Conflict

There is clearly a conflict between science and religion. When Galileo is talking about how the earth rotates around the sun, those who didn’t agree with him had direct support from the Bible. “…In the Bible one may read that the sun moves and the earth stands still.” (181). With support like this, there is obviously a conflict. Religious people believe everything the Bible says and takes everything literally, so any contradiction to the Bible is seen as a huge threat. There can be no reconciling science with religion when science directly opposes the Bible. Galileo takes this a step further when he says “It is obvious that such authors, not having penetrated the true senses of Scripture, would impose upon others an obligation to subscribe to conclusions that are repugnant to manifest reason and sense, if they had any authority to do so.” (190). Galileo is creating enemies of all those in positions of power within the Church, for he is saying that they are misinterpreting the Bible. With this Galileo makes it so that his ideas will probably never be accepted by the Church, simply because he called everyone foolish. With this Galileo has deepened the conflict between science and religion, a conflict that still exists today. While the issues are different, it still boils down to the difference between what the Bible says and what research proves to be true. Religion and science will always be in conflict as long as scientists continue to conduct research that the religious disagree with.