Summary Statements - 2 of X - What Drove the Development of Modern Science?
There were four fundamental principles developed by Christian theologians that were to shape the development of science through the Middle Ages and up to the present day.
Because the cosmos is the creation of a rational God who has also made us in His image, it follows that the cosmos is in principle comprehensible by the human mind.
Because the cosmos is a creation by God as a free act of His will and not an emanation of God, the cosmos has relative autonomy.
Because Scripture says that God created the heavens and the earth, it follows that the “heavenly bodies” are not made of a substance different from the elements that comprise the earth, but are, on the contrary, of the same substance.
Because of the work of Christ in the incarnation, we may use material means for the advancement of human salvation. The implication of this was that the (medieval) Church did not have to follow the Hebrew tradition of rejecting Greek medicine; instead, it could use Greek medicine in the development of the healing ministry which was to be such an important part of its work in succeeding centuries.
2. These four principles provided the foundation for the development of modern science (beginning in the 1500's). Modern science (esp. physics) emphasizes geometrical-mathematical theories to describe the motion of things (Kepler, Galileo, Newton, etc.).
(see L Newbigin, “Proper Confidence,” pgs. 6-8, & C Kaiser, “Creation and the History of Science,” Section 1)
Questions to be answered:
How did the Greeks view science?
What assumptions did the Greeks make?
What assumptions about God and His creation enabled the development of modern science?
Other questions ….
