Remember How Religion Has Harmed Science

Was Christianity in fact necessary for the Scientific Revolution？ Is it just a coincidence that almost all of the important scientists of the Scientific Revolution were Christian？

Here's sociologist Rodney Stark: "Recent historical research has debunked the idea of a "Dark Ages" after the "fall" of Rome. In fact, this was an era of profound and rapid technological progress, by the end of which Europe had surpassed the rest of the world. Moreover, the so-called "Scientific Revolution" of the sixteenth century was a result of developments begun by religious scholars starting in the eleventh century. In my own academic research I have asked why these religious scholastics were interested in science at all. Why did science develop in Europe at this time? Why did it not develop anywhere else? I find answers to those questions in unique features of Christian theology."

Stark: "Even in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the leading scientific figures were overwhelmingly devout Christians who believed it their duty to comprehend God's handiwork."

Stark: "My studies show that the "Enlightenment" was conceived initially as a propaganda ploy by militant atheists attempting to claim credit for the rise of science. The falsehood that science required the defeat of religion was proclaimed by self-appointed cheerleaders like Voltaire, Diderot, and Gibbon, who themselves played no part in the scientific enterprise--a pattern that continues today".

Stark: "I find that through the centuries (including right up to the present day), professional scientists have remained about as religious as the rest of the population--and far more religious than their academic colleagues in the arts and social sciences."

Stark also came up with a list of top scientific contributors during the Scientific Revolution. Of 52 top contributors 50 were Christian. Christians also founded the universities where many of these scientists worked.

Turing was not forced into an early grave. He knew what the laws were in Britain at that time and he willingly chose to break them. He couldn't handle the consequences of his actions and he so willingly chose the coward's way out. I firmly believe that everyone is responsible for his or her own actions.

It was not exactly a coincidence. If you were not a Christian you would be killed, tortured, or ostracized (anathema).

That's missing the point. The great leaps in science (scientific revolution) happened in Christian countries, not Moslem, or Buddhist

Except the ones that happened in Europe before 317 CE or the ones that happened in Africa or Asia.

The early advances came from China, India, Egypt and Greece

The enlightenment started not from Christianity but from some of the works of St. Aristotle which had been preserved by the Muslims.

One copy was left behind in Spain by the Moors, and made it's way (via a translator?) to Robert Grosseteste here in Oxford who was the first in the 'West' to grasp the basic meaning of it, and this basic understanding was continued by Roger Bacon and despite a clampdown by the Church on heresy and witches, eventually the Church was pushed aside and science and the enlightenment emerged triumphant (except in the USA).

If Christians want to ignore the medieval church and say things are very different now etc. etc, and we aren't like them etc. etc. then there are several problems.

One is take the scientific contributions of Bible-Believing Christians now and stack them against the atheists and secular Jews - not impressive.

I remember as a Christian I was told that the evangelical Christian Stephen Gould was also a World class anthropologist and had no problem reconciling a belief in God with science. Also that his theory of punctuated equilibrium gave a scientific basis to species surviving Noah's flood. Now that the internet exists I find most of that was false, and wonder how many people have been taken in by such nonsense.

Another problem is with both the demographic and historical extent of Christianity.

On the historical aspect people are fond of claiming Christianity is humane, unaware that it was not until the arrival of humanism. The theology of Augustine and practices of the early church were very cruel but justified by Biblical teaching such as that it is better to enter heaven with a leg missing etc. than for the whole body to be thrown into eternal torment.

A God who applies torment, or to use the modern term - torture - is advocating a different type of religion from a person who aims, perhaps not always successfully, to reduce suffering which is the aim of Buddhism.

The nice enlightened image of Christianity requires eliminating most of the history and most of the present day demography as well. Who are left as the nice Christians? Mostly some Jesuits down in Central America.