Addressing some Myths or Misconceptions about Science and Religion, and One about Superstition in the ‘Middle Ages’

A Misconception of the ‘Middle Ages’

Myth: The Middle Ages is an age of superstition.

The myth here is not that the so-called Middle Ages was largely superstitious,  but that it is somehow substantially different from the superstition of today, or the frequency in which people are indeed superstitious. 

It should be understood that educated medieval thinkers complained about the degree of superstition present within the lay community, just as many modern thinkers do today. Examples of such medieval thinkers are plentiful:  Agobard of Lyon, Aelfric of Eynsham, Rudolph Glaber and Geoffrey Chaucer. What is more, the people of today are comparably just as superstitious as they were then. 

The reputation of the Middle Ages being an age of irrational behavior is largely the baggage of Renaissance and Modern thinkers projecting their hostility and ignorance into a time poorly understood. 

A Misconception in Mechanical Philosophy and Early Modern Science

Myth: The Advent of Early Mechanical Philosophy Moved its Thinkers Away from God and Natural Theology

I can picture a ‘new atheist’ saying this while drunk on the powers of science and secular reasoning, it’s an eye roller. But it is a silly one.  Many thinkers of mechanical philosophy or/and modern science were deeply religious and quite concerned with God; of the Catholics, the most famous were Mersenne, Descartes and Gassendi.  Other thinkers include these men: Walter Charleton, John Wilkens, John Wallis, Robert Boyle (he retained notions of teleology), John Ray and Isaac Newton.  This was indeed a time wherein writings of science and religion, particularly natural theology, were quite close, if not downright intimate. God was often seen as the sustainer of the so-called natural laws, the mathematical laws which governed a mechanical world, or the spark which generated the world machine.

The fulcrum of this theistic understanding of a mechanical world rested on a substantial difference between matter and spirit.  If the latter is denied, as Hobbes later did, and so many after him, or at least deemed unnecessary, then ground would be conceded to irreligion and atheism.

A Misconception about Kant, Faith and Reason

Myth: Kant himself said that faith is contrary to reason and science.

Kant is a weird one. His point was this. Our mental apparatuses structure our experience; and hence we have no direct line to things themselves. What we have a line to is just the world of experience—the phenomenal world. The laws of the natural world are not laws of the things themselves, but our understanding; and hence what we have here is a sort of psychologism.  We are forced to think causally—it is a precondition of our understanding. Thus, the phenomenal world is deterministic—nothing happens without a cause; and hence there can be no freedom of choice or otherwise. But, we do have freedom, and that freedom is intimate with moral responsibility (and religion). Thus, infers Kant, the world of choice, freedom, moral responsibility and religion cannot be of the phenomenal world.

Thus, here we have the divorce between science and religion. They can offer each other nothing since they are of different categories. Thus, nothing of science can support religion and vice versa. Thus he says that he finds it necessary, in matters of religion, to deny knowledge (scientific knowledge and the like) to make room for faith. This does not suggest that faith is contrary to reason in the sense that it is irrational. 

Misconception about Darwinism and Christianity

Myth: Christians rejected Evolution—Wholesale!

I am sure that some Christians doubted Darwin’s theory of evolution, but not all. Some Christians embraced moderate forms of evolution wherein the idea that every living thing but man himself were the products of strictly blind evolutionary processes. This idea was not exclusive to Christians. The agnostic and Darwinist Thomas Henry Huxley believed that the gulf between humans and non-human animals was too great to be thought to be the product of mere evolution.

Other Christians, particularly Catholics, were reluctant to follow the dictates of mechanical philosophy, nor the preference to look at evolution as non-teleological, they were loyal Thomists. Instead, Catholic thinkers such as John Zahm and George Mivart produced an understanding of evolution which embraced teleology, or at least left room for it. 

For these men, the debate is not such much whether man evolved, but whether the process is or can be teleological or in some way guided by God. Today many if not most scientists believe that there is no conflict between Christian theism and human evolution, and it appears that most Christians, at least those of the educated sort, do not see the two as incompatible.

