In his inaugural lecture from the chair of Medieval and Renaissance Literature at Cambridge University, C.S. Lewis took the occasion to suggest that the Renaissance never actually happened.  What he meant is not that the 16th century didn't bring changes, but that the strong discontinuity implicit in the historical demarcations of his new title "has been greatly exaggerated, if indeed it was not largely a figment of Humanist propaganda."

Although he does not cite Lewis, Rodney Stark, a sociologist now at Baylor, takes up this theme in his recent article "False Conflict: Christianity is Not Only Compatible With Science--It Created It."  Stark begins with Cornell co-founder A.D. White's account of Christopher Columbus, in which Columbus (the hero) proves the world is round to an unbelieving Catholic Church.  "The trouble is," Stark writes, pulling no punches, "almost every word of White's account of the Columbus story is a lie."  Whether an intentional lie or not, Stark is indeed correct that "All educated persons of Columbus' day knew the earth was round." 

What's going on here?  How can "facts" be so controversial?  Simply put, what's at stake here is nothing less than whether Christianity enables or hinders right thinking. 

Is the story of Columbus, as White would have it, truly one of discontinuity--of a bold explorer bringing light and truth to narrow-minded religious authorities?  Or is it, as Stark would have it, a story of continuity--of a civilization that begat explorers and scientists as a logical extension of its interest in nature and nature's God?  More generally, was the Enlightenment a sudden burst of intellectual insight enabled by letting go of the religious dogma that made the Dark Ages dark?  Or were the experimental inquiries of Bacon, Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, and Newton made possible in part by the groundwork of medieval scholastics like Albertus Magnus?

What matters most here is not primarily whether these early modern thinkers professed Christianity--as if history were some kind of solidarity contest--but whether the pattern of their thinking was an extension of, or a departure from, their Christian milieu.  This is a question for historians of science, and according to Stark, the consensus is in.  Historians today generally agree not only that many scientists of the 16th and 17th century understood their calling as that of perceiving God's handiwork in nature, but that their experimental approach to scientific inquiry was made possible by their belief in an orderly universe that would yield to such inquiry.  Medieval metaphysics was a bridge, not a barrier, between classical learning and modern science.

This account of science as the handmaiden of theology stands in stark contrast to the narrative of warfare between theology and science.  According to Stark, the idea that the Renaissance and the Enlightenment constituted some sort of radical break with the preceding centuries was first made by early humanists such as Voltaire, who had no role in the scientific discoveries of the day, but "who wished to associate faith with darkness and secular humanism with light."  This is precisely the historical narrative picked up and promoted by A.D. White, and which, to the chagrin of most historians of science, lingers on at places like Cornell in the teachings of Will Provine, the late Carl Sagan, and others. 

There is, Stark concludes, not onlyl a natural and necessary connection between theology and science, but also a long tradition of scientists pursuing the knowledge of God as part of a comprehensive explanation of the universe--a tradition that continues today in the work of great thinkers like the British physicist-turned-theologian John Polkinghorne.

Polkinghorne, winner of the Templeton Prize in Religion and a fellow of the prestigious Royal Society, will be one of our distinguished guests this semester.  His talk will be entitled "The Interaction of Science and Theology."  Just as White's warfare thesis set the tone for discussions on religion and science at Cornell for most of the 20th century, my hope and prayer is that Polkinghorne's interaction thesis may set the tone for a more constructive dialogue in the 21st. 

Below you will find more information on this and other upcoming events, including two other talks on the general topic of science and religion.  See especially the all day conference with Dr. Jennifer Wiseman from NASA.  Thanks for your interest in and support of Chesterton House. 

-Karl E. Johnson

Weekly when Cornell is in session:

Fridays, 1-5pm -- Resource Room Open Hours

Friday, March 5, 10:00 pm
"13 Conversations About One Thing"
Movie Night
Crossroads Life Center, 604 E. Buffalo St.

Saturday, April 3, 9:30am-5:00pm
"Science and (His) Service: Star Formation, Public Policy, and the Glory of God"

Upstate NY InterVarsity Faculty Conference

Dr. Jennifer Wiseman, NASA

Anabel Taylor Hall, One World Room

On-line registration: http://www.chestertonhouse.org

Saturday, April 17, 7:00 pm
"Atheism & the Naturalist World-View: Perspectives from Evolutionary Biology"
Dr. Greg Graffin, Evolutionary Biologist & Lead singer, Bad Religion
Graduate Christian Fellowship Roundtable
Anabel Taylor Hall, Edwards Room

Monday, April 26, 8:00 pm
"The Interaction of Science and Theology"
Rev. Dr. John Polkinghorne, KBE, FRS, Physicist & Theologian
Templeton/ ASA Lecture Series
Baker Laboratory, Room 200

Friday, April 30, 10:00 pm
Movie Night: "Hard Day's Night"

Crossroads Life Center, 604 E. Buffalo St.

All Chesterton House events are open to the public.

There are several conferences featuring notable Christian scholars in the coming months, including two within easy driving distance of Ithaca. 

March 19-22, Augustine College, Ottawa (4 hours north of Ithaca)

Featuring Jeremie Begbie

http://www.SoundHope.ca

April 1-3, Center for Christian Study, Charlottesville, VA

Featuring D.G. Hart, Philip Jenkins, Lamin Sanneh, Andrew Walls & others

http://www.studycenter.net

April 17th, 9am-4pm, St. John Fisher College, Rochester, NY--Basil Hall, Rm 135

Featuring Joseph Pearce, Dale Ahlquist, Ian Boyd, & others

$5 donation requested

May 24-27, Wheaton, IL

Featuring Timothy George, Mark Noll, Alvin Plantinga, David Lyle Jeffrey & others

http://www.wheaton.edu/scriptureconf

March 25-27, Baylor University, Waco, TX

Featuring John Polkinghorne, Jean Bethke-Elshtain, Joel Carpenter, David Lyle Jeffrey & others

http://www3.baylor.edu/CCSS/events/soul.htm

Stark's article appeared in the Oct/Nov issue of The American Enterprise (article not available online).  C.S. Lewis' inaugural address, De Descriptione Temporum, is available at http://www.eng.uc.edu/~dwschae/temporum.html.  To learn more about John Polkinghorne, see http://www.polkinghorne.org.

On the recent historiography of science, two accessible works include Stephen Shapin's The Scientific Revolution (U. of Chicago, 1998), and David Lindberg's The Beginnings of Western Science: The European Scientific Tradition in Philosophical, Religious, and Institutional Context, 600 B.C. to A.D 1450 (U. of Chicago, 1992).  Highly recommended and more substantial volumes include John Hedley Brooke's Science and Religion: Some Historical Perspectives (Cambridge, 1991), and Edward Grant's The Foundations of Modern Science in the Middle Ages: Their Religious, Institutional and Intellectual Context (Cambridge, 1996).   

C.S. Lewis,

on the so-called Dark Ages