ht about Jupiter's moons, and the Jesuits subsequently confirmed the phases of Venus. These men were not ready to jump on the Copernican bandwagon, however; they adopted as a halfway measure the system of Tycho Brahe, which had all the planets except the earth orbiting the sun. This accounted quite satisfactorily for Galileo's discoveries. Still, Galileo was the man of the hour; in 1611 he made a triumphant visit to Rome, where he was feted by cardinals and granted a private audience by Pope Paul V, who assured him of his support and good will. Church dignitaries vied with one another to do him honor. It was in the next few years that Galileos enemies decided to turn to questioning the religious fidelity of Galileos discoveries. Formal court banquets held by the Medicis provided suitable occasions, and one day, when Galileo was not present, the opening speech was given by the pious Dowager Grand Duchess Cristina who raised the question of the religious orthodoxy of the Copernican view. She questioned the Benedictine monk Benedetto Castelli, who was a well-know pupil of Galileos, asking him whether a moving Earth was not contrary to the Scriptures. Castelli told Galileo, who had been becoming increasingly worried about anti-Galileo factions. He therefore felt he must write a long and carefully worded letter on the subject to Castelli. The letter set out Galileos views, and tackled the basic question of whether the Scriptures should be taken to mean that the Earth stays still. The Bible, he agreed, was inviolate truth, yet it was obvious that at times, it spoke in figurative language; expressions were frequently used that were symbolic and not meant to be taken literally. The phrase Galileo loved to quote for these situations was The Bible shows the way to go to heaven, not the way the heavens go. Yet Galileos opponents who could not answer the letter by rational argument, decided to resort to rumor and innuendo: Galileo had...
