Theocracy in Medieval Age

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A lot of atheists claimed that The Church took too much political power so The Church made Europe underdevelped. Is it true? Thank you very much.
 
What do YOU think?

Who are these someones and what proof do they offer?

Think critically here.
 
Not even close. The lack of development during the middle ages was not a result of the Church’s political power, but rather, the handiwork of pagan barbarians. Various tribes (the Goths especially) invaded Roman cities and destroyed them, wiping out libraries, schools, infrastructure, and food sources. The survivors were set back to prehistoric times without their technological knowledge–this is especially true of the aqueducts, which provided water to the whole empire.

After Rome fell, the invasions continued for centuries thanks to the Moors and Mongols (among others). It was like continuously taking one step forward and two steps back for nearly a thousand years.

Saint Augustine of Hippo wrote a whole book, City of God, to defend the Catholic Church against accusations that it was responsible for the collapse of Western civilization. It’s also worth noting that the advancements of the last 600 years sprang up in Christian areas. The scientific method was the brainchild of Catholic university systems, after all.

There’s a LOT more that can be said, but that’s all I can think of for right now. The Church did not “hold back progress,” it fostered progress. And that’s coming from a pretty serious doubter.

History doesn’t lie.

Happy 2018!
 
I’d ask them what amount of political power was right and how they reason to that. They of course really don’t think any political power is justified. Read Tom Woods book ‘How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization’. It gives plenty of examples of how the Church actually helped give us the modern world we enjoy so much.
 
In the Middle Ages, there was not a concept of separation of church and state. For the most part, the Catholic Church and the civil power (whatever that might be emperor, king, etc) were partners. They supported each other. The Church gave divine legitimacy to the government of an area, and the government defended the Church.

However, it was not as if the Pope or bishop were giving orders to kings and nobles. In some cases the Church did get to “political” but there were also cases where kings and emperors interfered in the business of the church, such as the investiture controversy in which the Church attempted to keep kings from appointing the bishops in their realms.

The Middle Ages was not a theocracy (with the exception of the Papal States and perhaps prince-bishoprics). It was usually a monarchical or aristocratic government intimately tied to and legitimated by its associations with the Catholic Church.

Both Church and state interfered with each other all the time.
 
The Church did not hold back progress? Tell that to Galileo.
 
What power did they have? Even during the Inquisition they had to ask favors and suport from kings and queens. Now really, when did all that power just happen?
 
Galileo made his findings theological. He deliberately attacked Scripture. That’s why he gathered the attention he did. Copernicus proposed a similar scientific model with no ecclesiastical sanctions.
Yes, sometimes the Church made mistakes… but modern science as we know it wouldn’t exist if not for Christian Europe which promoted the concept of a rational God and a rational universe. The Church’s contributions to science are well documented… many of the great pioneers of the sciences were clergy. Heck, without the Church we wouldn’t have the modern university system.
 
anhphan said:
A lot of atheists claimed that The Church took too much political power so The Church made Europe underdevelped. Is it true? Thank you very much.
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On the contrary, the CC was the seat of learning and scholarship. Monasteries were repositories of some of the only books, all of which had to be copied by hand. Cathoilcs developed hospitals, universities, the scientific method, etc.

The Church did get too much involved in political power, merging Church and State. This is eventually what precipitated the Reformation.
 
I think that, at times, the Church was too involved in politics, to the detriment of her spiritual mission. The Church actually benefitted from the loss of the Papal States, although the Popes at the time did not think so.

Did the Church hinder “development” in Europe? No. Economic Development is a modern concept, in any case.
 
anhphan said:
A lot of atheists claimed that The Church took too much political power so The Church made Europe underdevelped. Is it true? Thank you very much.
Click to expand...
If anyone makes a claim against the Church please ask them to provide evidence to support their claim which we can then discuss. It is not up to us to refute baseless assertions.
 
The Church certainly encouraged scientific observation. And many great early scientists were Catholics. But we owe the modern scientific method to the Enlightenment and to democracy and freedom of speech for which the Church can claim no credit.
 
I disagree. The groundwork of modern scientific thought was laid in late medieval Catholic societies. I don’t believe the Enlightenment could have occurred anywhere else. It wasn’t a Christian movement in and of itself… but I don’t believe it’s a coincidence that it happened in Christian Europe. The Christian concept of a rational Creator and thus a rational creation was paramount.
 
Yes, but I asked this question to understand more about the history of The Church.
 
But I asked this question to gain more knowledge about the history of The Church. If you feel annoying, you don’t need to answer my question. Thank you for you answer.
 
The Church funded a lot of science, and provided a living for a lot of the early science pioneers. Catholic Christianity provided the framework for scientific thinking and experimentation to exist.

Writers like James Hannam and Stanley Jaki have a lot of historical info about this.
 
KevinK said:
The Church did not hold back progress? Tell that to Galileo.
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Galileo taught heliocentrisim. So if modern science says that is wrong then if the Church held back Galileo then it held back scientific error. Error isn’t progress. Besides, we could list all sorts of valid science which was discovered by Catholics, including priests and religious. So no, the Church didn’t hold back progress at all.
 
Your response is an almost perfect example of confirmation bias.
 
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