Galileo also argued that, "There were others who denied them or remained in doubt...because they had not yet had the opportunity to see for themselves"(Galileo 1). He had a problem with people who saw the discoveries for themselves and still doubted. He was frustrated with those who reputed his finding because of their own self-pride and fear.
The tension between church and science went beyond Galileo's views on astronomy. "I hold the sun to be situated motionless in the center of the revolution of the celestial orbs while the earth rotates on its axis and revolves about the sun"(Galileo 2). Church authorities did not like Galileo, "but to go so far as to cast against me imputation of crimes which must, be and are, more abhorrent to me than death itself."(Galileo 1) Galileo was able to strongly support his argument, because not only could a person view it with his or her own eyes the celestial orbs. Joshua 10:13 says, "so the sun stood still, and the moon stopped...the sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day"(Bible 304). Galileo uses the same argument in page 18 of his letter. The idea that the Earth moved and the sun stood still did not contradict scripture. If the scripture was interpreted correctly then the sun could only stand still if the sun normally moved around the Earth. Galileo wanted people during the 18th century to open their minds to the scientific discoveries and realize that a new idea did not have to repute scriptures. He argued against the accusations the he was condemning the Bible in a way that was, "without understanding it, weighing it, or so much as reading it" (Letter 3). Galileo claimed to strongly believe the Bible and it's message of faith.
Galileo saw the Bible as a direct authority on faith and not as one on science. He says, "that our authors knew the truth but the Holy Spirit did not desire that men should learn things that are useful to no one for salvation"(Galileo 8). The Bible's main focus and purpose is to share the good news of Jesus Christ, and be used as a guide to live a righteous life. The Bible teaches Christian to strive to live a life without sin and display the Kingdom with love. It does not answer questions related to scientific discoveries. We are supposed to use our own senses to interpret those observations and findings.
Descartes's view of religion was similar to that of Galileo in the sense that there should not be a conflict between religion and science. The Humanistic Tradition says,
"Descarte identified God with 'the mathematical order of nature'. The idea
that God did not interfere with the laws of humanity and nature was central
to, deism...They viewed God as a master mechanic who had created the
universe, then stepped aside and allowed his World-Machine to run
unattended"(Fiero 48).
Descarte believed to follow God was to follow reason, and one should never accept anything as true until they clearly know it to be true. His writings rejuvenate the Greek mission to discover how one knows what they know.
Descartes formed two separate opinions on philosophy and religion because he believed they were independent of each other. His most important philosophic work, Discourse on the Method of Rightly Conducting the Reason and Seek for Truth in the Science, explains how he called everything into doubt. "to reject as absolutely false everything as to which I could imagine the least ground of doubt" (Fiero 47). He then began to identify the things that he knew to be true, "since something cannot proceed from nothing," argued Descartes, "the idea of God held by human beings must come from God." Descarte shared the idea with Galileo that God gave us what we needed, but he also gave us free will to discover the world. "He would not require us to deny sense and reason in physical matters which are set before our eyes and minds." Descartes thinking pattern applied reason to society, which was a popular idea during the Enlightenment Age.
Descarte and Galileo did not believe in all of the same things, but both strongly believed that a person could accept the findings and conclusions of the modern science and believe in the teachings of the Bible. They did not have to pick one over the other. Galileo's letter to Queen Christina was unsuccessful in resolving the tension between church and science. He wrote is an attempt to open people's minds to scientific discoveries, make them examine the true meaning of scripture and then correctly interpret it. But too many people who were unwilling to use the sense, reason, and intellect that God gave them. Galileo ended up being put under house arrest for the remainder of his life, in a villa outside Florence, Italy.