a Lutheran and then converted to Catholicism
Found remains of a shark in a rock and named them "fossils"
Recognized the different layers and kinds of soil/dirt
Called them "strata"
Hypothesized that over time, the Earth's layers would change
Came to the conclusion that the Earth must've undergone some sort of
development/change as some animals became buried and cemented into the Earth
Somehow the Earth was not created all at once
It must be really, really old
Must have changed composition over the long periods of time
o Edmund Halley (1656 - 1742)
Claimed that a big comet crashed into the Earth to produce the change
Called "Halley's Comet"
o Pierre - Simon Laplace (1749 - 1827)
Hypothesized that the sun and stars and Earth formed out of great nebular clouds
Became known as the "Nebular Hypothesis"
Claimed that a comet hit the sun and a great amount of dust was kicked up into space
Napoleon asked Laplace "How do you think that God made the world?"
Answered: "God? I have no need of that hypothesis"
o Johann Gottfried Eichhorn (1753 - 1827)
University of Jena
Came to the conclusion that the Bible was a collection and group of stories being told with moral
lessons
Written by a group of authors
Came to be known as "The Higher Criticism"
Just a particular way of reading the Bible
Beginning of Old Testament Biblical Criticism
Some Conclusions: Late 18C/Early 19C
o Natural Theology still strongly prevails
o However, if the Earth's geology is accepted as changing, that is, if the Earth has a Natural History, then
the Biblical story in Genesis is undermined
o Changes in the Earth have occurred gradually over a very, very long period of time (Uniformitarianism)
o The Earth is much, much older than 6000 years
o Laplace: "God" is unnecessary to explain Newton's natural philosophy
o Jefferson: Newton without the theology
o German Theologians apply historical methods to the study of the Bible ("Higher Criticisms")

*Some Conclusions* lecture 15*

o German Theologians apply historical methods to the study of the Bible ("Higher Criticism")
Modernism
Darwin and Responses to Darwinism
o Charles Darwin (1809 - 1882)
Educational system was still controlled by the church and highly influenced by religion.
Darwin went to a religious school
Read William Paley's book on Natural Theology
Ship that went to South America anchored at the Galapagos Islands
Studied animals and plants there
1839, published his diary that he kept on his studies at the Galapagos Islands
3 Central Concepts of Darwin's Theory of Evolution
Origin of Species, 1859
The Descent of Man, 1871
Common Ancestry
Source of humans and monkeys and all living species
Variation by mutation
New forms evolve in random ways
Changes occur between generations of living things
Natural Selection
The cause of variation
Not all changes and variations survive and are passed down generations
Only the variations that prove to be useful adaptations survive
Only changes that promoted the survival of the entire species, not the individual
animal, would be passed down and evolve within that particular species
It takes a very, very long time for this to happen, takes thousands and or
millions of years for evolution to take place
Evolution is a natural process
Not a supernatural process
Darwin's most hotly-debated claim
Conflicts with Genesis and the literal reading of the Bible
Creationism - everything was created at once
Herbert Spencer (1820 - 1903)
o It's not just living species that evolved, it's societies that evolved as well
Called Social Darwinism
Darwin and Theology. Darwin Challenged:
o Biblical Authority
o Natural Theology and the Design Argument
o God's direct action in the world
o "God of the Gaps"
o Charles Hodges
"Darwinism is Atheism"
Darwinism left no room for God to do his design
o Theistic Evolution - God creates world (amount of elements and the world and stuff) and then lets
evolution take over
The Scopes Trial and the Anti-Evolution Crusade
o Fundamentalism as a Reactive Movement
The 'Higher Criticism'
Darwinism
Agnosticism

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Atheism
Biblical Inerrancy
'Nave literalism'
Reading the Bible literally, not applying criteria to interpret ambiguous meanings of the
Bible
19c Apocalypticism
Thomas Huxley (1825 - 1895)
Follower of Darwinism
Came up with the word "Agnosticism"
Thinks of himself as a "freethinker"
Agnosticism is the essence of which lies in the rigorous application of a single principle. That
principle is of great antiquity: 'Try all things, hold fast by that which is good.' In matters of the
intellect, follow your reason as far as it will take you, without regard to any consideration
Agnosticism is not a religion or set of beliefs, it is a method to find what best suites you.
The only obligation accepted is to have the mind always open to conviction.
Ellen G. White (1827 - 1915)
Woman of very very little education
The Millerites
Believed in the apocalypse and the end of the world
Believed that the 'last age' would be a struggle and very rough
Earthquakes, tornados, fires, famines, etc.
Signs that the world would come to an end soon
Growth of the American Public High School
Colonial period (1635): Boston Latin Grammar School
1751: Benjamin Franklin's Academy (Philadelphia) -- admits some girls
1821: first public high school: Boston. "English Classical School"
Civil War (1861 - 1865): 300 high schools
1880: 800
1890: 2500
Growth of high schools in America led to a state run school supported by taxes.
Democratic vision of education. Something Jefferson would've vision
Immigration from Eastern Europe
1880-1920
Sacco-Vanzetti Trial
"The Big Red Scare"
People couldn't speak English like the traditional Anglicans
Ku Klux Klan
William Jennings Bryan (1860 - 1925)
Democratic candidate for President, 1896-, 1900, 1908
Secretary of State and a pacifist, under Woodrow Wilson, 1913 - 1915
House of Representatives from Nebraska
Invented the stump speech
Supported by poor farmers
Enemy of big banks, corporations and railroads
Favored breaking up big trusts
A prohibitionist
Against alcohol being legal
A pacifist -- resigns over sinking of the Lusitania (1915)
A Presbyterian, fundamentalist and leader of the anti-evolution crusade
The Scopes Trial
Bryan: "We will drive Darwinism from our schools."
By 1930, teaching of evolution banned in: Oklahoma, Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas
Darwinism: Law of the jungle

