Good article on the origins of science and Christianity's influence.

[vulturesrow]

How Christianity (and Capitalism) Led to Science (http://chronicle.com/temp/reprint.php?id=tqm4xd5mqkk5px43d968m19qmf4w3g5y)

Key quotation:

[ QUOTE ]
But, from early days, the church fathers taught that reason was the supreme gift from God and the means to progressively increase understanding of Scripture and revelation.

[/ QUOTE ]

[diebitter]

So not Aristotle, Socrates or Plato then?

[vulturesrow]

[ QUOTE ]
So not Aristotle, Socrates or Plato then?

[/ QUOTE ]

Did you bother to read the article?

[diebitter]

No. The title 'how Christianity...' made me assume pre-Christianity wouldn't be part of it. What a fool I was.


Or maybe I was just making the point that Science is rooted in a tradition predating Christianity.

[vulturesrow]

[ QUOTE ]
No. The title 'how Christianity...' made me assume pre-Christianity wouldn't be part of it. What a fool I was.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yup.

[diebitter]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
No. The title 'how Christianity...' made me assume pre-Christianity wouldn't be part of it. What a fool I was.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yup.

[/ QUOTE ]

I take that back. The heritage of the Greek philosophers is barely mentioned.

Seriously, nice article.

[BluffTHIS!]

Thanks for the link, as that was a nice article. Regarding the contributions of the Greek philosphers, although that article doesn't stress it, Aquinas and the other scholastic theologians thought highly of them and incorporated their thoughts on reason and logic into christian theology.

With respect to capitalism, I think this is clearly a result of catholic openess to science and technology as well as reason, but that the article underestimates the scientific and mathematical achievements of medieval Islam and China. Chinese warfare technology and astronomical accomplishments were high. As was the contributions of Islamic mathematicians. However, both of those societies and especially the Chinese, disdained the merchant class as unproductive leaches and not one of the principal esteemed occupations (scholar/warrior, farmer, artisan). This then (along with Chinese emphasis on historical modes being superior) seems to have then led to their failure to derive full benefit from technological progress and to advance the state of their scientific knowledge.

Obviously, the catholic church did not always immediately embrace scientific progress as seen with Gallileo, but its committment to reason and science enabled it to overcome such shortsighted temporary failures. Reason and a search for a greater knowledge of God's creation are gifts from God and although they can be directed at wrong ends, must be accepted as such gifts that cannot be in contradiction to true theology.