“Adam was thought to have possessed a perfect knowledge of all sciences, a knowledge lost to posterity when he fell from grace and was expelled from the Garden of Eden. The goal of 17th century scientists such as Francis Bacon and his successors in the Royal Society of London was to regain the scientific knowledge of the first man. Indeed, for these individuals, the whole scientific enterprise was an integral part of a redemptive enterprise that, along with the Christian religion, was to help restore the original race to its original perfection. The biblical account of the creation thus provided these scientists with an important source of motivation, and in an age still thoroughly committed to traditional Christianity, the new science was to gain social legitimacy on account of these religious associations. ” (Harrison, P., The Bible and the rise of science, Australasian Science 23(3):14–15, 2002.)
Uh oh. The moslems will declare another jihad to come and destroy the truth. Uh oh.
Citing Descartes here indicates a lack of understanding of his subject.
Most of all, it’s not the scientific or technological advances that give Western civilization its greatest attributes.
The greatest thing about Western civilization is the attitude that comes from a consistent earnestness to follow Christ’s two greatest commandments: to love God and to love your neighbor as yourself.
* establish the initial conditions: "Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep..."
* establish the frame of reference: "...and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters."
Moreover, the Bible is absolutely chock-full of scientific experiments which God conducted in plain sight. Additionally, it contains scientific claims made thousands of years ago which have only become verifiable in recent decades, and they have indeed now been verified.
Wasn’t Galileo given a hard time?
I ordered the book.
It’s clear from this article that western science is the fruit of a Christian worldview.
This article is complete and utter garbage designed to make Christians feel good about themselves. It’s entire argument that all other scientific achievement in history were mere skill and basic knowledge is a simple handwave. And the claim that science is really just about figuring out how awesome God is ignores countless acts of willful ignorance institutionally condoned by the religious. Obviously the faithful here are going to eat this up like figgy pudding, but it is perhaps the most ridiculous thing I have ever read.