In the 17th century, a revolution in thinking began that allowed science to emerge.
A beaver. PICTURE: Jasper Guy/Unsplash.
The prevailing view was that every material object – the sun, rocks, beavers – had their own internal properties that defined how they interacted with everything else. The sun, so it was understood, moved across the sky on its own will. Rocks behaved as they did because of their own internal qualities.
You can see how sun and rock gods fit this view. Each category of being had its own autonomy!
Frenchman René Descartes, speaking from faith, declared, “God alone is the author of all the motions in the world”. He felt there was an all encompassing, unchanging natural law given by God, just as there was an unchanging moral law.
This was a revolution! The laws of physics, experimental science, could now begin. Before this, such thinking was incomprehensible.
So much for faith and science being enemies.
Paul Clark’s musings can be heard on radio across Australia and at atthetop.org.au.
