Today on the Christian History Almanac, we head to the mailbag to answer a question about Christianity, Science, and Galileo.

It is the 27th of July 2026. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.

 

A very happy Monday to you- it's not that for me, yet… where am I? Actually recording this between services on Sunday morning at church.

 

Great question that got me digging about- E.J. in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii…. That rings a bell… maybe I heard about it in Moana… the home of the shark goddess, I believe.

 

E.J. has been reading Dominion by Tom Holland (author, not Spiderman) and interpreted Holland as saying that basically, Protestants accepted Heliocentrism because Catholics didn’t. Which isn’t terribly off the mark… but EJ wondered if there was more to the story… and there is!

 

The names, of course, are Copernicus and Galileo. Copernicus publishes his work in 1543- on his deathbed. He’s a good Catholic but thinks that it would make more sense if the Earth rotated on an axis and around a fixed sun. This was controversial because scripture passages like Psalm 93 and Joshua 10 where the sun is said to have “stood still” for just a time for the sake of a military victory.

 

Galileo comes next; if Copernicus says “this seems to be the right theory”, Galileo, in the 1630s, with his use of observation and telescopes, essentially “proves” the case.

 

Both Copernicus and Galileo were good Catholics (Galileo’s two daughters became nuns). Both were held, initially, at arms' length if not condemned.

 

The early reformers were ambivalent about Copernicus- Luther and Calvin, seemingly wary of more conflict, didn’t want to jump into the fray. Other Protestants supported the heliocentric model… but to say they did as a way to upset Catholics is… a little weak, depending how it’s presented.

 

Yes- in some ways, the Inquisition going after Galileo, despite hard evidence, became a kind of proto-Scopes Monkey Trial where the old church is seen as anti-intellectual, and the freedom of conscience belongs to the heroes.

 

But the Protestant support of Heliocentrism has other elements involved. First, part of the church’s concern with the new theories was that they opposed Aristotle- and the Greek philosopher had been “baptized” in a way by Thomas Aquinas. The Reformers had no such allegiance to Aristotle (sometimes criticizing the old church for its use of Aristotelian models- see “Transubstantiation”).

 

Second, many reformers were early adopters of the “two books” model of revelation. Both Scripture and nature flow from God- and he has given us Scripture to understand what human reason cannot. To paraphrase Galileo- “the Scriptures tell us how to get to heaven, not how the heavens go”.

 

Thirdly, we shouldn’t overlook the number of Protestants who were working parallel to both Copernicus and Galileo. The Lutheran Andreas Osiander was the publisher of Copernicus’ famous book (and upset Copernicus by adding an addendum that said: “this is just for calculational purposes and not actually a claim as to how it is”.

 

Galileo was able to confirm the theory with observation on account of Protestant glass grinders in the Netherlands and their invention of the telescope. As early as 1611, Johannes Kepler, a Protestant, was using convex lenses on his telescope to further the evidence behind the heliocentric theory.

 

Protestants used the obstinacy of the Catholic Church against Copernicus and Galileo for its own purposes- it served as a picture of undue authority and seemingly rash punishments. Later Protestants, I’m reminded of John Milton especially, would use Galileo as a kind of “Scientific Luther”- a persecuted hero.

 

But Protestants came to appreciate Galileo, especially, because he proposed evidence for his claims and because there were parallel Protestant scientists- like Kepler and Tycho Brahe- who were coming to the same conclusions.

 

It’s not “just” Protestant- and Catholics like Galileo and others also supported the “two book” theory. In fact, later Protestant Fundamentalism would recreate the role of the Catholic inquisition in its battles over the age of the earth and origins… but that’s a question for another time when I feel like being VERY careful because… well, that’s its own tricky situation- perhaps even more pertinent- but with a strong parallel to the question of the earth rotating around the sun.

 

Thanks, E.J., for the question- enjoy your time in Oahu at Pearl Harbor- and remember, it’s largely a state because of the confluence of American missionaries, businessmen, and pineapples- but that, too… a story for another time.

 

You can send me your questions at Danv@1517.org.

 

 

The Last word for today comes from the daily lectionary and the epistle of James- a good word on wisdom:

13 Who is wise and knowledgeable among you? Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be arrogant and lie about the truth. 15 This is not wisdom that comes down from above but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish. 16 For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind. 17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. 18 And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

 

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 27th of July 2026 brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man whose wife told him that he seemed to think the world revolved around him…. Zing! He is Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man now watching every film adaptation of Greek myth… It’s getting out of hand… I’m Dan van Voorhis.

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.