Deus, in adjutorium meum intende. Domine, ad adjuvandum me festina.
O God, come to my assistance. O Lord, make haste to help me.
Something came to my attention awhile back that I thought merited some response. Before I cover that particular item, whether in this post or in a separate one, I would like to clear up some misconceptions. The Roman Catholic Church is not anti-science. On the contrary, it has fostered the sciences for centuries. Some will bring up Galileo, as if that is the proof. Perhaps it might be helpful to know that what is popularly believed regarding Galileo is not quite the whole story.
Galileo believed in Copernicus, who posited that the earth and other bodies rotated around the sun. Galileo's own astronomical searches made him more sure. The Church did not hold an opinion one way or the other for a time. It was Protestants who objected mainly, saying that it opposed Holy Scripture. At first, Galileo's work was celebrated. Father Clavius agreed, along with his fellow Jesuit astronomers. The Jesuits, whatever their modern day shortcomings and failings, have always been of a scientific bent. Actually, Father Clavius, a great mathematician, headed the commission that came up with the Gregorian calendar, which we use to this day, to replace the faulty Julian calendar. The problem came because the Church considered the Copernican system merely theoretical, since real evidence as yet didn't exist. Galileo was teaching it as what today would be called settled science. He was told to stop teaching it as literal truth, but only as theory. The Church was sensitive to the Protestant objections, and also wanted to examine Scripture in this light. Galileo obeyed, but later wrote Dialogue on the Great World Systems (1632), in which he called the Copernican system established truth. It was then that he was declared as possibly heretical. He was told not to write more on the subject. It was censure. He was not excommunicated and went on to write other scientific work. We know how the eventual acceptance of heliocentrism turned out. Protestants and Catholics alike came to acknowledge the truth of the science with further studies and firm evidence. Galileo, however, did get an apology, albeit a few centuries later!
The Church was truly the framework of scientific revolution. Many practicing scientists were priests. to name a few: The father of geology, Fr. Nicholas Steno, Egyptology, Fr. Athanasius Kircher, first person to measure the rate of acceleration of a free falling body, Fr. Riccioli, Father of modern atomic theory, Fr. Roger Boscovich. Seismology has been called the "Jesuit" science. Don't forget Fr. Mendel and genetics. The Church gave more money and support to the study of astronomy over six centuries, from the middle ages to the Enlightenment than any other organization.
Science isn't the only thing the Church promoted in the building of Western civilization. Monks preserved literature of the ancient world, painstakingly transcribing much by hand. The university system started with the Church. The idea of international law came into being through a Spanish professor/priest who decried the treatment of New World Indians. Philosophers and theologians began to speculate on human rights. Canon law of the Church was the first modern legal system in Europe. Don't forget the centuries of contributions to great art, music, mathematics and architecture. After the fall of Rome to the barbarians, the Church restored and advanced civilization. It humanized the West by recognizing the sacredness of human life.
A book that is worth perusing is How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization, by Thomas E. Woods, Jr., Ph.D. The notes at the back of the book are an extensive bibliography. Professor Woods is a New York Times best selling author of The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History.
I think this will be prologue to a separate post on the Church's interest in astronomy and what is being bandied about in some circles currently. Perhaps tomorrow?
5/16/14
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