THE POPE, GALILEO & THE UNIVERSE

THE POPE, GALILEO & THE UNIVERSE

BY DR. MERVYN ABREO

THE UNIVERSE

          The Catholic Church believed that the earth was immovable and was at the center of the universe. In 1663 when Galileo discovered that the earth revolved around the sun, all hell broke loose.

                                                         

GALILEO

          And I don’t understand what the fuss was all about.

                                                  

POPE URBAN VIII

          When the Pope spoke about the ‘universe’ he was talking about all celestial bodies, whether they were stars, planets, moons or any other bodies ‘out there’.

 A SIMPLE TEST: Randomly choose any ten people you know and ask them this question:

          “What is the difference between a universe, a galaxy and our Solar System?”                                                                                                                   

GALAXY

          How many people know that ‘The Universe’ is defined as a totality of existence including planets, stars, galaxies and all matter and energy?

          And that the Milky Way is the Galaxy that contains our Solar System.

          I for one didn't’! I had to look it up.

                                                         

MILKY WAY

          If people of the twenty–first century still fumble for an answer, what would one expect from someone living in the seventeenth century?!

          Let us see what the then Pope had to go by. He was a man whose knowledge was based on the Bible.

           And this is what the Bible had said:

          “God made two great lights – the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night.” (Genesis 1:16).

          This obviously indicated that the two great lights, i.e. the sun and the moon, were expressly created for the benefit of the earth!

          “In the beginning You laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the works of Your hands.” (Psalms 102:2).

          This showed that the earth was the central focus of God as He created the universe!

         

          “For this is what the Lord Almighty says: ……for whoever touches you touches the apple of His eye.” (Zechariah 2:8).

          Therefore, since man is at the center of everything created, then the earth is the focus of all creation.

                                                              

OUR SOLAR SYSTEM 

           It’s no big deal that the sun is at the center of the universe. If God had wanted to put the earth there He could very well have done so!

                                                           

               It doesn't matter in which corner of the Galaxy we are in.

          We will always be the apple of His eye and the centre of His attention!

..........................................................

 Dear friend,

          I look forward to getting your feedback. Do write in to me at:

                                        drmervynabreo@gmail.com

………………………………………………………………….