Throughout the history of religion, many of its most notable figures were either prophets who preached to large groups of people and kings who constructed beautiful temples and reformers who took on empires. However, among these, one of the greatest spiritual thinkers of 16th-century Europe would be an Italian philosopher, a mystic and a cosmologist named Giordano Bruno. Although he existed at a time in history where the world was still bound by Church doctrine and the Earth-centric cosmology of Aristotle, Bruno's understanding of our universe was so radically different than anything that had come before him, that he was unable to accept the Church's explanations for the universe. He did not just seek to explain the physical world around him (the stars, for example), but rather to uncover mankind's place in the universe (what role do we play?) and provide a means to find that answer (how do we know?).
As a result of this quest, Bruno produced some of the most innovative ideas in human history, in connecting the ancient mystical view of the universe and the emerging scientific worldview. This week we will travel back in time to 16th Century Europe, where we will meet Bruno and learn about his philosophy of the universe, which was based on his observations of the stars, and the search for man's place in it. Through this process of careful observation and thought of the cosmos, Bruno came to know God, and from this knowledge came the possibility of intellectual and spiritual freedom.
The Problem Bruno Didn’t Want to Ignore
Most of the spiritual leaders of Bruno's time viewed God as being far away, like a king who ruled over a closed universe and Heaven as a physical location outside of the stars. Bruno began with a vastly larger subject than what most people during his time were willing to address. One that most of Bruno's contemporaries spent most of their lives avoiding: that of the incomprehensible beauty and terror of the concept of infinity.
It gives us comfort to believe that the Earth is at the centre of the universe, that we, as humans, are the primary reason for the creation of the universe, and that the universe has a definite boundary. We crave security, safety, and a feeling of being special. We want to limit the universe's size so that we can comprehend and control it. People educated in Bruno's time still believed that the stars were lights that were glued to a crystal sphere and turned around our privileged planet.
It is therefore not surprising that in his cosmology, Bruno begins by asserting that the universe is infinite, and that the Earth is only one of countless planets in the universe.
