"Those who assert that 'the earth moves and turns'...[are] motivated by 'a spirit of bitterness, contradiction, and faultfinding;' possessed by the devil, they aimed 'to pervert the order of nature.'"
- John Calvin, sermon no. 8 on 1st Corinthians, 677, cited in John Calvin: A Sixteenth Century Portrait by William J. Bouwsma (Oxford Univ. Press, 1988), A. 72
What is your point?
Some of the stupidest things ever spoken have come from the lips of some of the most brilliant men who ever lived.
Anyone who studies history knows this pops up often- that one person can be so unbelievably brilliant in one area and so invincibly stupid in others.
His brilliance can be profound on one issue and be very lacking in another facet of the same issue.
This is called being human.
And this quote needs to be placed in context. To the most devout of Christians in Calvin's day, heliocentricity was an assault upon the faith once handed down from the Apostles.
It puts me in mind of young earth creationists today.
One day they will be seen as absolute idiots. One day it will be proven, not just scientifically, but exegetically that the idea that the earth is six to eight thousand years old is utterly ridiculous.
But those who see these YEC as idiots will be totally wrong in many cases. It will simply be that they were VERY brilliant in many theological matters but blinded by an emotional attachment to a tradition they held as essential in this matter.
John Calvin represented in this statement the feelings of the VAST majority of Christians- both Calvinist and non-calvinist in his day.
So what is the point you are trying to make with this quote?