That Damn Ockham: Chapter Two of 'Science and Religion 1450-1900'

Chapter two of Olson's book (I introduced it here) is just as good as Chapter one. Olson accurately describes Aristotle's philosophy, and that it is was widely accepted in the later Medieval years. From there, he describes the movement against it. Typically, people think that Aristotle's philosophy was abandoned in favor of mechanical philosophy, but a truer analysis shows that it was firstly resisted for more theological reasons than a transition to mechanical philosophy itself. Olson points to two theological reasons.


Firstly, the heretical sect called the millenarians pushed against Aristotle's dismissal of practical knowledge. Productive labor and arts were celebrated and associated with God's plan for mankind. In fact, natural knowledge of this sort was supposed to be cultivated as a necessary condition of perfection within the world--a condition necessary to overcome to Antichrist.

Secondly, the necessity Aristotle prescribed to theoretical science was thought to restrict the freedom (and hence omnipotence) of God. Thinkers such as Ockham (I really hate him)emphasized a voluntarist theology wherein God's will cannot be restricted by Aristotelian natures; and moreover, God's will is unfathomable and His power unrestricted; and hence, causes in the Aristotelian sense cannot be true, let alone known by men. Instead, argued Ockham, we need to focus on how events occur. On this analysis, that is, that of Ockham's, our scientific knowledge is therefore limited to the empirical. For if God's will and intentions cannot be known, and He is unrestricted in His omnipotence, then our physical knowledge must be contingently known, and it must be based upon what we learn through experience. The basis for empiricism, nominalism and ideas against necessary connections is found right here, concerned, in part, with the theological. Olson states:

"Many characteristics of modern science emerged out of nominalist philosophy. These include the abandonment of attempts to answer the question of why things happen in favor of describing how things happen, usually through mathematical "laws"....Thus, in an ironic way, a conservative religious argument gave strong impetus to modern ways of doing science." (Page 34)

There's plenty more to say on this chapter, but nothing that captures my interest enough to write about it here. If you're looking for a fuller treatment on the development of modern science, and its philosophy, I push you to read this chapter.

Religion and Science 1450-1900

I finished reading a book entitled Science and Religion 1450-1900 by Richard Olson, it's a great read. It frustrates the trite narratives which describe religion in great conflict with science, or that the two are antipodal, or even that the Church has been characteristically oppressive of science. You know the type, I'm sure, it's freaking annoying.

Here, I'll give you some information on each chapter, though I won't include everything, since, well, life calls. Also: the information presented is in my own words, and presented with my own silliness and attitude--it's a style thing.

Chapter 1

Shut up about Galileo Already! (My title-hah!)

Copernicus' book, On the Revolutions, appeared without much of  a fuss from the Church until about 75 years later in 1615, his book was prohibited. Galileo was tried for heresy for supporting the Copernican system of astronomy in his Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems (1632).  Religious oppression?!? An intrinsic conflict between science and religion? Not exactly.

These books were out and about during the Church's Counter Reformation. There was a great debate, motivated no less the great Reformation itself, about whether scriptures concerning the natural world needed to be kept inflexible and literally true or flexible to the knowledge of the day and perhaps not literally true.

Galileo stepped into the middle of that debate, he took the more flexible interpretation, and he argued that a sun-centered system could and should be considered consistent with Scripture. From there, almost immediately, a conservative thinker and churchman, and a Dominican no less, complained that Galileo broke a prohibition given in the Council of Trent.

From there, Galileo was exonerated of wrongdoing in 1616, since the Council of Trent said no such thing. However, in a written letter, Galileo was warned by Cardinal Bellarmine not to argue that the Copernican theory was physically true (as opposed to just a useful way to predict Easter without regard to the truth of its physical reality) because it was inconsistent with the norm of epistemological nominalism within the science of the day and because it would undermine the faith of Catholics who were not philosophically inclined. For similar reasons, On Revolutions was banned, but only for four years. The passages of the book suggesting the physical reality of the theory were edited so that they do not suggest such a thing, though it was still taught as a hypothesis.

