Religious Studies

Featured exhibit items for religious studies.

Exhibit Items

1	The City of God Augustine, (1489) The frontispiece shows Augustine in his study. Augustine taught that the language of Scripture was accommodated to the understanding of ordinary readers and therefore not well-suited to teach the theories of natural science.
1	On the Christian Expedition to China Ricci, Matteo (1616) This book recounts the establishment of the Jesuit mission in China in the late 1500s led by Matteo Ricci. When Ricci predicted a solar eclipse in 1592 with greater accuracy than the astronomers of the Chinese court, Emperor Wan-li invited Ricci to Beijing.
2	The Ancient and Modern Doctrine of Holy Fathers Galileo, (1661) This volume contains the first English translations of any of Galileo’s works, including Galileo’s Dialogue on the Two Chief Systems of the World, the book for which he was put on trial.
2	The Philosopher of China Confucius, (1687) Confucius lived in the early 5th century BCE, roughly contemporary with the Pythagoreans and Presocratic natural philosophers. Confucius taught: “Do not do to others what you do not want done to yourself,” an early version of the Golden Rule.
3	Heights of Theology Aquinas, Thomas (1496) Wormholes appear on the cover of this otherwise well-preserved medieval masterwork of theology. Aquinas represents the medieval synthesis of science and religion. He endorsed the principle of accommodation.
3	Historical Narration of the Origin and Progress of the Mission to China Schall, Adam (1665) This book is Schall’s account of the Jesuit mission in China after Ricci. Working closely with Chinese collaborators, Schall oversaw the publication of more than 30 scientific works in Chinese which drew upon Galileo, Copernicus, Tycho, Kepler and John Napier.
4	Geneva Bible , (1560) The Geneva Bible was the first lay study Bible, written in the vernacular, portable, affordable, and designed with cross-references and explanatory notes for self-study. It was the Bible of Shakespeare, of the Puritans, of settlers in the colonies of New England, and of Scotland.
5	King James Bible , (1611) Numerous Scripture passages seemed to affirm the stability of the Earth and the mobility of the Sun, including Psalm 104:5.
9	Commentary on the Book of Job Zuniga, Diego de (1591) Scientific results were often reported in theological works, as in this first defense of Copernicanism in Spain. In his commentary on Job 9:6 (misnumbered 9:5), Zuniga summarized evidence for Copernicanism from the precession of the equinoxes.
17	Observations on the Prophecies of Daniel Newton, Isaac (1733) For Newton, science and the Bible were not opposed, provided that one understood each one correctly.