[MD] Galileo and the church

[Arlo Bensinger]

[DMB]
You have to realize that there was no such thing as academia or 
science in the sense that we think of them today, as separate from 
government and religion.

[Arlo]
Right. If anything this is an argument that there were open-minded 
clergy and closed-minded clergy within the Church's power structure. 
There was not an "academic wing" that operated counter to the "Church 
wing".I've re-read the Inquisition against Galileo now several times 
and its clear that this indictment was not delivered by "academics", 
but by the Church hierarchy itself. Moreover, if the Papacy and other 
non-Academics did not support the Inquisition, they could have easily 
spoken out. To claim this whole thing is a cover-up by "academics" to 
silence Galileo and shift the blame to the innocent clergy comes 
close to the a kind of revisionism that's quite disturbing.

Moreover, as I've already said, this "split" is evidence of an 
eso-/exo-teric division within the Church at the time. Those who 
taught in the Church's schools were likely predisposed to the 
exoteric, as these were the people charged with spreading and 
justifying "The Word". Among those with no such "mission" is where 
you'd likely find the proponents of esotericism. One needs only to 
look at modern congregations to see the exact same divide still 
operating today. Clergy who speak out for a non-literal read of the 
"Holy Book" are often censured or disciplined (I've known people to 
whom this has happened).