Galileo, Nov-antiqua sanctissimorum patrum (Strassburg, 1636)
In response to gathering criticism, Galileo in 1615 wrote a reconciliation of Scripture and Copernicanism which circulated in manuscript as the Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina. This is the first printed edition, which appeared in 1636. Galileo cited Augustine throughout. In theory, nothing would have prevented theologians at the time from accepting the Copernican system, had they rigorously followed their own explicitly formulated principles of interpreting Scripture.
Pope John Paul II used Galilean language to affirm similar hermeneutical principles in 1992. However, no theologian then or now was persuaded by the weakest and most provocative part of Galileo’s letter, where he argued that he could prove Copernicanism from scripture.
