He did not want to be thought little of, but tried to persuade men that the Holy Ghost, the Comforter and Enricher of Your faithful, was resident in himself personally, with plenary authority. Therefore when he was caught out in error about the sky and the stars and the movements of sun and moon, though these things do not pertain to religious doctrine, yet his sacrilegious audacity was apparent in that he said things not only unknown to him but plainly false: and in the swollen madness of his pride would have credited to himself as to a divine person. Now when I see some brother Christian, any brother Christian, ignorant of these things and confusing one thing with another, I can look patiently upon such a man as he utters his opinion; and I do not see how it can hurt him to be ignorant of the place or condition of material things provided he does not hold any belief unworthy of You, O Lord, Creator of all. But it does hurt him if he thinks that this pertains to pious doctrine and dares to uphold too obstinately things he does not know.
St Augustine of Hippo, Confessions, trans. F.J. Sheed, 5.5, 73.
(Not the observation that the movement of the heavenly bodies aren't a matter of religious doctrine; when Galileo got into trouble many centuries later, it was far less for saying what the planets etc did, than it was for claiming that the Bible supported his position; he was enlisting religion in support of science. As for the second paragraph, it'd be useful reading for creationists... )
