THE DOGMA OF EVOLUTION 



human evolution which includes both the physical 

 and ethical sides of man, and historians are now keen 

 to find rationalistic tendencies where they would be 

 least expected. 



While it is quite true that the centuries preceding 

 the Renaissance are barren so far as scientific discov- 

 eries are concerned, there is little, or no, evidence of 

 a definite and organized opposition to science by the 

 Church. In fact, there was little need for repression 

 when the general belief was that both observation 

 and reason were the source of error rather than of 

 truth. 



When the fall of the Roman Empire broke society 

 into fragments, the only remaining unity and peace 

 was to be found in the Church and it was inevitable 

 that the attempts to restore order would be first cen- 

 tred on the task of converting the barbarians. And 

 by their conversion, nominal as it may have been, 

 some little humility and some regard for peaceful 

 living could be instilled into the rude minds of the 

 people. It was also natural that the revival of learn- 

 ing would be first in the field of religion. What little 

 science there was from the twelfth to the sixteenth 

 centuries was limited almost entirely to alchemy, as- 

 trology, medicine, and a very desultory interest in 

 mathematics. With the exception of mathematics, 

 even these sciences were not cultivated from the de- 

 sire to acquire a knowledge of nature, but to discover 

 the influences of the stars and chemicals on the spir- 



182-2 



