Posted on 12/17/2004 9:42:37 AM PST by bondserv
Ping!
Back in Europe's Dark Age (while under siege from Vkiking Raids), several Islamic scholars were noted for the transmission and interpretation of Aristotle's work.
Al gebra (the stones) was the basis of much of our higher mathematics, and the concept of "zero" came down to us through Arabic scholars. This period of learned erudition probably occurred BEFORE the Islam revolution that drove out Zoroastrianism from the Middle East.
Time to restore Ahura Mazda as the monotheistic diety of the region. MUCH more compatible with the Judaic tradition.
WRONG! The concept of zero came from India a thousand years before Mad Mo terrorised his neighborhood.
Zero came from the Mayans
Stolen from Hindus.
It's true that some of the basic Aristotelian texts came into the West via Islamic editions. Most important, that's how some of the major Aristotelian texts reached Thomas Aquinas, who brought Aristotle back into the mainstream of western philosophy and theology.
On the other hand, if not for the Muslim invasions of North Africa and the Middle East, it's likely enough that this knowledge would have reached the West via other channels. Islam itself invented little or nothing. It destroyed several very ancient civilizations, including Egypt and Mesopatamia, which at the time was Persia. A little of the ancient knowledge came dribbling through. I don't know whether the Arabs should be praised for that, or blamed for destroying a great deal of other knowledge that might otherwise have survived.
In any case, the advancement of science and technology was a uniquely Christian achievement. There were deep scientific thinkers in China, Greece, and the ancient world, but they did very little with that knowledge. It was the Middle Ages (see Lynn Thorndike's histories of science) and the Renaissance that transformed thinking about science. This rested on at least two basic Christian principles that are not found elsewhere:
1) The Logos. The universe has a basic rationality built into it because it was created by and through the Logos, God's Word, the Second Person of the Trinity.
2) Free will. We are free to discover, invent, and change our lives.
Neither of these principles can be found in Islam, which stresses that Allah is totally arbitrary and that he governs the universe without extending any freedom of choice to men.
Nope,the value of zero was first concieved in Ancient India.From there it went to Greece & unfortunately,by the 6th century wound up in the hands of the Slammics.Now it's called Arabic numerals.
Vedic Civilisation existed before the Mayans, and India is where the concept of zero originated. Ask any Mathematics department. Interestingly enough, I maintain two websites, one on Vedic philosophy and the other on Maya Glyphs!
i think i may have missed the point of this artical. Do we owe a debt to greece because of their philosphical break throughs? the chinese for gunpowder the europeans for naviagational skills?
are they trying to say knowledge is built on previous knowledge? yeah no duh!
so i wonder when the greeks are going to point out with out us there'd be no rome. Then africa will say. Ha but wait greece, you owe us for being the cradle of civilization. But then the great apes will rise up and say ha ha! but all humans owe us for evolving into humans. Then god himslef will chime in and say you all owe me for turning on the lights
i'm gonna file this one is along with: "this just in: man sues other man to reconcile his great great great great great great grandfathers debt"
Thats what I like about religion...Its unites people so well.
Same old story. They take stuff over than claim they built it, invented it or conceived it.
Is Lynn Thorndike considered truthful with the history?
I don't know where it(zero)was concieved, but at this time of the year it is reflected in my checking account.
Most of Islamic science was destroyed by the Mongol invasion. The economic destruction was widespread at the same time, comparable to that of the South during the Civil War or that wrought by WWII. Additionally, Islamic society turned more conservative and fundamentalist as a response to the Mongols. (Sort of a "God is punishing us so lets get conservative" view.) Currently, Islamic philosophy is mostly fundamentalist conservative and very anti-science, particularly anti-evolutionary theory.
A religion that agrees with John Kerry and his ilk, is not going to get my unity. The beliefs of the religion need to be treated with intellectual honesty.
This is why so many great thinkers throughout history are Christian. Consider our founding fathers as an example. There has not, to this day, been a better grouping of brilliant thinkers than during the birth of our nation.
Have you ever read Louis L'Amour's "Walking Drum". I highly recommend it. It is a book set in the peak of the Muslim rule in Southern Europe and Northern Africa.
I will give neither the early muslims nor the modern ones any credit whatsoever.
As this introductory paragraph summarizes perfectly, I will give the golden age of islam credit as superb librarians. That's it.
Note, however that the knowledge conveyed is Greek, or Oriental, or the fruits of other conquered empires.
There is no uniquely arab or muslim contribution of any kind whatsoever. Completely devoid of original thought.
As for the modern muslims?
I won't even recognize them as human!
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