43
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
I. Chinnici, G. Consolmagno (eds.), Angelo Secchi and Nineteenth Century Science,
Historical & Cultural Astronomy, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-58384-2_3
Chapter 3
Between Science and Religion: Angelo
Secchi and his Time
Giuseppe Tanzella-Nitti
3.1 Introduction
The idea of a Jesuit priest working as a professional astronomer was not unusual in
the epoch of Angelo Secchi. There are a number of theological, historical, and intellectual reasons underlying Christianity’s interest in science, endorsed by a huge
literature, especially concerning historical issues or centered on outstanding scientific figures, believers, and scientists (see, for instance, Lindberg and Numbers
1986; Brooke 1991; Brooke and Cantor 1998; Grant 2006).
From a practical point of view, the Christian community was interested in the
study of the celestial motions and the calendar because of need for the exact determination of the date of Easter, which depends on the lunar phases and the position
of the Spring equinox. But Sacred Scripture also conveys the idea that nature—the
starry sky in particular—is the result of the Word of God, so that the beauty and
order of creatures are able to declare the glory and attributes of their Creator. It was
in dialogue with the philosophers of the first centuries of the Christian era that the
Fathers of the Church were persuaded of the consonance between the Logos of
which those philosophers of nature spoke, and the one and unique God revealed in
Jesus Christ. In this way, the observation of the sky was kept free from idolatry and
recognized as a path that leads to knowledge of God. The Greek apologists—Basil
of Cesarea, Augustine of Hippo, and Leo the Great, to mention a few—were quite
explicit in this respect.
Beginning in the ninth century, astronomy, arithmetic, and geometry, together
with music, were the four disciplines of the Quadrivium, a part of the required
G. Tanzella-Nitti (*)
Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, Rome, Italy
Vatican Observatory, Vatican City, Italy
e-mail: tanzella@pusc.it
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
I. Chinnici, G. Consolmagno (eds.), Angelo Secchi and Nineteenth Century Science,
Historical & Cultural Astronomy, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-58384-2_3
Chapter 3
Between Science and Religion: Angelo
Secchi and his Time
Giuseppe Tanzella-Nitti
3.1 Introduction
The idea of a Jesuit priest working as a professional astronomer was not unusual in
the epoch of Angelo Secchi. There are a number of theological, historical, and intellectual reasons underlying Christianity’s interest in science, endorsed by a huge
literature, especially concerning historical issues or centered on outstanding scientific figures, believers, and scientists (see, for instance, Lindberg and Numbers
1986; Brooke 1991; Brooke and Cantor 1998; Grant 2006).
From a practical point of view, the Christian community was interested in the
study of the celestial motions and the calendar because of need for the exact determination of the date of Easter, which depends on the lunar phases and the position
of the Spring equinox. But Sacred Scripture also conveys the idea that nature—the
starry sky in particular—is the result of the Word of God, so that the beauty and
order of creatures are able to declare the glory and attributes of their Creator. It was
in dialogue with the philosophers of the first centuries of the Christian era that the
Fathers of the Church were persuaded of the consonance between the Logos of
which those philosophers of nature spoke, and the one and unique God revealed in
Jesus Christ. In this way, the observation of the sky was kept free from idolatry and
recognized as a path that leads to knowledge of God. The Greek apologists—Basil
of Cesarea, Augustine of Hippo, and Leo the Great, to mention a few—were quite
explicit in this respect.
Beginning in the ninth century, astronomy, arithmetic, and geometry, together
with music, were the four disciplines of the Quadrivium, a part of the required
G. Tanzella-Nitti (*)
Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, Rome, Italy
Vatican Observatory, Vatican City, Italy
e-mail: tanzella@pusc.it