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This is a pet peeve of mine - you're mixing Christianity with Platonism. In the Roman Empire, it was Plato and his intellectual descendants who had the idea tha
by comicjk 9y ago
This is a pet peeve of mine - you're mixing Christianity with Platonism. In the Roman Empire, it was Plato and his intellectual descendants who had the idea that reality was an illusion. Christianity was influenced by this, but only somewhat, because it's a core Christian teaching that the saved will enjoy eternal, bodily life ("I believe in the resurrection of the body and life everlasting"). If you believe that reality is an illusion, like a Buddhist, this form of eternity would be a bad thing, not a good one.
More specifically answering the historical question, the Church was just as strong in the Eastern Roman Empire as in the fallen West, so its presence does not really distinguish the one (lasted until 1453) from the other (Dark Age).
- mirimir 9y agoOK, but was it the same Church in the East and West? Or, even if nominally the same Church, were their attitudes about science the same?
- comicjk 9y agoThey were the same Church throughout the Dark Ages, until 1054. The treatment a person would get from the Church depended on the politics of the local bishop more than anything else. In general, the "conflict thesis" - that the Church was opposed to science as such- is no longer believed by historians. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conflict_thesis#Modern_views https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conflict_thesis#Modern_views There are few examples of scientists being persecuted, and these few were also involved in politics, which was cutthroat for everyone.
- mirimir 9y agoOK, thanks. But it's not just about outright opposition, I think. During that period, didn't Islamic civilization generally support science more than Christian civilization did?
- chewz 9y agoQuite the opposite. The Church (mostly monasteries) in Northern Europe was the main source of progress in science and the progress was rapid. Mostly applied science though like agriculture, melioration, construction, metal forging, waterwheeel etc. This book explains quite well how Western European civilization during Dark Ages was sucking all kinds of inventions and improving them slowly in order to adapt itself in hostile conditions of Northern Europe. https://www.amazon.com/Cathedral-Forge-Waterwheel-Technology-Invention-ebook/dp/B003P2WOAE https://www.amazon.com/Cathedral-Forge-Waterwheel-Technology...