Change and Continuity Over Time-Scientific Revolution

In the time from the 1300s to the 1800s, ideology, scientific knowledge, and religious understanding changed from superstitious ideas to rational and factually supported theories while views of religion stayed the same. Throughout scientific history, religion has played an integral role. During ancient times, changes in weather and sicknesses were thought to be caused by the moods of the gods. In the 1300s the scientific revolution began in Europe, changing from a science ruled by illogical beliefs to knowledge with a focus of understanding the logical laws of God's creation. This scientific revolution was started by observant, brilliant minded thinkers who dropped superstition and proposed a creation that is knowable. During the Middle Ages scientific studies did not were not as prevalent as they are today. Other areas such as religion, art, and philosophy were being developed, but without the scientific knowledge to back them up. The powerful Roman Catholic Church promoted traditional dogmas based on Greek philosophy that hindered the scientific movement. This imbalance of knowledge caused much of science to give way to superstition. Up until the 1300s the gap of scientific knowledge was filled with this superstition. Through lack of scientific pursuit, superstition and pagan beliefs began to creep into the middle Ages learning. Medicine consisted more of chants, spells, and ways to draw out evil spirits than what was healthy for the patient and little was known about astronomy, physics, or anatomy. During the late 1300s, after the Church had been discredited by the Black Death, science started becoming more important. New ideas were developed, processes changed, and the culture in Europe started moving away from superstition and into the scientific processes. We typically think of the scientific revolution as a change in natural science and technology but it was really a series of changes in human knowledge within Europe itself. In various fields of scientific study they sought rational explanations to these beliefs with astronomy, anatomy, and physics. In the field of astronomy, Nicolaus Copernicus rejected the view of pagan Greeks that the planets rotated around the earth and said that they actually rotated around the sun. Galileo, seeking to understand the verse, â€Å"God is light†, determined that our sun is only one of many in the known universe. Later Isaac Newton developed the idea that the universe is mechanical and there are laws that cause the world to operate predictably. Many of his theories gave the world of science a better understanding of mathematics and physics. Along with the many new discoveries, observation changed the methods of experimentation. The scientific method was developed and allowed people to test ideas and perform experiments in controlled conditions to help them understand the natural world. This brought on new inventions such as the telescope, microscope, and thermometer, which helped to further expand knowledge and experimentation. Scientific institutions were built, new methods and theories were taught, and knowledge took the place of superstition. This continues to be driven by man's religious behavior to understand consciousness. Einstein's famous â€Å"Special Theory of Relativity† suggests the mystical truth that â€Å"God is light†. Light is apart from time, space, and matter, yet it fills the voids of our existence and sustains all life. Light has no mass, no distance, and is constant in time and presence. Christ is the â€Å"Light of the World†. This idea had remained the same throughout the time period and was supported in the fields of science which left this idea to go unchanged. Many scientific reformers such as Isaac Newton, and Nicolaus Copernicus had said that God was the source of their knowledge and the reason for their discoveries. Yet superstition and illogical beliefs are pervasive. For example, the dogma of evolution is founded in atheism whereas creationism takes on views that support God’s creation of the earth. Many religions today use science to support irrational ideas. In the time from the 1300s to the 1800s, ideology, scientific knowledge, religious understanding changed from superstitious ideas to rational and factually supported theories while views of religion stayed the same.