Columbus and the Rise of Science

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Columbus and the Rise of Science

We've Been Lied To

By: Chuck Colson|Published: October 10, 2016 7:00 AM

Topics: Chuck Colson, History, Science/Technology

On this Columbus Day, we present a classic BreakPoint commentary by Chuck Colson on Columbus and the rise of science.

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Thank heavens that Columbus was able to convince [the world] [that the earth was round].

Except, as Chuck Colson explains in this classic BreakPoint commentary, Columbus didn’t have to convince anyone.

For well over a century and a half, secular intellectuals have promulgated the myth //that when it came /to understanding the natural world, medieval and earlier Christians were superstitious simpletons. As we mark Columbus Day today, sit back and listen /to Chuck Colson /as he debunks that pernicious fairy tale.  Here’s Chuck.

To paraphrase the opening of a popular ESPN show, [these four things () everyone knows] are true: Before Columbus's first voyage, people thought the world was flat. When Copernicus wrote that the Earth revolved /around the Sun, his conclusions came out of nowhere. Three, the "scientific revolution" of the seventeenth century invented science /as we know it.

And four, false beliefs and impediments to science are Christianity's fault.

There's just one problem: All four statements are false.

As Rodney Stark writes in his new book, "For the Glory of God," "every educated person" of Columbus's time, especially Christian clergy, "knew the earth was round." More than 800 years before Columbus's voyage, Bede, the church historian, taught this, as did Hildegard of Bingen and Thomas Aquinas. The title of the most popular medieval text on astronomy was Sphere, not exactly what you would call a book that said the earth was flat.

As for Copernicus's sudden flash of insight, Stark quotes the eminent historian L. Bernard Cohen, who called [that idea] ["an invention of later historians."] Copernicus "was taught the essential fundamentals /leading to his model /by his Scholastic professors"—that is, Christian scholars.

That model was "developed gradually /by a succession of . . . Scholastic scientists /over the previous two centuries." Building upon their work on orbital mechanics, Copernicus added the "implicit next step."

Thus, [the idea //that science was invented /in the seventeenth century, "when a weakened Christianity could no longer prevent it,"] as it is said, is false. Long before the famed physicist Isaac Newton, clergy like John of Sacrobosco, the author of Sphere, were doing what can be only called science. The Scholastics—Christians—not the Enlightenment, invented modern science.

Three hundred years before Newton, a Scholastic cleric /named Jean Buridan anticipated Newton's First Law of Motion, that a body in motion will stay in motion /unless otherwise impeded. It was Buridan, not an Enlightenment luminary, who first proposed that the Earth turns on its axis.

In Stark's words, "Christian theology was necessary for the rise of science." Science only happened /in areas whose worldview was shaped by Christianity, that is, Europe. Many civilizations had alchemy; only Europe developed chemistry. Likewise, astrology was practiced everywhere, but only in Europe did it become astronomy.

That's because Christianity depicted God /as a "rational, responsive, dependable, and omnipotent being" //who created a universe /with a "rational, lawful, stable" structure.

These beliefs uniquely led /to "faith /in the possibility of science."

So why the Columbus myth? Because, as Stark writes, "the claim of an inevitable and bitter warfare between religion and science has, for more than three centuries, been the primary polemical device /used in the atheist attack of faith." Opponents of Christianity have used bogus accounts /like the ones () I've mentioned to /not only discredit Christianity, but also position themselves /as "liberators" of the human mind and spirit.

Well, it's up to us to set the record straight, and Stark's book is a great place to start. And I think () it's time to tell our neighbors that [what everyone thinks they know about Christianity and science] is just plain wrong.

Isaiah 40:22 (NKJV)
It is He who sits above the circle of the earth,
And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers,
Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.

(The original commentary aired December 4, 2003).

Further Reading and Information

Columbus and the Rise of Science: We’ve Been Lied To

Check out more about the contributions by Christians in the various fields of science by clicking on the resources linked below.

Resources

For the Glory of God: How Monotheism Led to Reformations, Science, Witch-Hunts, and the End of Slavery
Rodney Stark | Princeton University Press | August 2004

Progress Through Theology: Interview with Rodney Stark
David Neff | Christianity Today | July 1, 2003

The Myth of the Flat Earth
Bede Library | bede.org.uk

Wagging the Dog: The Invented War between Science and Christianity
Chuck Colson | BreakPoint.org | August 30, 2002

Two Heavenly Subjects: Linking Science and Faith
Chuck Colson |BreakPoint.org | July 14, 2003

An Old Urban Legend: Confused by the Copernican Cliché
Chuck Colson | BreakPoint.org | September 9, 2003

Comments:

Re: "those clowns," Richard, we discourage commenters from name-calling here. Please keep it in mind. Thanks!

Posted By: Gina Dalfonzo on October 10, 2016 2:11 PM

I tried!

I tried to do exactly what the late Mr. Colson recommended, repeatedly, about 7 years ago on YouTube.com, and got absolutely nowhere. Here is an excerpt from one of my posts:

"reply to Gxp11 on 9/10/09 at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcAq9bmCeR0&NR=1&feature=fvwp

"Gxp11: We agree about the role of Science. And the founders of every branch of modern science were Christians! So check your facts. And you haven't refuted my statements about what Christianity has done for humanity versus what atheism has done. Your denial of that shows your ignorance."

The web page whose address appears above is still online. It features a video supporting evolution that was uploaded in 2007. But my comment, which was posted in 2009, is virtually impossible to find. What you will see under comments are recent ones, going back about two months. At the bottom of the page is a link that says "Show more". Every time you click it, the list is extended back another month or two. As you can calculate, you would have to do that at least 42 times or so to get back to September of 2009. And even then, whether either my comment or Gxp11's appears depends on whether Barney Google considers them to be Top Comments (note the heading at the top of the list).

The bottom line is, my statements were mocked and contradicted by the atheists who dominated the commenter pool. There were so many comments that it soon became impossible to follow the thread at all. Trying to carry on an intelligent conversation with those clowns was an exercise in futility.

Posted By: Richard L. Enison on October 10, 2016 9:55 AM