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gradually enveloped all of Europe.
The discoveries included such con–
cepcs as a round earrh, che sun as che
cenrer of che solar sysrem, and rhe
realization rhar men and women
acrually had che same number of ribs.
As simple as such facrs are ro us
today, rhey were revolur ionary discov–
eries for rhat cime! They forced a
suelden reappraisal of tradicional
beliefs rhar man had held for cen–
curies abour himself and bis universc.
Such concepts were ac variance wich
escablishecl rel igious conclusions. So
ir is of little surprise char church
aurhoricies at fi rst resisced and sup–
pressed che new ideas. Faces, however,
cannot remain forever unnociced by
orher searching minds. Ir did nor cake
long for che discoveries of Coper–
nicus, Galileo, Columbus, Vesalius -
some of whom were forced co pub–
licly deny rheir own discoverics - ro
become common knowlcdge.
Old ideas had ro give way. So did
chosc who had championed crroneous
conceprs - namely, che rheo logians.
Rcligion, which had been a dominar–
ing factor in che Middle Ages, was
forccd ro make conccssions ro
Human Reason, che new byword and
guiding lighr of rhe Renaissance.
Religious dogma, long cakcn as lit–
eral, unquesrionablc cruth, had been
succcssfu 11y challenged.
Despire che signilicancc of a few
discoverics, much of che ''science"
en~aged
in ac chis time was carriecl on
by wealrhy individuals who wished ro
sacisfy personal fancies and curiosiries.
Because many universiry scholars who
scudicd science were also rheologians.
mosr srudies were conccrned wirh
" ... finding che moral or symbolic
meaning, or else che magical or asrro–
logical properries, in rhe objecrs and
cvenrs of physical narurc" (R. S.
Hoyt,
E11rope in the Midd/e Age.r.
p. 388). This attitudc made rrue
progress slow.
In che 17th and 18th ccnruries che
sciences were maruring. They were
bcginning ro move away from rhe
innuencc of che humaniries. Thc
work of Sir Isaac Newron in his dis-
20
covery of che
law~
of morion and
gcavity cpiromizes rhe now familiar
merhods of modern science. He sub–
mi rced ideas about nacure ro rhe test
of observarion and experimenrarion.
Metaphys ica l and supernarural
ex pJana rions wcre in creas ing ly
avoided. In all roo many cases, rhese
earlier "explanations" were only cheo–
logical ··specularions" rhar rerarded
and inhibired man's arcemprs ro
understand rhe narucal world. The
more scienrisrs were able ro case off
rhe suppressive yokc of tradicional
religion, rhe more progress rhey
secmed to be ablc ro make.
T he Golden Age?
The one evcnr thar undoubredly
had che mosr profound effecr on rhe
decline of rdigious inAuence and
advanced rhe cause of marcrialisric
explanarion in science was che publi–
cation of Darwin's rhcory of organic
evolution. The b<tsic teners of che
theory were so diamerrically opposed
ro exis ri ng cheological ideas abour
man and rhc natura l world that a
showdown was unavoidable.
The barragc of emocional rhetoric
rhar followcd onh· served ro under–
mine furcher rhe aÍready fading inAu–
ence of religion in Wesrern rhoughr.
As one reviewer has observed: '"The
process was promoced by rhe
incomperence of che clergy ro deal
wirh rhe new know ledge and by a
school of avicl scicncisrs and philoso–
phers who wcrc ready ro do barde
wirh theology"
(Srimce jo11ma/.
Ocro–
ber 1969, p. 41).
The consistendy poor showing of
rheologr in rhc ninerccnrh cenrury on
controversia! issucs providcd supporr
for a growing suspicion rhar rcligion
was lirrle more rhan a collecrion of
myrhs. Th is in tur n also casr a
shadow of doubr ovcr che supposed
source of Wcsrcrn rheology and
moral values - rhe knowledge
revealed in che Biblc.
Sciencc. by conrrasr, scemed cred–
ible and practical. The scienrific
merhod of obscrving and resring was
proving ro be a powerful and rcliable
cool ro unlock rhe real secrets of che
physical world. Religion, wirh irs sra–
ríe preoccuparion wirh riruals, tradi–
rion, and rhe hereafcer, began ro look
more and more like a clead-cnd road.
lt
was ar that rime, in esscncc, rhar
marcri alisric science srepped or was
propelled inro che inrellecruaJ and
spi ritual vacuum crea red b)' rhe
decline and near bankruprcy of Wcsc–
ern cheology. The weaker religion
became. rhe more awesome and
unlimired che power of che new sci–
encc appeared ro be. Following rhe
famous "Scopes monkcy rrial" in
Amcri ca in che 1920's, religion ceased
ro be - t'or all pracci cal purposes -
an imporcant facror in rhe minds of
educarcd, thinking men. Matcrialistic
science appeared ro have defcared
rcligion in rhe barde for rhe alle–
giance of men's minds.
The "Golden Age" for sciencc and
ies rcchnological applicarions came in
che years following World War 11. Ir
carne, in parr, as a resul r of a marriagc
of nccessiry - science, cech nology,
indusrry, and governmenr joincd
hands with che mil ita!)' during cwo
world conAicrs. Science is knowlcdgc.
Knowlcdge is power. Power meanc
nacional survival.
So che sccrers of che arom wcre
rappcd and harnessed. Financia( sup–
port for scientific research was gener–
ous. Thc launching of che lirsr
Russian satcllicc gave a fmrher boosr
ro che already burgeoning inrercsr in
science in rhc Wesrern world. lnrer–
narional presrige and straregic mili–
cary aclvanrages were at scake.
As a result, in one decade - che
sixcies - che world's fund of knowl–
edge doubled. The generic code was
being deciphered, organ transplanrs
were introduced, subaromic parriclcs
werc cliscovered, compurers reduccd
man's work load, men walkecl on che
moon, rrips ro che planees were bcing
planned, and che dream rhar man
could creare life irself seemed immi–
nenr. Br reading newspapers and
magazines. ir was easy for one ro get
che id<.'a thar, given enough rime and
money, anything was possiblc for sci-
PLAIN TRUTH November 1972