There are two versions of letters of what Bellarmine told Galileo.  The first dated March 16, 1616, and it was signed by Belllarmine. The letter told Galileo that the doctrine of Copernicus cannot be defended or held. The second letter is contended to be inauthentic ( See The Crime of Galileo, p. 125-131), though it is presented within the minutes of the Inquisition without signature, it is dated February 25, 1616. The second letter reads that Galileo cannot teach, defend or even discuss it (the idea that the sun is in the center).  Obviously, the two letters are very different: the first allows Galileo to teach it as a hypothesis and to discuss it, the second allows neither.

Do we have a war against science here? Is religion at some sort of intrinsic conflict against science? Not at all. What we have here is a Church concerned with two things: the faith of the lay audience while under siege from the forces of the Reformation and the prevalent epistemological concerns of science. The Church was open to it as a discussion, but only as a hypothesis. Nothing Bellarmine said was theological in character. His concerns were strictly with the epistemological norms of the day and the pragmatics of faith among lay Catholics.

Okay, but what about Galileo's later trial, the one with the conviction?

In around 1624, Galileo met up with the Pope to discuss a book which would discuss the virtues of both the Ptolemaic and Copernican systems in a balanced way. The work was supposed to keep the two theories as mere hypotheses, and Galileo was to express the of the Church in theological matters, as per agreement between the Pope and Galileo.

Galileo was a bit of a dink here. His published book was not balanced--it was heavily in favor of the Copernicus theory. It was clearly meant to support the physical reality of the latter. Galileo also wrote in Italian (the vernacular) rather than Latin (the language of intellectuals) so that his book can have an impact on a lay Catholic audience. What is more, Galileo inserted the arguments of the Pope into the mouth of a character named Simplicio--that's Italian for simpleton.

The Pope was far from thrilled, and he brought Galileo up on charges of violating the injunction set upon him. The Pope argued that Galileo argued for the physical truth of the Copernican theory; and hence Galileo was subsequently found guilty.

But notice here that nothing suggests that there is some fundamental, intrinsic conflict between science and religion. What we have here is a vendetta of a sort; and it is a misuse of power, perhaps. But nothing here suggests that religion, the Church or Catholicism itself is at odds with science. This is more about a story of   men acting foolishly.

Chapter 2 will follow shortly.

A Clarification on Papal Infallibility

Claim: Papal infallibility suggests that the Pope himself and his every decree is infallible.

This is wrong. As per Vatican Council 1 (1869-70), papal infallibility occurs only if the Pope speaks ex cathedra, along with other requirements. His personal opinions, decrees, behaviors or whatever else, have no intrinsic claim to infallibility. In fact, only two instances of papal decrees are universally recognized as infallible: the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption. Thence, even doctrinal decisions by Roman congregations, approved by the Pope himself, do not constitute infallible decisions.

Remember: Every Pope is a human being. Thus, every Pope is both just and a sinner (simul justus et peccator).

Thinkers of the 'Middle Ages'--The Askers of Silly Questions?

No thinker during the ‘Middle Ages’ concerned himself with the question of how many angels could dance on the head of a fine needle. That idea developed from Isaac D’Israeli’s criticism (or earlier)—a criticism dated within the early nineteenth century in regards to Aquinas’ treatment on angels. Isaac said that Aquinas might as well have asked how many angels could dance on the head of a needle. Snarky little bugger, isn’t he? In any case, no ‘Middle Age’ thinker, and certainly not Aquinas, entertained that particular question.

But did such thinkers entertain questions of that sort? In other words: Did any ‘Middle Age’ thinker entertain questions similar enough to the one Isaac thought Aquinas might as well have asked. The answer might be in the affirmative, I don’t know. ‘Middle Age’ thinkers tended to value different sorts of knowledge than those of the modern mind: knowledge about general truths, eternal truths and the like. To them, that sort of knowledge was true knowledge, they were not concerned with investigations of the natural world in order to produce this or that result. Through deductive reasoning and scholastic logic, these thinkers thought they could penetrate the mysteries of the world and provide new truths, all without leaving the comforts of their chair.

These questions seem silly to some modern thinkers, I do not doubt. But before we label ‘Middle Age’ thought irrelevant or inferior, à la Desiderius Eramus, we need to first examine our standard of measure. By which measure do we judge it inferior or irrelevant? Once we determine the standard, it needs to be established through argument rather than presumption, lest we beg a question.