Followers of the history of the twentieth century will no doubt disagree with the claim that the media circus surrounding o.j simpson in the mid 1990's was the trial of the century , in favor of a trial that debated concepts along higher lines of human thought, namely, darwin's theories of evolution versus creationism. The scopes monkey trial, which occurred in dayton, tn in 1925, pitted two great american orators and two sides of thought against each other in a debate of pure science against literal religious beliefs, and modernity against traditional conservative views. The effects from this trial have been so great that the ideas presented and issues raised continue to resonate and remain controversial seventy five years later. To the american mind, the scopes trial is the most recent and vivid example of the frequent incompatibility of science and religion. And as science continues to advance, new controversies appear daily to reaffirm that what pope john paul ii called the two realms of knowledge often make strange bedfellows when procedures in fields like medicine, biology, and genetics are introduced that give new meaning to the creation and mortality of life. These are big questions, and thus it makes sense that the controversies of today were set in motion by a controversy that began nearly 400 years ago because of the same conflict between science and religion.

If the scopes monkey trial is known as the trial of the twentieth century, then the conflict between galileo and the catholic church can be seen as the trial of four centuries, for the outcome and implications have affected the development of our view of our place in the universe until the present.

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according to hetherington, galileo's trial and condemnation by the inquisition in 1633 seriously impeded the rise of scientific cosmology. This is true in that for about 200 years science for catholic astronomers was required to be treated as theory rather than fact, and books teaching of the earth's motion remained banned until 1757, among other impediments that caused science in the catholic tradition to be seen as inferior to the work of those who did not have to contend with rome.

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Because of the actions of the catholic church, it is thus religion rather than philosophy that has come to be regarded as the chief early obstacle to modern science. The finer details of the spirit of the times, the popular philosophy of the day, the religious and cultural mindset of the day, legal confusions, and galileo's own difficult personality, among other factors, all combined to make the galileo affair much more complex than a matter of one party being solely to blame. However, because the case was not clear cut and easily resolved, it has negatively impacted the catholic church for nearly 400 years.

Ignorance of the true nature of the accusations and the wrongs attributed to each side has further compounded a negative view of the church. So with closure, favorable public opinion, and a genuine desire to look at facts in search of truth in mind, pope john paul ii appointed a committee in 1981 to open and examine galileo's case. Cardinal poupard, the head of this committee, presented its findings in a report to the pope in 1992. In his opening statements, poupard explains that the aim of the committee was to reply to the expectations of the world of science and culture regarding the galileo question, to rethink this whole question, with complete fidelity to established historical facts and in conformity with the teachings and the culture of the times and to recognize honestly the rights and wrong, regardless of their source. This statement is bursting with the meaning of the large task the church undertook, to in effect make up for four centuries of ill will in the intelligent, civilized world by examining the events of the past in the spirit of cultural relativism and scientific and historical fact. This objective is calm and rational, with an emphasis on truth without blame, and proceeds in a logical matter. Poupard first examines the question of whether copernican astronomy was irrefutably true at the time of the trial.

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As cardinal bellermine said, if it were true, it would then be necessary to re examine relevant scriptural passages and say that we do not understand them, rather than to say that what is demonstrated is false. This is evidence that the catholic church never absolutely refused to accept galileo's ideas. But since it was not until 150 years after galileo that the optical and mechanical proofs for the motion of the earth were discovered and the theory thus made irrefutable, this examination of scripture could not take place in 1633. Poupard then admits how the scientific truths eventually showed the relative character of galileo's sentence, and defends the subsequent actions of the church as it granted an imprimatur to galileo's work in 1741, removed books on heliocentric theory from the index in 1757, and endorsed copernicanism as a thesis in all works on the subject in 1822.

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Poupard makes his main point when he ascribes the problems with the then new theories as a result of a transitional situation in the field of astronomical knowledge and of an exegetical confusion regarding cosmology. He defends the church in terms of the times it was in, a time far different from our own, where minds were firmly entrenched in old beliefs about the nature of the world and the literal interpretation of scripture. Because the intellectual and religious climate of the times was not ready to accept galileo's propositions, he was made to suffer. Poupard's main defense of the church's actions against galileo in terms of historical context is truthful.