If one would ask today’s youth which word they associate the Catholic Church with, the most common answer would be “corruption.” Catholicism is known for its scandals, and not for its accomplishments, which is quiet unfortunate. The negative connotation that is associated with the word Catholic results in the prejudice people have against the church and those within it. This negative association has been present for centuries and has been encouraged and promoted by individuals such as Edward Gibbon, a historian and politician who claimed that the Western world was interrupted by the church and that instead of encouraging its growth, the Church delayed it. Catholics, on the other hand, believe that when describing the Catholic Church and its history, one should use the word "civilization." Thomas E. Woods, Jr, the author of How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization explains how not only is it a civilization on its own, but how it built the foundation on which the wonders of modern science how it played a vital role in the emergence of the Scientific Revolution. Woods also explains how the people of the church established free-market economics five centuries before Adam Smith, and invented the University system. Woods continues to explain that the the rise of international law, (which to start with is heavily based on Church Canon law) and the rule of law took place when the Catholics disputed over the nature of the soul after they faced Native Americans. People often forget that the most basic aspects of western life such as classifying charity as a virtue came from within the church itself, the Catholic community emphasized the importance of human rights and freedom, and the value one holds simply because they exist is greater than any superficial features they may hold. There is more to the Catholic Church than marvelous art, music, architecture, and philosophy. The churches were not merely pretty buildings that emitted beautiful sounds; it was the birthplace of the Western civilization.

Woods starts by attempting to clear the misconception of the “Dark Ages” by first discrediting the critics that associate anything that happened during that period with the Catholic Church. He does so by claiming those critics have not studied anything related to the Middle ages, and even if they have, their studies were limited and brief. The phrase “The Dark Ages” was actually given by artists living in the Renaissance period when reflecting on how dark the art, architecture, poetry and literature were; the outer look of that era was dark and gothic and that justifies the name. When they gave that name, they were not referring to theology, education, or even philosophy being darkened or absent in that period. Woods is able to prove this by using various examples that cover multiple topics that are considered the foundation of the Western Civilization. Many of the greatest minds in history, and the founders of various things came directly from the church. Fathers such as Nicolaus Steno and Father Athanasius founded geology and Egyptology, as well as Father Boscovich credited as being the father of modern atomic theory. This only goes to show that contrary to many beliefs, the church did not just keep that knowledge private to make education exclusive and controlled within the church, but instead took every opportunity to educate the people and further their understanding, hence the university system. We, as students owe most of our academic career to the Catholic Church, because thanks to them, we now have the most basic and fundamental universal educational system. The church did not just provide professors, lectures were given in cathedrals or private halls and thanks to the monastery they would have books that were transcribed by the scribes the campuses as well[1]. Some of the most prominent universities such as Oxford University, Cambridge University, and Sorbonne University of Paris were all established by religious men, and it is a wonder to me how one could look at the founders of the majority of the high ranking universities all around the world, see that they are all Catholic, and still claim that the Church put a veil of darkness on education. One would try to discredit the church in this by saying the forming of the university system is useless if the content being taught is only religious rather than academic. Woods would argue that the University was as secular as an establishment can get at that time. The university offered the seven liberal arts, civil and canon law, natural philosophy, medicine and theology[2] all subjects that educated students about every aspect of the world. The university also taught ancient texts such as the geometry of Euclid, metaphysics, natural philosophy which was based solely on science rather than theology[3] and ethics of Aristotle thanks to massive translation efforts.[4] Later in the development of the university, students were required to write a thesis paper which encouraged them to think on their own, and be able to defend whatever they choose to argue.[5] The Catholic church helped evolve the human mind. During the Middle ages, it was easy to take advantage of the lower class because of their lack of education, and if anything, the church helped illuminate the so called “dark” ages with the spread of knowledge and making sure the poor and the rich would have to follow through the same educational system. It is no coincidence that the greatest minds that have made the biggest discoveries in sciences regardless of their beliefs graduated from those very same church based universities.

