[whershey]

"I also don’t buy that the Church encouraged science. While most early achievements were made by priests and monks it may have been because the Church controlled education. If a person wanted an education entering the priesthood was just about the only way to do it."

That's not really true. The Jesuits would take anyone with talent. Some of the worlds greatest philosophers and scientists came from Jesuit schools.

That Catholic Church was far from a perfect entity. The Spanish inquisition for instance stagnated the population and played at least a small part in Spain falling from the role of being a great power. But all the same I find it hard to believe that western civilization would exist today if it hadn't been for the church.

[murphE]

That Catholic Church was far from a perfect entity.

It most certainly is perfect. It is divine. However, Church men including popes are often far from perfect.

The Spanish inquisition for instance stagnated the population and played at least a small part in Spain falling from the role of being a great power.

The Real Inquisition

[Graymatter]

But all the same I find it hard to believe that western civilization would exist today if it hadn't been for the church.

I think the author is going beyond a claim that the Church merely preserved civilization (or didn't do it fatal damage!) It is also widely held that western civilization would not exist today if it hadn't been for the Arabs in the 8th-11th centuries.
Personally I think that empires and hegemonies wind up inimical to learning, if they don't actually start out that way, and insofar as they don't altogether smother civilization, they simply don't try hard enough, or they haven't the means to extinguish every last spark.
And of course, at times they just kept their enemies (inquiring minds) close.
I'll need convincing that the Church actively encouraged or nurtured scientific inquiry, its barely tolerable "red-haired stepchild."

[mike182d]

But all the same I find it hard to believe that western civilization would exist today if it hadn't been for the church.

When Rome was sacked and the Western Empire was conquered by Germanic barbarians, it was the Catholic Church that held together the faint semblance of society during this tumultuous time. If it were not for the Catholic Church, Western society would have crumble with Rome, but, evidently, such was not the case.

[R. Scott]

That's not really true. The Jesuits would take anyone with talent. Some of the worlds greatest philosophers and scientists came from Jesuit schools.

Yes – as I said, if a person wanted an education, the Church was about the only institution available. Once in, a scholar did not need to preach, minister, or become a part of the Church hierarchy.