RE: An Essay about Atheism in Latin
September 10, 2019 at 12:04 am
(This post was last modified: September 10, 2019 at 12:39 am by Belacqua.)
(September 9, 2019 at 11:51 pm)FlatAssembler Wrote: Theology argued, in its time, against using science to fight diseases. Although that's not limited to theology, that's not true of any field worth studying.
I think it would be better to say that some theologians, in their times, argued that prayer could cure disease.
Other theologians had nothing against the use of science to fight disease, and in fact advocated it.
The Cappadocian Fathers, for example, made a point of saying that to know how the world works is to know how God works. They advocated investigation into nature and biology, recommending in particular the dissection of human cadavers to learn about anatomy. They had no trouble with the idea that people ought to learn as much as possible about the natural world and use that knowledge for the health and comfort of people.
Many other theologians were the same, particularly after Aquinas reintroduced Aristotelian views of nature in the 13th century.
https://www.amazon.com/Christianity-Clas...21&sr=1-10
I wonder where the idea comes from that the church was in general against science. Galileo's case is sometimes presented as typical, but in fact it is the exception, provoked in large part because Galileo went out of his way to be offensive. He had many supporters in the Vatican and would have been fine with the least bit of diplomacy.
https://www.amazon.com/Galileo-Rome-Rise...oks&sr=1-1
Here is a list of Catholic clergymen who made significant contributions to science, all of whom were in good standing with the church:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Ca...scientists