An accepted truth?

[Flavius_Aetius]

In an arguement is it right to concead that it was the power of the Catholic Church that kept Scientific knowledge from developing at a faster pace up until the ‘age of enlightenment’. I realize that one of the biggest reasons was the difficulties of life in that time, warfare, and an illiterate serfdom, but is the Catholic Church also to blame for keeping new inventions and ideas from being spread into Europe?

 

[Third_Day]

I suggest that you get the book " How The Catholic Church built Western Civilization" by Thomas Woods.

 

[NHInsider]

I think it’s a stretch to say the Church prevented the advance of science, considering the amount of scientific work that was done in Catholic monastic and academic settings (Mendel, anyone?). I think that the advent of inexpensive printing and widespread literacy led to both the sharing and spreading of scientific knowledge and a number of cultural movements including the Reformation and the Enlightenment.

 

[zz912]

Not only should you not concede the point, but the point is completely WRONG. The Church was one of few institutions (and usually the only one) which was preserving science, literature, history, and intellectual knowledge. Without the work of monks and monasteries, much of our history before the elightenment would have been lost.

 

[survive]

The Catholic Church is the number-one reason science still exists and has developed to where it is now. The absurdity of calling the Church anti-science started when a few scientists wanted to use technology, not science (science is the development of knowledge; technology is the decision to act on new knowledge in particular ways), to do wrong. It isn’t the science that made the technology possible the Church objects to but the evil of the technology.

 

[neophyte]

In an arguement is it right to concead that it was the power of the Catholic Church that kept Scientific knowledge from developing at a faster pace up until the ‘age of enlightenment’…?

HECK NO! There is no notion more absurd, it’s absolutely false and only ignorance can excuse someone who believes it.

It occurs to me that the so-called “age of enlghtenment” is badly misnamed. Better to call it the “age of the darkening of the will”.

 

[MarcoPolo]

I suggest that you get the book " How The Catholic Church built Western Civilization" by Thomas Woods.

You can listen to the EWTN series by Thomas Woods on this very book on MP3.

There is also an excellent talk by scientist Dr. Stephen Barr who details the scientific contributions of Catholics throughout history in his book Modern Physics and Ancient Faith. Dr. Barr also did a talk detailing a lot of this. You can find the MP3 of that here.

The short answer to the OP’s question is no, it does not seem the Catholic Church has ever held science back but rather contributed to it’s advancement.

 

[Flavius_Aetius]

Thank you everyone who responded to this, I’ll be sure to look into that book. Next time this attack is made saying the Church is Anti-intellectual I’ll be much more prepared to respond.

 

[steve_b]

In an arguement is it right to concead that it was the power of the Catholic Church that kept Scientific knowledge from developing at a faster pace up until the ‘age of enlightenment’.

If you concede that means you agree? Do you?

 

[Flavius_Aetius]

Before this thread I was willing to agree that it was the unified Church that kept the Medieval world mostly static. Now I am not sure; I doubt every branch of the Church would be openly accepting of all scientific theories, but I seriously doubt that the Church went out of its way to keep scientific thoughts in the dark.

As you can see doubts a key issue with me…

 

[steve_b]

Before this thread I was willing to agree that it was the unified Church that kept the Medieval world mostly static. Now I am not sure; I doubt every branch of the Church would be openly accepting of all scientific theories, but I seriously doubt that the Church went out of its way to keep scientific thoughts in the dark.

As you can see doubts a key issue with me…

Maybe they’re just difficulties and not doubts.