"Galileo ended his life feeling abandoned by men. He felt misunderstood by the leadership of a Church he loved until his death. No doubt resentment at times filled his mind toward some humans in high places. Nonetheless, his moments of bitterness toward men never clouded his faith in the Scriptures and in God.
The Holy Scriptures, to Galileo were divinely inspired and inerrant, though humans can misinterpret their true meaning. "...the Holy Scriptures cannot err and the decrees therein contained are absolutely true and inviolable. I should have added that, though scripture cannot err its expounders and interpreters are liable to err in many ways when they base themselves always on literal meaning of the words."[vi]
At times the Bible uses figures of speech to simplify concepts which "...had been inserted into the Bible for the sake of the masses, Galileo insisted, to aid their understanding of matters pertaining to their salvation. In the same way, biblical language had also simplified certain physical effects in Nature, to conform to common experience."[vii]
Galileo saw both the truths of Scriptures and the truths of nature as having been derived from the same source: God; therefore, one could not contradict the other. "Holy Scripture and nature, are both emanations from the divine word: the former dictated by the Holy Spirit, the latter the observant executrix of Gods commands. Thus, no truth discovered in Nature could contradict the deep truth of the Holy Writ." [viii] Furthermore, Galileo held that the primary aim of Scriptures was not to reveal scientific truths but "...to worship God and save souls."[ix]
The proper understanding of Scriptures required proper illumination from God, thus Galileo turned to God in prayer for the ability to understand the spiritual truths of the Bible. "I trust the infinite goodness of God may direct toward the purity of my mind a small amount of His grace that I may understand the meaning of His words."[x]
The human mind was according to Galileo one the greatest of Gods achievements. "When I consider what marvellous things men have understood, what he has inquired into and contrived, I know only too clearly that the human mind is a work of God, and one of the most excellent." Yet the potential of the human mind "... is separated from the Divine knowledge by an infinite interval." [xi]
In His mercy, God, on occasion, chooses to reveal a new insight to someone He chooses, thus augmenting the knowledge revealed to humanity. "One must not doubt the possibility that the Divine Goodness at times may choose to inspire a ray of His immense knowledge in low and high intellects, when they are adorned with sincere and holy zeal."[xii] Galileo saw himself as the recipient of some such great truths and expressed gratitude to God for being the first to have the revelation. "I render infinite thanks to God, for being so kind as to make me alone the first observer of marvels kept hidden in obscurity for all previous centuries."[xiii]"
Quote taken from http://michaelcaputo.tripod.com/galileoandgod/index.htm
Note: If Galileo were around today, I think that he might enjoy Portals of Prayer, which you can see at http://www.cph.org/cphstore/pages/forms/portals.asp (I don't agree with everything they teach; however, I do generally enjoy the lessons as part of my morning prayers).
http://www.facebook.com/teddyhcraig
http://weeklyreflectionsofchrist.blogspot.com
http://www.youtube.com/user/teddyhcraig
http://signsofthelastdays.com
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4:04(Ahnsahnghong)about heresyby ashnc1004338 views
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