On this day, January 13th in 1610, Galileo Galilei discovered four moons orbiting Jupiter.[1] He also discovered how the moons were orbiting in the same way that Copernicus showed how the earth orbited around the sun.
Galileo’s discovery was highly controversial because it contradicted the Catholic Church’s belief at the time that the earth was the center of the universe. [2] In the decades following, Gailieo continued to observe, analyze and publish his scientific findings that provided more evidence for a heliocentric universe; which further angered and threatened Catholic leadership.[3]
In 1633, “Galileo was forced to testify about himself under oath” by the Catholic Church in their hope that he would confess to heresy. Galielo did not alter his stance. Without a confession, the trial resulted in him being charged with a “strong suspicion of heresy,” threatened with torture, and subject to house arrest for the rest of his life.[4]
Over centuries, further scientific discovery continued to prove Gailieo correct in his space observations.
The irony is that the Bible suggests that man is to look up and wonder about the stars, planets and moons as a way to marvel at God.
J.I. Packer in Knowing God [5] makes the biblical case for looking to the stars:
The most universally awesome experience that mankind knows is to stand alone on a clear night and look at the stars. Nothing gives a greater sense of remoteness and distance; nothing makes one feel more strongly one’s own littleness and insignificance. And we who live in the space age can supplement this universal experience with our scientific knowledge of the actual factors involved—millions of stars in number, billions of light years in distance. Our minds reel; our imaginations cannot grasp it; when we try to conceive of unfathomable depths of outer space, we are left mentally numb and dizzy.
But what is this to God? “Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing” (Is. 40:26). It is God who brings out the stars; it was God who first set them in space; he is their Maker and Master—they are all in his hands and subject to his will. Such are his power and his majesty. Behold your God! [6]
Four-hundred years after Galileo’s discovery we should still be in awe of the moons of Jupiter as a means to ‘Behold your God!’
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Footnotes:
- https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/13_January
- https://www.nationalgeographic.org/thisday/jan7/galileo-discovers-jupiters-moons/
- https://www.nationalgeographic.org/thisday/jan7/galileo-discovers-jupiters-moons/
- https://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/the-truth-about-galileo-and-his-conflict-with-the-catholic-church
- As quoted in Brett McCraken’s blog post, “The Heavens Declare,” June 17, 2017.
- https://www.brettmccracken.com/blog/2017/6/17/the-heavens-declare?rq=heaven