2
I visited the Pantheon last summer. It is fascinating, and unfortunately too dark to take decent photos. I have one of the goddess of astrology that came out OK.

The article is interesting, and the person interviewed appears to be very well versed in Copernicus. Just a couple of quibbles.

The Bible does not mention a heliocentric solar system or universe. They seem to use those words interchangeably. The Church did teach it though based on on inference and some stories, e.g. Joshua stopping the Sun.

Even in Galileo's time there were Churchmen who were not terribly concerned with whether or not the solar system was heliocentric or geocentric. Langford quoted one who said during the Galileo controversy, "The Bible teaches us how to get to heaven, not how to think about the cosmos." Or something like that. I don't have the exact quote handy.

Nicholas Campion spends quite a bit of time in his recent history of astrology (Volume II) on this however and its importance. Campion believes Copernicus was attracted to the problem of what goes around what by the irregular orbits of the planets or what was thought to be the irregular orbits due to the limits of observation in his day. He still could have been inspired by the Pantheon, however.

For those interested in this period and the historical events surrounding the controversy, the article recommended by James is well worth reading. Thanks for posting.

Tom