Science debate

[Jerry Smith]

I was under the impression that the arabs were the primary keepers of knowledge through the dark ages. It seems that the Renaissance followed on the heals of the Crusades - as invaders brought back knowledge of mathematics and science and love of literature and art from the "Holy Land".

What knowledge (except how to read) was really preserved by the church during the dark ages?

 

[seebs]

There's been a couple of books addressing this question. I think one of them was titled _How the Irish Saved Civilization_; I haven't read that. Some of my sources are from _Christianity on Trial_, by Vincent Carroll, which is an excellent work covering many of the common attacks on Christianity; it's a bit biased, I assume, but the case is well-argued with good citations.

 

[fragmentsofdreams]

Originally posted by Jerry Smith
I was under the impression that the arabs were the primary keepers of knowledge through the dark ages. It seems that the Renaissance followed on the heals of the Crusades - as invaders brought back knowledge of mathematics and science and love of literature and art from the "Holy Land".

What knowledge (except how to read) was really preserved by the church during the dark ages?

The works of Plato survived in Europe. Aristotle came from the Arabs.