Scientific revolution

Religions and beliefs

Religions and beliefs, a way people view the world in large scope as a whole and as a place of the individual therein, is a prodigious factor which drives human actions and behaviours. It influences education, social and political views among nations, and the understanding of man and the natural world for a long period. Nonetheless, the emergence of scientific revolution slightly shifted their views, especially in the understanding of man and the natural world. On the one hand, it was an enlightment for scholars who hardly agree with religious theories of man and the natural world. On the other hand, it rose so many controversies among scholars and theologians. It also increases the tendency to the religion extremities, which can be seen in some groups, such as The Amish, The Mennonites, and The old German Brethren who oppose the scientific revolution and are reluctant to implement science and technology in their lives. In spite of many pros and contras, I believe that science, combined with religions and beliefs, in some ways helps people to have a better understanding of man and the natural world. 

Scientific revolution is a historical change in thoughts and beliefs, social and institutional organizations, and fields of education, such as mathematics, astronomy, physics and chemistry. It proceeds from the Copernicus’ cosmological revolution which centered in the Heliocentric theory,  to Isaac Newton with his universal laws and mechanical universe. Those Roman naturalists were inspired by the Greek Philosophers. In fact, the Ancient Greek philosophers opened the path for this revolution. The most well-known were: Aristotle, whose notions were based on the idea of syllogism, Plato, who established his famous Theory of Forms, and Ptolemy, who introduced the Geocentric theory, which was acknowledged by lots of scientists, including Aristotles. These people and their theories influenced the knowledge of many people at that time. These Roman scientists contributed to the development of science that influenced people in understanding their world. In fact, one major distinction from Roman scientist was that they believed in Heliocentric Theory, which led to many controversies.

Scientific Revolution faced a bunch of social and technology barriers. The social barriers were primarily from The Catholic Church. At that time, one theory that influenced people is Geocentric theory, which asserted that the earth was the center of universe. This way of thinking is influenced by The Catholic Church which stressed that God’s creation, primarily the earth, should be at the center of the universe. Moreover, there was a proof in the bible which indicated that the earth was the center of universe; “He set the earth on its foundations, so that it should never be moved” (Psalm 104:5). This is the reason why the work of Copernicus and Lucretius was left behind for years, and why Galileo Galilei was imprisoned for the rest of his life after published his book titled  Dialogues on the Two Chief World Systems. The Church often suspected that experiments, researches, and works of those naturalist interfered and infringed the story in the Holy Bible. Because of that, the church tried to ban and demolish works done by the scientists. In this case, I think the Church was too confident with their theories, and didn’t want to listen to any other opinions, just as what William Gilbert said “ignorance of the ancients or the neglect of moderns, have remained unrecognized and overlooked” (Course Reader, The Great Magnet The Earth; A New Physiology, Demonstrated by Many Arguments and Experiments, 114). 

Scientists also faced some restraints from the society in the way they viewed those works. It must be admitted that at that time, those naturalists often used the complex and uncommon words in writing their works and researches without considering that their new idea was hard enough for the society to process in minds. The lack of understanding, added by the reluctance to be enlightened, led to mockeries and ridicules of those works. However, sometimes the complex words or new terms in science are needed, as William Gilbert said “Sometimes therefore we use new and unusual words, not that by means of foolish veils of vocabularies we should cover over the facts with shades and mists, but that hidden things which have no name, never having been hitherto perceived, may be plainly and correctly enunciated” (Course Reader, The Great Magnet The Earth; A New Physiology, Demonstrated by Many Arguments and Experiments, 115)

The works of scientists were also bound by the unavailable of technology. There were few discoveries, such as the invention of telescope by Hans Lippershey, which helped Galileo to observe the other objects in the sky. However, it wasn’t enough, as Galileo said “For, unless the instrument be of such power, it will be in vain to attempt to view all the things which have been seen by men in the heavens, or which will be enumerated hereafter” (Course Reader, The Starry Herald, 113).

Although there were a lot of barriers, the urge of telling the truth conquer the fear of the scientists in publishing their works. They started to publish their research and experiments because they want to reveal the truth “for it is too bad that there are so few who seek the truth and so few who do not follow a mistaken method in philosophy” (Galileo Galilei, Comrades in the Pursuit of Truth, 106). In the field of physics, Isaac Newton found the universal laws, Kepler established his laws of planetary motion. In the field of Biology, Lamarck established his theory of evolution, and Darwin with his On the Origins of Species . In the fields of Mathematics, John Napier invented logarithms, and Rene Discartes found the Cartesian equation.

In my opinion, scientific revolution helps people to have a better understanding in their religions and beliefs, especially in the issue of man and the natural world. The Book of Genesis explains about how the earth was created and controlled by God, yet it doesn’t explain how God controls the world. In this case, it is hard for people to believe in something that they can’t achieve with logic and reasoning. Recently, Pope Francis also cautioned against the view of God as a magician with a magic wand. This statement clarified that understanding man and the natural world from the reliigon point of view is vague and ambitious, because “a religion is solely the creation of the scholar’s study. It is created for the scholar’s analytic purposes by his imaginative acts of comparison and generalization. Religion has no existence apart from the academy” (Jonathan Z.Smith, Imagining Religion, From Babylon to Jonestown). If there was only religion without the occurence of scientific revolution, there will be new stories and myths around the world about how the nature works without being clarified which one is the truth. By using scientific revolution, it limits the numerous possibilities for people to make up their own beliefs, which can lead into a bigger controversy and diversion among people. With scientific revolution, it enhances our ability in understanding the world we live because it can be proven scientificaly. Science was not questioning religious beliefs, it is used as a tool to undermine the false beliefs. For it is not enough to have a good mind. The main thing is to apply it well. The greatest minds are capable of the greatest vices as well as the greatest virtues, and those who proceed only very slowly, if they always stay on the right road, are capable of advancing a great deal further than those who rush along and wander away from it. (Rene Descartes, Discourse on the Method 

In my opinion, scientific revolution and religions have  distinct focuses. A religion is a guidance of our behaviour, as “it forces us to change our minds and hearts, gives us new hope, and compels us to live more fully” (Karen Armstrong, A Short History of Myth, 10), so it can’t be translated literally. Because it can’t be translated literally, there is no valid answer on man and the natural world. Scientific revolution gives us the valid  scientific answer which can be accepted by man with logical thinking and reasoning. Religions explain that humans are created alike to God, they are special creatures as they were created separately. After knowing that a religion is a guidance and that God in Genesis is described as a loving God, I think the author of Genesis wrote it that way to guide people to behave as loving persons. Most important stories in the Bible have a lot of moral values, and they are used as guidances. However, from the perspective of science, they have different answers. From Lucretius, who said that human was made from atom structure, and because “nature restlessly experiments, we are simply one among the innumerable results” (Stephen Greenblatt, Annals of Culture; The Answer Man, 94). The other major argument about man is that we are related to lower forms of animals, which is asserted by Charles Darwin. He tells us that humans have the similarities with the lower animals, especially apes, in the bodily structure, embryonic development, and rudiments. Furthermore, they all have similar senses and intuitions, and the similar various emotions and faculties, such as love, memory, attention, curiosity, imitation, reason, and so on. The theory that apes are the progenitors of man, were proven by the invention of DNA tests. The DNA test shows that we, humans, have 98% similarities with apes. So, “it is only our natural prejudice, and that arrogance which made our forefathers declare that they were descended from demi-gods, leads us to demur to this conclusion” (Charles Darwin, The Descent of Man, 16)