Question

How did cardinal bellarmine respond to the following arguments from galileo ? a. the bible passages about the sun still should not have been interpreted literally. b. the model of the universe ( heliocentric or geocentric ) is not matter of salvation.

Answer 1

St. Bellarmine responded to "a" by indicating that Galileo has no authority to determine which passages should be taken literally and which should be taken non-literally. Science can make no pronouncements, only the magisterial authority of the Church. Last, he responded to "b" in a similar manner- it is not for science to determine what is a matter of salvation; the issue has less to do with his convictions then the authority to determine what is necessary for salvation.