Freethought & Rationalism Archive

lpetrich · 01-27-2002, 04:07 AM

It has been a century since his magnum opus, [i]A History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom[i] was published; has anyone tried to evaluate how sound his scholarship is? And I mean seriously evaluate it, rather than be enthusiastic or hostile to it.

In particular, I'd like to find out the accuracy of his account of the handling of lightning; the theologians come off rather glaringly as having egg on their faces in it.

Also, the chapter titles suggest simplistic progressivism, when in many cases, the path of discovery was a long and twisted one. And I think that the chapter on economics uses a rather weak example of economic superstition: forbidding lending of money at interest. This is because this is the economic interest of a debtor, pure and simple (that of a creditor is "I'll have my pound of flesh!!!"). I think that a much better example is the belief that gold has some sort of great intrinsic value; that belief has inspired such follies as the alchemists' centuries of effort to manufacture it.

Vorkosigan · 01-28-2002, 02:16 AM

White was part of a century of attacks on religion as stunting the growth of the mind. Modern scholars are taking a more nuanced and balanced approach to the role of the Church in the intellectual growth of the west. Lundberg, Jaki, Numbers, and many others are writing on this.

I personally feel that the "balance" has gone to far and the Church's role was minor and largely that of a negative stimulus. Bede and I had a good discussion, one of the best I've had here, of this in Science and Skepticism last year, search under a thread titled something like "Did Christianity Set Science Back 500 Years?" Bill weighed in as well.

Michael

Michael

lpetrich · 02-02-2002, 11:32 AM

That's all well and good on the conceptual side, but it would be interesting to evaluate some specific ADW examples, such as the reception of lightning rods.

ADW's account looks a bit one-sided; were there any leading Bishops or whoever who had welcomed lightning rods from the start? Or who had taken a wait-and-see attitude to something that seemed too good to be true?

I'm sure that ADW's critics could score points against him by demonstrating something like that; has anyone ever tried to do so?

01-27-2002, 04:07 AM	#1
lpetrich Contributor Join Date: Jul 2000 Location: Lebanon, OR, USA Posts: 16,829	Andrew Dickson White? It has been a century since his magnum opus, [i]A History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom[i] was published; has anyone tried to evaluate how sound his scholarship is? And I mean seriously evaluate it, rather than be enthusiastic or hostile to it. In particular, I'd like to find out the accuracy of his account of the handling of lightning; the theologians come off rather glaringly as having egg on their faces in it. Also, the chapter titles suggest simplistic progressivism, when in many cases, the path of discovery was a long and twisted one. And I think that the chapter on economics uses a rather weak example of economic superstition: forbidding lending of money at interest. This is because this is the economic interest of a debtor, pure and simple (that of a creditor is "I'll have my pound of flesh!!!"). I think that a much better example is the belief that gold has some sort of great intrinsic value; that belief has inspired such follies as the alchemists' centuries of effort to manufacture it.

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01-28-2002, 02:16 AM	#2
Vorkosigan Contributor Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Barrayar Posts: 11,866	White was part of a century of attacks on religion as stunting the growth of the mind. Modern scholars are taking a more nuanced and balanced approach to the role of the Church in the intellectual growth of the west. Lundberg, Jaki, Numbers, and many others are writing on this. I personally feel that the "balance" has gone to far and the Church's role was minor and largely that of a negative stimulus. Bede and I had a good discussion, one of the best I've had here, of this in Science and Skepticism last year, search under a thread titled something like "Did Christianity Set Science Back 500 Years?" Bill weighed in as well. Michael Michael

02-02-2002, 11:32 AM	#3
lpetrich Contributor Join Date: Jul 2000 Location: Lebanon, OR, USA Posts: 16,829	That's all well and good on the conceptual side, but it would be interesting to evaluate some specific ADW examples, such as the reception of lightning rods. ADW's account looks a bit one-sided; were there any leading Bishops or whoever who had welcomed lightning rods from the start? Or who had taken a wait-and-see attitude to something that seemed too good to be true? I'm sure that ADW's critics could score points against him by demonstrating something like that; has anyone ever tried to do so?

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