Condemnations ( University of Paris ) The Condemnations at the medieval University of Paris were enacted to restrict certain teachings as being heretical . The investigation of these teachings was conducted under Papal authority . Condemnation of 1270 Enacted by Bishop Stephen Tempier in December 1270 . Listed thirteen propositions as heretical and any one who practiced or taught them would be faced with the punishment of the Inquisition . The banned propositions were related to Averroes ' theory of the soul and the doctrine of monopsychism . Other propositions banned included Aristotle 's theory of God as a passive Unmoved Mover . Conservative forces in the Church attempted to use the Condemnation for political purposes to stop , or at least control and contain , supposed threats to questions of theology posed by Aristotelian reason . In particular the Condemnation targeted such radical scholars as Siger of Brabant . Condemnation of 1277 Also enacted by Bishop Tempier , these Condemnations listed 219 banned propositions . Among propositions banned included statements on Aristotle 's Physics : that God could not make several worlds or universes ; that he could not move a spherical heavens with a rectilinear motion ; that he could not make two bodies exist in the same place at once . These condemnations eventually led to a direct attack on the works of Thomas Aquinas . According to Pierre Duhem , the Condemnations led to the birth of modern science , because they forced thinkers to break from relying so much on Aristotle , and to think about the world in new ways . See also Étienne Tempier Medieval university History of science in the Middle Ages Renaissance of the 12th century External links `` Right , for the wrong reason '' from The Economist . `` Condemnation of 1277 '' from the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy . Categories : University of Paris In other languages : Suomi 