Science as Religion

Science and religion share a tumultuous history. In the secular context of contemporary Western society, science and religion play roles of almost complete opposition: the first consisting of empirical knowledge gathered to prove or disprove; the latter defined by a collective set of beliefs and ritual commitments centered on a common faith. The evolution of the two bodies share greater similarities than differences, commonalities that have significant influence over the Middle and late Middle Ages. During the Renaissance, the dual categories of 'Science' and 'Religion' coexisted as a homogenous entity (although in much different evolutionary forms), instigated by religious motives, used to pursue theological investigation.

The Renaissance heralded a rebirth of interest in classical thought, culture, and writing. New appreciations for Greek culture and classics occupied the faculty of Renaissance universities. Aristotelianism, along with the works of Plato, Socrates, Thales found prominence in the universities in Paris, Salerno, Bologna, Padua, Florence, and other cities; inspired the studies of St. Thomas Aquinas, Philip Melanchthon, among others; and excited the disciplines of natural philosophy, medicine, and logic. Intellectuals attempted to explain the plight of the Middle Ages (ie. the Black Death, the Little Ice Age, the Hundred Years War, the collapse of Constantinople, etc.) through classical thought. The Renaissance, however, engendered little in the way of scientific progress-at least in the way of scientific structure. Though some of the research paved the way for the Scientific Revolution, the intellectual culture of the Renaissance, underlined by theology, greatly influenced natural investigation and produced an atmosphere stimulating to scholarly growth yet stunting to scientific advance. [i]