In all of my science classes prior to this, the role of the church has only been discussed in the context of how it has hindered science. I was intrigued when Dr. Goldish presented the full picture. From the Age of Enlightenment to modern fictional works like Angels and Demons, the intersection of science and theology has been misconstrued. Dr. Goldish began his discussion with Copernicus, a priest in the Catholic church, who performed his research because the Pope was considering a calendar reform. By putting the sun in the center of the solar system, rather than the Earth, Copernicus was able to eliminate these problems. The Catholic church encouraged him to publish this theory, but due to coinciding timing with the split of the church, people were especially sensitive towards new ideas. This could be misinterpreted as the first “rift” between science and religion. Kepler was also deeply religious. He believed he was working with the tools God gave him to translate “divine presence” through mathematical models. His major contribution was theorizing the elliptical orbit. While this did away with God’s perfectly circular orbits, it did reveal the mathematical exactness in nature. It seems like most scientists of this period (Kepler, Galileo, Copernicus, Newton) were religious. This makes sense because the most literate people were often monks and priests.
My favorite part of Dr. Goldish’s lecture was the drama of Galileo. When Galileo, a deeply religious Catholic, proved the Copernican system, the future Pope replied that his math was inferior and God’s logic was different from his. In retaliation, Galileo put the Pope’s side of the argument into the simpleton character of a book he then dedicated to the Pope. Overall, I was happy to hear Dr. Goldish say that the warfare between science and religion does not exist. Most of history actually shows scientific work and religion working together, since both theology and science have always been considered areas of knowledge and wisdom.
The full story is always more complicated than the simple version we often learn. Dr. Goldish did indeed presented a more cohesive view of religion and science before the nineteenth century. Since they are very different ways of thinking and learning, it may be that us in the modern age rely to heavily on one way or the other.