The story of Galileo’s encounter with the Inquisition in the early 17th Century constitutes one of the central chapters in a grand narrative of modernity. The Inquisition, according to the standard interpretation, required that Galileo reject the view that the Earth moves and thus subordinate science to the Bible. Galileo is viewed as the defender of scientific freedom from religious authorities. However, despite their disagreements, Galileo and the theologians of the Inquisition shared common principles about science and Scripture. In this lecture, Professor Carroll argues that the Inquisition’s decisions, however ill-advised, were disciplinary and not dogmatic—faith-based—decrees. Nevertheless, these decisions have been used as evidence of a fundamental hostility between science and religion, reason and faith. In the 19th Century the legend of Galileo was used to frame debates on everything from political liberalism to evolution, and continues to be influential today in political debates and especially in bioethics.
