Chapter Twenty. The Debate On The Motion Of Earth In The Dutch Republic In The 1650s

Abstract

The Roman Catholic Church?s condemnation, in 1616, of the Copernican system, and subsequently, in 1633, of Galileo for upholding this system, do not seem to have made much of a difference for Protestants. The character of the Dutch Reformed Church was settled at the Synod of Dort in 1618?1619. Since the foundation of the Dutch Republic, there had been an uneasy relation between the government and the Dutch Reformed Church. The principal, indeed almost the sole issue which made the rupture manifest, was Cartesian philosophy. Cartesianism had been controversial for several years before 1656. While the debate on the motion of Earth was a debate about Cartesian philosophy, it can be argued that the latter also raised the issue of the authority of Scripture. Keywords: Copernican system; Dutch Reformed Church; Dutch Republic; Galileo; Roman Catholic Church; Scripture