> But the Church was also fully aware that the Bible could potentially be interpreted in a way that was not contrary to heliocentrism. The Inquisition's assess

> But the Church was also fully aware that the Bible could potentially be interpreted in a way that was not contrary to heliocentrism. The Inquisition's assessment of heliocentrism explicitly contradicts your claim: > All said that this proposition is foolish and absurd in philosophy, and formally heretical since it explicitly contradicts many places the sense of Holy Scripture, according to the literal meaning of the words and according to the common interpretation and understanding of the Holy Fathers and the doctors of theology. - The Inquisition, 1616 Your claim that > It simply wanted to avoid making a fairly significant doctrinal revision in the absence of a compelling scientific case for heliocentrism. ... is simply not supported at all by the Inquisition's own statements. The Inquisition was very clear that heliocentrism must be false, because it contradicted the literal meaning of Holy Scripture. The Inquisition didn't say that heliocentrism was an open question to consider. It positively declared that heliocentrism is false and that the Earth stands still, and it grounded that statement by pointing to a literal reading of Scripture. > it's inaccurate to see the Church in this instance as acting from blind dogmatism I don't see any possible way to interpret the Inquisition's judgment on heliocentrism as anything other than blind dogmatism. In modern apologia, the Inquisition's rulings are rarely cited, because they contradict the key points that modern apologists make (about the Church supposedly being interested in scientific caution, etc.). I get the sense that people are trying to defend the 17th Century Church from criticisms rooted in a modern sensibility (which accepts empiricism and rejects religious dogma), ignoring the fact that the 17th Century Church (and most people in Western Christendom at the time) did not share our modern sensibilities.