ARCHIVE - christian roots - Week 2 Grant, Science and Religion, ch. 1-3

ARCHIVE - Welby Gliszinski

gliwel07 — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 18:03:42 -0700

With the conversion of the Roman Empire from pagan religion to Christianity came the problem of integration of ideas from two worlds of thought and the reconciliation of their contradictions. The pagan religion that had preceded Christianity had, to my surprise as I read Grant’s introductory chapter, stayed out of maters of natural philosophy, with a few exceptions (i.e. the story of Anaxagoras <pg. 15>). I was even more surprised to read that Aristotle’s idea of God (the unmoved mover theory), abstract as it may have been, was not condemned by the followers of the polytheistic religion it seemed to contradict on such a profound and fundamental level. In contrast, Christianity seems to have a much more difficult time, throughout history as well as today, of finding itself on the side of new scientific ideas, even though, in my opinion, contradictions between the two sides often can be reconciled with reason and open-mindedness.

ARCHIVE - Allyson Sims

simall25 — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 17:33:43 -0700

Allyson Sims

In the introduction of Grant’s book he quotes that after the Dark Ages, “Europe awakened, bathed, and began thinking again.” The Middle Ages were also referred to as a “barbarous history of barbarous peoples, who became Christians but did not become better because of it, also, it is necessary to know the history of that age only in order to scorn it.” (4)

I find this to be a compelling argument given all the proof we have of what a fruitful and crucial time period the Middle Ages were that so much scorn is assigned to them. I wonder if in a few centuries down the road, the Renaissance will also be relegated to a relatively unworthy time period, given the speed in which technology has progressed in just the last 50-70 years by comparison. It seems that society is often too willing to scorn what came before.

ARCHIVE - Juliana Kimbrell

kimjul08 — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 15:26:29 -0700

I find Aristotle’s idea of God very interesting. To summarize Grant; Aristotle was looking for the source of change, and he saw change as a form of motion. “All bodies in the universe are subject to change, because the possess matter, which is always in the process of changing”(17) Through logical reason Aristotle hit upon his idea of God as an Unmoved Mover. And this Unmoved Mover was the cause of all change in the universe by being an object of desire. “All things move in order to get as close as possible to God.”(17) Also note that the Unmoved Mover was incorporeal.