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  • I'Ve Seen Well Educated Religious

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    Pratyush Sahu
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    While some argue that great scientists in history were religious, this document calls that claim into question. It notes that during Newton's time, people who were openly atheist faced persecution, torture, and death, incentivizing even non-believers to outwardly profess religious faith. It also explains that until the 20th century, educational institutions were controlled by churches, making it difficult for scientists to express non-religious views. Finally, it posits that before the 19th century discoveries of evolution, germ theory, and genetics, a creator was a more logical explanation for the natural world given the limited scientific understanding of that era.

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    I’Ve Seen Well Educated Religious

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    While some argue that great scientists in history were religious, this document calls that claim into question. It notes that during Newton's time, people who were openly atheist faced persecution, torture, and death, incentivizing even non-believers to outwardly profess religious faith. It also explains that until the 20th century, educational institutions were controlled by churches, making it difficult for scientists to express non-religious views. Finally, it posits that before the 19th century discoveries of evolution, germ theory, and genetics, a creator was a more logical explanation for the natural world given the limited scientific understanding of that era.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    11 views3 pages

    I'Ve Seen Well Educated Religious

    Uploaded by

    Pratyush Sahu
    While some argue that great scientists in history were religious, this document calls that claim into question. It notes that during Newton's time, people who were openly atheist faced persecution, torture, and death, incentivizing even non-believers to outwardly profess religious faith. It also explains that until the 20th century, educational institutions were controlled by churches, making it difficult for scientists to express non-religious views. Finally, it posits that before the 19th century discoveries of evolution, germ theory, and genetics, a creator was a more logical explanation for the natural world given the limited scientific understanding of that era.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    of 3

    I’ve seen well educated religious

    folks use examples of great scientists from theistic background to


    validate their religious beliefs.

    But how far is the label - “great scientists were religious” true?

    **Sir Issac Newton was a devout Christian.**

    Let’s look at what happened to other notable people who weren’t so


    devout Christians during his time period:

    > Christopher Marlowe, 1679 - philosopher, was “falsely accused” of


    being atheist, he was murdered before he could reach court.

    > Vanini, another free-thinker - tortured and burned at stake in 17th


    century.

    > Dolet, another French scholar was burned along with his books.

    It’s safe to assume, when people were burned alive on false accusations
    of atheism, nobody in right mind would dare to reveal they’re atheists,
    even if they didn’t believe in god. So, it’s not that Newton had any
    choice other than being a christian, if he wanted to be alive.

    **All educational institutions were controlled by churches.**

    Before 20th century, all the educational institutions were under christian
    dominations, for example:

    Harvard and Yale University started as a Puritan christian institutions.


    Princeton University was controlled by the Anglican church. The faculty
    were primarily clergy.

    Trinity college, Cambridge was also a part of Anglican Church.

    Religious education was compulsory and even secular colleges that


    started around 1900, like university of California, had their primary
    motto of preserving christianity.

    So, the environment most great scientists grew up in and got their
    education was full fledged religious institutions, which forbid free-
    thinking, it’s not possible for great scientists before 20th century to
    freely declare themselves as atheists.

    **Believing in God was quite logical before 19th century.**

    Most intellectuals believed in theory of “spontaneous generation”, so,


    belief in creator designing life was logical for even scientists of that
    time. It was only until, Darwin showed up that designer-less design was
    possible, via natural selection, that not-believing in god became
    scientific.

    I think the biggest blow to religion was Louis Pasture’s Germ theory-
    suddenly all those plagues and diseases had real causes - microbes and
    they weren’t divine punishment of god.

    Before knowledge of evolution, microbes, genetics, it was hard to look


    at the world without assuming it’s work of a creator. Because everything
    felt like magic to them. Maybe Newton was in the same boat too.

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