Final answer:
The name given to the church's efforts to challenge emerging theories during the Scientific Revolution is the Inquisition, a forceful means to maintain religious conformity which also included the famous trial of Galileo Galilei. Additionally, the General Court in Puritan colonies functioned as the legislative branch. The Enlightenment spurred arguments against the Catholic Church, stressing reason and scientific understanding over established religious doctrines.
Step-by-step explanation:
The term given to the church's effort to question and often combat the theories presented during the scientific revolution is the Inquisition. The Inquisition was a centuries-long effort by the Catholic Church to enforce religious conformity in Western Europe, employing methods such as torture and execution when deemed necessary. One of the most infamous cases of the Inquisition's attempt to suppress scientific thought was the trial of Galileo Galilei in 1633, due to his support of the heliocentric model of the solar system, which went against the Church's teachings at the time.
The General Court in the Puritan colonies served as the legislative branch of government. As such, the correct answer to Exercise 4.5.3 is option b, the legislative branch.
Arguments against the Catholic Church during the time of the Enlightenment were based on the view that the Church maintained rigid social structures and claimed to have eternal, unchanging answers to social and personal conditions, which were increasingly contradicted by emerging scientific and empirical evidence. Enlightenment thinkers challenged traditional religious authority, promoting the use of reason and scientific method over blind faith.