52 HISTORY AND SIGNIFICANCE OF SCIENCE 



method of reasoning, by the adroit manipulation of phrase- 

 ology and by an appeal to mysticism and allegory, is of 

 greater importance for our present purpose as a key to the 

 medieval state of mind. Cosmas reprimands those who are 

 misled by Greek fables or the deceit of human science and 

 who forget that the intimations of the nature of the universe 

 contained in Scripture have far greater value and authority 

 than anything which man can attain through his now un- 

 aided reason. He tells us that he would appeal "to the law 

 and the testimony" and not to the writings of pagans. He 

 disposes of the question of the Antipodes by strictly Biblical 

 arguments, such as St. Paul's words that all men are made 

 to live upon "the face of the earth," and therefore, could 

 not live upon more faces than one or upon the back. Having 

 such proof as this, a true Christian should not "even speak of 

 the Antipodes. " In discussing the structure of the universe, 

 he takes the tabernacle of Moses as the model, because St. 

 Paul refers to the earth as a tabernacle. Other examples 

 need not be cited. His argument throughout is along these 

 general lines. 



The scientist does not profess to a sympathetic treatment 

 of the Middle Ages, 15 although he recognizes the value to 

 mankind of mental attitudes which are unscientific. Some 

 of the specific traits of medieval man which impress us as 

 significant in relation to science are: his ideas regarding the 

 taint of sin, that was assumed to be inherent in nature; the 

 belief in the damnation of the unbeliever, and its outcome in 

 persecution and the suppression of all spirit of criticism; the 

 constant suggestion of the infinite, not in terms of the un- 

 fathomed depths of science but in terms of mysticism; the 

 dominance of emotionalism over rationalism; and the 

 development of asceticism. 16 



15 Taylor, H. O., "The Medieval Mind." 



16 The asceticism of the Middle Ages has been characterized as follows: 

 "Beauty is a snare, pleasure is a sin, the world a fleeting show, man fallen 

 and lost, death the only certainty, judgment inevitable, hell everlasting, heaven 

 hard to win, ignorance acceptable to God as a proof of faith and submission, 



