The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1896-01-09

md the discoveries of Galileo, and
1t the University Of Salamanca in
spain, land of complete "Church
prevalence" this prohibition was
lot removed till 1922. 8.
In 1915, Calico having been bru-
ally denounced as "atheist" and 3
'infdel"-the perennial dodge in all a
ages, by the way, of bigoted church Il
men for suppressing the truth-was b
to Rome before the In- :
QUESTION, tho Church's pet instru-
ment for cnslav!ng the mind. There
eleven theo.ogians rendered their |
decision THAT the first proposition,
that the sun Is the centre and does {
not rovOlve about the earth is fool
ish, absurd. false in theology, and
heretical because expressly contrary
to Holy Scriptgre; and that the sec ,
ond proposition, that the earth is !
not the centre but revolyes about
the sun is absurd, false in philoso-
ply, and from theological point Of
view, at least opposed to the true
faith" Under threat of the dun
geon, Calico was forced to abandon
the opinion that the earth moves
about the sun aud to abstain from
teaching or defending it in any man
ner whatever. At later time, after
imprisonment no better than torture,
he was compelled to pronounce this
recantation publicly: 81, Calico,
in my 70lh year, being prisoner
and before your eminences on my
knees, having before my eyes the
Holy Gospel, which l touch with my
hands, abjure, curse, and detest the
error and the keresy Of the move
ment of the earth" Again he was
imprisoned, exiled from his family
in his old age, and at last denied
burial iu his family tomb. This is a
record Of the Church: what of liber-
ty, what of Christliness Is there In
it9 If it had sprung from hell, could
it have been more brutal and damn
ing7
In similar spirit the Church fought
by ridicule, abuse, and imprison-
ment the discoveries of Kepler and
the demonstrations Of Newton; and
it held and taught exploded theories,
and opposed the Newtonian theory
of grav:tstion well into the 18th
century. Indeed, not until 1885 did
the prohibition Of such publications
wholly disappear from the Index.
! "The spirit which dominated the
Church from the 5th to the 18th cen
D tury" evidently prolonged its domi-
> nation according to its power. Do
D.; you say all this applies to Catholic
3 ism but not to Protestantismi 1t
: applies in spirit to both. The spirit
: of religious bigotry is always the
: same, and springs not from the ma
= ture of a creed, but from the attach
: ment to it. Martin Luther charac
> terized Copernieus rs IAN upst%r'
astrologist." "This fool said he
y "wishes to revert the whole science
/. Of astronomy. But Sacred Scripture
C tells us that Joshua commanded tht
n sun to stand still, and not tht
q earth!n And his mild d.rmanntr rec
h friend Melanchthon said: ut IS
% want OF honesty and decency to as
y sert such notions publicly, and tn
It example is pernicious. 1t IS tn
IS part OF a good mind to accept th
20 truth as revealed by God, and to &C
le qulesce in it."
h OF all proofs of the existence
lie God, furthermore, those OF Des
le cartes, it is said, have been wrough
20 most thoroughly into the minds Q
"a modern men; and yet the Protestan
Il tbeo!ogians of Holland sought t
as bring him to torture and to desth o
is the charge of atheism. Protestan'
IN made assaults not less bitter tha
We Catholics upon Kepler. The Protes
he ant clergy Of Cambridge and O1tor
n, in 1772, opposed and prevented u
nd Priestly from accompanying an e.
n pedition of scientific discovery.
Al being 'unsound" as to the Irlnit
Ir- It was feared that this might twl
his astronomical observations to II
oh injury of the Church.
~ So also the Church opposed Il
ny development Of Chemistry and M
OF ural Philosophy. Every hold lnvs
ice tigatcr into the laws OF Nature
raj centuries was charged with "s>
.he 10. ceryn and league with the dew
the The Church trained men to rev
en III ence superstition and dogma, not
10 seek the truth. All study was
Vi hampered by ecclesiasticism a
re- hedged about by the most ridicuio
hes' literal Interpretation Of Scriptu
lrlt- that human effort latter three
'us' .h four centuries" says Hollan, ''h
the not united single knot CIR add
se' one unequivocal fact to the dom'
ol- of philosophy" When a mast
mes mind like Roger Bacon would hs
MO advanced science by right meth
inc of study, he was accused OF mag
per- and denounced as "an atheist"
1lch "an infdel." In 1887 the Chu
and forbade the study of medicine, ma
med raj philosophy, and chemistry, I
'ook condemned the teachings Of Bac
TINS At its hands he suffered IA years
76l. Imprisonment, being released at
lem, age of 80, shortly after which de
orld ended his prosecutions.
lext. In the 14th century it was tor
'reat den to have chemical appara
we'd, and when Antonio de Dominles
liter, dertook to investigate the phen
nteo ena of light, he died in the clut'
SIX of the Inquisition.
Zach In 1924, the Theological Fac
cd TO of Paris stopped chemical teacl
s not do nan.ltv of death: and in
him - ItoIr tho Church broke up,
: His had done elsewhere, a society
how ntra mme,ed scientific invest
later t;on
l the With the same cruel and ensla
us. spirit the Church especially opp
ever, tba stndv of Geology. In the
RS at ond nth centuries, the Theolo
es Of Tacultv of Paris, lest the fint
, tele- .nS teachings of geology might
devil. % tha Church, forbade the study
ID to teaching of this science, destr
srksy, the books of its teachers:
e4en them out of the city, and fo'
fo&n- their living in towns or entering