Abstract
Did Christianity hinder the development of science? Most intellectuals these days believe it did, citing as evidence the showdown between Galileo and the Inquisition in the seventeenth century over geocentrism, and Thomas Huxley embarrassing Bishop Wilberforce in a climactic debate about evolution in 1860. But is this stereotype historically accurate? Scholars affirm that modern science arose among the theologians, monks, and professors of Medieval and Renaissance Catholic universities and monasteries. But if Christianity and science are supposedly so incompatible, how did science gradually arise during the Medieval and Renaissance periods in Europe? After all, neither Galileo nor Copernicus (who maintained the sun was at the center of the solar system), were unbelievers. Remarkably, as shown by the historical research of Pierre Duhem, Stanley Jaki, and (partially) Robert Merton, the worldview of Christianity was necessary for the rise of modern science.