By far the biggest attacks that have been directed at the church come from the science community, which ironically, originated in the church itself. Scientists are quick to use Galileo as a prime example to how the church was promoting ignorance and forbidding the people to question beliefs because how can one dare question the Bible? Just like the Dark ages, Woods declares this example as a misinterpretation of events, and re-tells the story the way it actually occurred. Galileo was praised by the Christian community, in fact, he was honored by the Pope with medals and gifts. The Jesuit teachers even agreed with his theory and sent him letters of approval and encouragement so that he would develop it better. As previously mentioned, the universities only taught science as facts, and theories as nothing more than theories which Galileo could not accept. The church wanted him to teach it as a theory, since he did not have proof beyond doubt to call it a fact, but he insisted it was nothing less than a fact. It is not the science community that should be using this example in their favor, but the church. For the church cared deeply about the quality of material they allowed in their schools, and the story of Galileo testifies to that. The church encourages its community to think, commanded them even when they made discoveries and honored the scientists. Father Stanley, a prizewinner historian of Science believed that it was more than just the Christian institutions that helped science, he believes that Christian ideas helped to make science possible; a Christian idea is that the world was designed, it was an intricate system that must have a cause, and that cause reflects on the goodness of God. That is reflected in the “regular return of seasons, the unfailing course of stars, the music of spheres, the movement of the forces of nature according to fixed ordinances, are all the results of the one who alone can be trusted unconditionally.[6]” In Wisdom 11:21, God said to have “ordered all things by measure, number, weight” which agreed with those studying the rationality of the universe. He further explains by saying Christians were inspired at the start of modern science to embark on quantitative inquire as a way to understand and decipher the universe.[7] It was not a coincidence that the birth of science took place in a catholic milieu. It is also not a coincidence that Catholic countries were more developed in science than non-Catholic regions. He gives examples of countries such as Arabic, Babylonian, Chinese, Egyptian, Greek, Hindu, and Maya. In these cultures, he says that science has suffered a “stillbirth.” The reason being that these cultures did not have the right conception of the universe. For they did not have the idea of a constant figure that is ruling the universe with laws of physics. They believed in many deities and concepts of rebirth which made the development of science almost impossible because it made the idea of constant natural laws foreign and therefore they could not develop. Meanwhile Christians were left to view the universe as a realm of order and predictability.[8] Many people try to separate the Church and science by saying they simply don’t agree and that when viewing one of them, we should disregard the other. However, if Louis Pasteur, Fr. Giambattista Riccioli, Fr. Athanasius Kircher, and Fr. Roger Boscovich, and countless of other notable scientists have thought this way, in physics, they would not be measuring the rate of acceleration of a freely falling body, we the contributions and we would not have the father of Egyptology, and “the greatest genius that Yugoslavia ever produced” and the father of modern atomic theory. The church was not science’s enemy, it was its creator for the “science is not Western, but Christian.”[9]

As an institution with a history tainted with crimes unforgiven and sentiments disapproved of by many of poor or non conforming men, the church was seen to some as an upper hand that acts out the wrath of God, to others an entity corrupt with greed and politics, and to many a destination to wash off the day's filth with mere chants and the forgiveness of a man in a cloak older than he is. Still the wise man knows that although these sins were committed by men of God, they were committed by men nonetheless. The wise man also knows that the altar is not merely a table, the chalice is not merely a cup, and the church is not merely a building. The church represents a lot more than the earthly governing machine it is seen to be. The church represents the brotherhood of those in the faith and the love they have for one another. It stands for the commandments a humble King once gave on a mountain. It is a place of worship, a place of refuge, and a place of rebirth, and from that place came amazing things that have contributed greatly to our present day society. For example, cultivating the minds that think, build and innovate is among the most essential pillars of civilization. It is what makes the difference between the mind that creates, the mind that destroys, and the mind that sits idly by. Because of the church, those minds have been cultivated created the laws of physics, international law, economics, universities, and most importantly, these minds have created human rights. Well beyond these fascinating outcomes of the church, Woods presents in an inspired way how the universality of Catholicism in itself has given the whole of humanity the concept of inalienable rights, the natural law, and the dignity of the human being, and when one strips down western civilization, this is exactly what its core is made of.

                                                            Bibliography

Woods, Thomas E. How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization. Washington, DC: Regnery Pub., 2005. Print.

How The Catholic Church Built Western Civilization.

Noëlle Henein

CATH 200-001

Professor Robert J. Di Pede

November 17^th 2016

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