Science and Christianity
I ve been thinking about the relationship between Science and Christianity.Although there’s the much hyped 'culture war' mainly played out in the states with small skirmishes elsewhere.
It's the idea that without Christianity there would be no such thing as Science-Christianity gave birth to Science-that is at the heart of these epistemological differences.The culture wars exist as the Scientific establishment desire's to assume a closed universe -where God does not intervene.The basis of this assumption escapes me.
Francis Schaeffer in his book 'He is there and he is not silent' has said:'….I do not believe for a moment that if the men back at that point of history had had the philosophy,the epistemology of modern man,there would ever have been modern science…..I think science is going to die,too.I think its death is coming.I think its going to be reduced to two things:mere technology and another form of sociological manipulation.I do not believe for a moment that science is going to be able to continue with its objectivity once the base that brought forth science has been totally destroyed…'
To underline the point, discoveries were made in non Christian cultures but never lead to Science, for instance The French sinologist (The study of Chinese language, literature, or civilization-Wiki) M. Granet, noted that "the conviction that the All and everything composing it, having a cyclic nature" was what stymied the Chinese awareness of causal links between events.
The philosophy underlying a culture determines what 'fruit' that culture will bear.Christianity has a cause and effect relationship -God caused the universe to be created ex nihilo -The universe had a beginning, so it is not necessary,he didn't need the universe ,so there must be a reason why it exists-it must have meaning-This is the fertile soil for Science that there is a relationship between different events.Its no accident that the majority of the leading Scientist at the time of its foundation were Christians such people as :
Carolus Linnaeus, Gregor Mendel, John Dalton, Charles Bell, Francis Bacon, Charles Babbage, James Joule, Johannes Kepler, Louis Pasteur, James Clerk Maxwell-not forgetting Farady and Newton.What basis for discovery is there for a materialistic atheistic worldview ?
What a load of twaddle.
Christianity oppressed and crushed free thought and science for hundreds of years whenever it challenged belief and dogma.
Gallileo and others were imprisoned for challenging the teachings of the church such as the sun revolves around the Earth.
The Romans made advanced strides in materials science developing metalwork and concrete well before the birth of Christ.
The Arabs made significant advances in mathematics and astronomy and had advanced cultures that were destroyed by Christianity and the Crusades.
Rome,India and China were all advanced in medical science performing advanced surgery the like of which was not perfromed until the 19th and 20th century e.g. plastic surgery.
The Christian church also prevented medical advances by banning dissections and dismissing ideas such as the circulation of the blood as heresy.
How do you explain all of the non-Christian scientists and engineers who have made fundamental discoveries.
For example Bose and Raman and others listed at http://www.freeindia.org/biographies/greatscientists/ or the great Jewish scientists a list of whom can be found at http://www.answers.com/topic/list-of-jewish-scientists-and-philosophers which includes people such as Einstein, Freud, Chargaff, Oppenheimer and Sagan.
Hi Heritic,
you seem to have misunderstood what I said on this post.Christianity is the ground upon
which Science was born.It doesn’t mean nonchristian cultures didn’t have Science,it
does mean that the science they had did not flourish into the explosion of discoveries we saw
in western Europe in the seventeenth century.
You mention Galileo who was imprisioned (but who never turned his back on his belief).His
imprisionment was at least equally due to the pope feeling he was being ridiclulled by Galileo
in his character ’simplico’ in Galileo’s ‘Dialogues’.
Oppenhiemer also was mentioned by you -he recognised Christianities role in producing Science.
Cheers,
Mike