Darwinism a cause of German militarism

James Leuba (Bryn Mawr psychologist): college attendance endangers traditional religious
beliefs
Darwinism nothing by "[poor] guesses strung together"
The common people know more than a few elite scientists
Clarence Darrow (1857 - 1938)
Defended John Scopes in the Scopes Trial
Most popular lawyer from Ohio
Against the most popular politician in the US, William Jennings Bryan

Clarence Darrow (1857 - 1938)

o Leading attorney in the country at the time
o Considered agnostic in his views
o Wanted to be Scopes' attorney based on his own views and beliefs in religious intolerance
ACLU
o Interested in and defended freedom of speech
o Wanted to give legal support to people that did not want to join the army due to religious reasons
o "Conscientious Objector" - meaning that someone would consciously object to being in the army/draft
due to religious reasons
o Not hostile to religion, but they were delighted that Darrow was representing Scopes in the case
William Jennings Bryan
o Democratic candidate for President, 1896-, 1900, 1908
o Secretary of State and a pacifist, under Woodrow Wilson, 1913 - 1915
o House of Representatives from Nebraska
o Invented the stump speech
o Supported by poor farmers
o Enemy of big banks, corporations and railroads
o Favored breaking up big trusts
o A prohibitionist
Against alcohol being legal
o A pacifist -- resigns over sinking of the Lusitania (1915)
o A Presbyterian, fundamentalist and leader of the anti-evolution crusade
o Accepts "Day-Age" Theory of Creation rather than literal days
Did not support a literal interpretation of the Bible
o Darwinism: Random chance; no good evidence for evolution; Darwinism "just a hypothesis" = a "guess"
The Scopes Trial (1900 - 1970)
o Bryan: "We will drive Darwinism from our schools."
o By 1930, teaching of evolution banned in: Oklahoma, Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas
o Darwinism: Law of the jungle
o Darwinism a cause of German militarism
o James Leuba (Bryn Mawr psychologist): college attendance endangers traditional religious beliefs
o Darwinism nothing by "[poor] guesses strung together"
o The common people know more than a few elite scientists
o "Anti-Intellectualism"
Distrust in learning
o Bryan had a lot of support from the South and the rural areas of the nation
o John Scopes
The Scopes Trial Dramatized (Inherit the Wind, 1960)
o Urban-rural
o Community Relationships
o Politics of Dayton: Publicity -- a media event
o "Talkies": A movie with a sounds track, a "talking picture" (early 1930s)
o The Media

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Original Trial (1925): Sound (radio), Narrative and Pictures (newspapers; silent movies)
Dramatization of the trial (1960): Sound, Narrative and Moving Pictures
1950s: A different historical moment
Broadcast Television
War With Japan Ends (August 1945: Hiroshima, Nagasaki)
Cold War (1945-1989) Berlin Wall (1961)
National Science Foundation (1950)
"McCarthyism" (early 1950s)
Sputnik (October 4, 1957)
University of California, San Diego (1960)
California Master Plan for Higher Education
Departments of History of Science (1950s): Cornell, Harvard, Wisconsin, Indiana; UCSD (Science Studies
Program, 1989)
"God and Nature" Conference (1981); University of Wisconsin

Final Reflections
o Science and religion have been inevitably in conflict, but only sometimes. For example, Galileo had
friends in the Church, such as Urban VIII before he was the Pope.
California Master Plan for Higher Education (1960)
o That some form of higher education ought to be available to all regardless of their economic means,
and that academic progress should be limited only by individual proficiency; and
o Differentiation of function so that each of the three systems would strive for excellence in different
areas, so as to not waste public resources on duplicate efforts
o Clark Kerr's goal: to balance the competing demands of fostering excellence and guaranteeing
educational access for all
o No tuition
o Top 12.5% of high school graduation class for UC admission
o Top 1/3 for CSU admission
Some Uses of the Conflict Thesis
o Bertolt Brecht (1898 - 1956)
Wrote a play called The Life of Galileo
Science and Religion as a Problem for Professional Historians of Science
o The writing of history has a history
Historiography
The government started pouring money into science and physics to build weapons such as the nukes in the
Manhattan Project
The rise of large public universities, such as UCSD, created the evidence of Jefferson's idea of separation of
Church and state