John Walton on Science and the Scripture

In this video, John Walton discusses the problem of trying to integrate ancient scripture with our modern worldview.

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[MrGBrooks9]

"C" [continued from Marsden #3] These qualms were nothing to do with the failure of the Aristotelian world-view, nor with the lack of consonance in the astronomical observations held together in the Ptolemaic tables; it was all to do with biblical exegesis, and this was Luther's professional subject.

[MrGBrooks9]

"B" [continued from Marsden #3] (for Copernicus' work already had actual or tacit approval from that quarter), but the Protestant reaction. Osiander probably knew of Luther's and Melancthon's reservations concerning the proposed motion of the Earth which went counter to the biblical record. [continued to "C"]

[MrGBrooks9]

"A" Marsden #3: Further complicating the contest between Science and Religion was the arrival of Protestantism, which created new variety of opposition:

"Osiander was correct, however, in that the evidence available to Copernicus was not sufficient in itself to completely overthrow the conventional system. And caution, he felt, would be prudent. Interestingly, though, it was not fear of the Catholic Church that prompted this action ... [conintued to "B"]

[MrGBrooks9]

[continued from 2nd Bruce Marsden comment] ... These two motions of the earth — annual and daily — obviously (today) go together, but such was not thought to be essential in earlier times when even one motion of the earth ran counter to the prevailing world-picture. It seems that the Greeks were not immune to religious persecution for Plutarchus (c331 - c232 BC) stirred up a popular campaign against Aristarchus accusing him of sacrilege for ‘displacing the Hearth of the world’.

[MrGBrooks9]

Bruce Marsden offers an even older example of the ancient enmity between "knowledge" and "faith":

An earlier system proposed by Heraclides (c390-c310 BC, and a pupil of Plato) was that Venus and Mercury rotated around the Sun, which in turn circled the earth; and that the Earth turned on its axis. The system of Aristarchus was fully in favour of a central Sun and as a necessary consequence the Earth rotated on its axis thereby providing diurnal motion. [continued in next response]

[MrGBrooks9]

[continued above] ... the Parisian Condemnation of 219 Propositions in 1277. These works, with others over the prior period of about 60 years, attempted to ‘cleanse’ Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) from his later commentators bringing his science into some degree of concordance with theological acceptability, though with deep-rooted problems which were certain to resurface."

[MrGBrooks9]

Bruce Marsden's discussion on "The Copernican Revolution and the Reformation" provides a classic example of how deep rooted the conflict between "Science" and "Religion" can be:

"During the thirteenth century there were several attempts to ban aspects of Aristotle's work leading to the Summa contra Gentiles (1259-64) and Summa Theologica (1266-74) of Thomas Aquinas (1225-74) and... [continued below]