4 ms·

Well, Christianity is a big reason. It was so successful for so long in part because it aggressively repressed any ideologies which could have threatened its he

Well, Christianity is a big reason. It was so successful for so long in part because it aggressively repressed any ideologies which could have threatened its hegemony. Since the Church considered the ’scientific’ domain to be part of its curriculum, new science was generally a threat.

badpun 3y ago
> Since the Church considered the ’scientific’ domain to be part of its curriculum, new science was generally a threat. I don't think that's true. Church only opposed science that was in contradiction with the Bible, which was a small minority of all science discoveries. Church never had any qualms with Newton laws or laws of conservation of mass (in chemistry) etc.
- mr_toad 3y ago
  > Church never had any qualms with Newton laws or laws of conservation of mass (in chemistry) etc. That was a much later church separated by more than one schism. The Orthodox Church of the Byzantine empire was much less tolerant of any thoughts that might contradict doctrine. More that one philosopher was convicted of heresy.
  - badpun 3y ago
    Were these philosophers generating science?
ogogmad 3y ago
Citation?
red-iron-pine 3y ago
Christianity was not locked in during the time of the Byzantines and in many cases discussions were common about it's different interpretations. Monphysitism, Iconoclasts, various flavors of Arian (named for the monk Arius), etc. were all floating around. Constantinople had a reputation for having constant theological debates; writers mentioned how common townsfolk were debating the nature of Christ, etc. Historically, looking back at them we see "unenlightened" folk -- perhaps the way future people, the ones who survive WW4, will look back at us and our debates about race and gender -- but at the time they were wildly well educated and highly versed in religion, politics, and philosophy. And they did have science -- we have yet to fully understand Greek fire. Innovations in armor and horse breeding created the Cataphracts, based on Eurasian horsemen that the Byzantines routinely clashed with. And, as the article points out, they smuggled silk and created a new industry from scratch. We scorn them for not being as advanced as we are 1000 years later but for a while Constantinople was, to quote Napoleon, "the city of the world's desire".

badpun 3y ago

> Since the Church considered the ’scientific’ domain to be part of its curriculum, new science was generally a threat. I don't think that's true. Church only opposed science that was in contradiction with the Bible, which was a small minority of all science discoveries. Church never had any qualms with Newton laws or laws of conservation of mass (in chemistry) etc.

mr_toad 3y ago
> Church never had any qualms with Newton laws or laws of conservation of mass (in chemistry) etc. That was a much later church separated by more than one schism. The Orthodox Church of the Byzantine empire was much less tolerant of any thoughts that might contradict doctrine. More that one philosopher was convicted of heresy.
- badpun 3y ago
  Were these philosophers generating science?

ogogmad 3y ago

Citation?

red-iron-pine 3y ago

Christianity was not locked in during the time of the Byzantines and in many cases discussions were common about it's different interpretations. Monphysitism, Iconoclasts, various flavors of Arian (named for the monk Arius), etc. were all floating around. Constantinople had a reputation for having constant theological debates; writers mentioned how common townsfolk were debating the nature of Christ, etc. Historically, looking back at them we see "unenlightened" folk -- perhaps the way future people, the ones who survive WW4, will look back at us and our debates about race and gender -- but at the time they were wildly well educated and highly versed in religion, politics, and philosophy. And they did have science -- we have yet to fully understand Greek fire. Innovations in armor and horse breeding created the Cataphracts, based on Eurasian horsemen that the Byzantines routinely clashed with. And, as the article points out, they smuggled silk and created a new industry from scratch. We scorn them for not being as advanced as we are 1000 years later but for a while Constantinople was, to quote Napoleon, "the city of the world's desire".