A lively corrective to popular misunderstandings about key events in the history of science-faith relations

Are science and faith, particularly Christianity, inevitably in conflict, as the New Atheists proclaim? Have they not always been so? Weren't early scientists hounded for their discoveries until Darwin burst on the scene and sent faith packing? Not if you look at the facts, says Dr Allan Chapman, who teaches the History of Science at the University of Oxford. History shows us that Galileo was not the victim of Church persecution - nor did Huxley 'win' the debate with Wilberforce. Drawing on contemporary sources, Dr Chapman proves that the history of science and of faith always have been closely intertwined. From the leading scientists of medieval times, many in Holy Orders, to the seventeenth-century Popes who maintained an astronomical observatory in the Vatican, to the Christian people of science today, science and faith have grown up together.

"The dragons of the title are the myths, half-truths and downright untruths that have â ¦ distorted strongly the Science-Religion debate. The author attacks these dragons with the passion of a latter-day St George and in a book that is forthright, clear, readable, convincing and sometimes humorous, he sets the record straight." -- John Bryant, Professor Emeritus of Biological Sciences at the University of Exeter. "A very enjoyable and instructive read." -- Keith Ward, Fellow of the British Academy and Professional Research Fellow at Heythrop College, London. "From an encyclopaedic knowledge of his subject matter, Dr Allan Chapman systematically exposes the multiple myths and flagrant falsehoods propagated by the so-called `New Atheists'." -- The Revd Dr Rodney D. Holder, The Faraday Institute, Cambridge "Allan Chapman offers a robust and highly readable response to the 'not-so-New' Atheism." -- Edmund Newell, Christ Church, Oxford "This is a fascinating, timely and highly accessible study â ¦ after reading this book, no-one can doubt that the supposed clash of science and religion has been greatly distorted." -- John Pritchard, Bishop of Oxford

Allan Chapman teaches History of Science at the University of Oxford. He is a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and author of ten books, including Gods in the Sky and Robert Hooke and the English Renaissance, Slaying the Dragons and Stargazers. He has appeared in history of science documentaries on BBC2, Channels 4 and 5, and National Geographic, as well as appearing on BBC TV's 'Sky at Night' programme.

Allan Chapman teaches history of science in the University of Oxford. He is a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and author of eight books.

__Contents__  
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 6  
__1 MYTHS, MONOTHEISM, AND THE ORIGINS OF WESTERN SCIENCE 9__  
__2 THE ORIGINS OF UNBELIEF__  
Part 1: Ancients and Early Moderns 24  
THE POPULAR MYTH THAT ATHEISM IS NEW 24  
CLASSICAL AND MEDIEVAL UNBELIEF 26  
THOMAS HOBBES, MATERIALISM,  
AND MAN THE MACHINE 31  
ATHEISTS, DEISTS, AND UNBELIEVERS 37  
__3 THE ORIGINS OF UNBELIEF__  
Part 2: Dreams of a Brave  
New World 43  
ROMANTIC AND REVOLUTIONARY ATHEISM 43  
ROBERT OWEN, GEORGE HOLYOAKE, AND THE VICTORIAN SECULAR ATHEISTS 50  
THE MYTH THAT SIMPLE FAITH WAS DESTROYED BY DARWIN IN 1859 56  
__4 THE HISTORICAL ROOTS OF ANTI-CHRISTIANITY__  
Part 1: Two Persistent Myths 57  
THE MYTH OF THE MEDIEVAL "DARK AGE" 57  
THE MYTH OF THE "ENLIGHTENMENT" 65  
__5 THE HISTORICAL ROOTS OF ANTI-CHRISTIANITY__  
Part 2: Myths of Changing Circumstances 75  
THE PROBLEM OF ETERNAL DAMNATION 75  
BIBLICAL CRITICISM, "MYTH", AND EARLY BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 79  
NATIONALISTIC CHRISTIANITY 89  
THE GROWTH AND POWER OF SCIENCE 92  
__6 SOME POPULAR MYTHS ABOUT__  
SCIENCE AND RELIGION 94  
CHRISTIANITY AND SCIENCE IN "CONFLICT": TWO NINETEENTHCENTURY AMERICAN "ATHEISTS" 94  
ALL CHRISTIANS ARE REALLY BIBLICAL FUNDAMENTALISTS 98  
THE CHURCH HAS ALWAYS PERSECUTED SCIENCE AND SCIENTISTS 100  
RELIGION CAUSES THE WORLD'S TROUBLES: ONLY SECULARISM CAN BRING PEACE 107  
__7 MONKEYING AROUND WITH HISTORY: THE MYTH OF THE BIG 1860 "OXFORD DEBATE"__ __ON EVOLUTION__ __113__  
__8 THE MYTH OF THE YOUNG EARTH AND THE ORIGINS OF EVOLUTIONARY IDEAS 121__  
DATING THE CREATION 121  
THE ORIGINS OF LIFE: PRE-DARWINIAN IDEAS OF "EVOLUTION" 130  
__9 CHARLES DARWIN: MONKEY, MAN, AND MYTH 136__  
__10 COUNTERING THE "BIG LIE" 149__  
WHY IS NATURE CONGRUENT? 149  
WHY DO HUMANS RESPOND SO POSITIVELY TO BEAUTY AND ELEGANCE? 151  
SCIENCE DESCRIBES EFFECTS, RELIGION TALKS OF CAUSES AND PURPOSES 156  
__11 DOES SCIENCE CHALLENGE RELIGION? THE GREAT ATHEIST MYTH 160__  
LACK OF NEW SECULARIST IDEAS 160  
WHY HAS RELIGION FAILED TO DIE AWAY? 166  
ARE ATHEISM AND SECULARISM MORE SUPERSTITIOUS THAN CHRISTIANITY? 169  
DOUBTING SCEPTICISM 173  
SEDUCTION BY REDUCTION 176  
__12 THE AGE THAT LOST ITS NERVE: THE DILEMMA OF CHRISTENDOM IN THE MODERN WORLD__  
Part 1: Myths and Mechanisms 180  
THE MYTH OF A SECULAR SOCIETY 182  
FORCED TO ACT: MECHANISM AND EVOLUTIONARY AND NEUROLOGICAL DETERMINISM 186  
THE HISTORICAL ORIGINS OF SOCIAL SCIENCE EXPLANATIONS, AND THEIR EXPLOITATION BY SECULARIST MYTH-MAKERS 194  
__13 THE AGE THAT LOST ITS NERVE: THE DILEMMA OF CHRISTENDOM IN THE MODERN WORLD__  
Part 2: The Myth of Secular  
Transcendence 204  
THE MYTH OF HUMAN PERFECTIBILITY 205

Allan Chapman

COVER

TITLE PAGE

COPYRIGHT

DEDICATION

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

1 MYTHS, MONOTHEISM, AND THE ORIGINS OF WESTERN SCIENCE

2 THE ORIGINS OF UNBELIEF

THE POPULAR MYTH THAT ATHEISM IS NEW

CLASSICAL AND MEDIEVAL UNBELIEF

THOMAS HOBBES, MATERIALISM, AND MAN THE MACHINE

ATHEISTS, DEISTS, AND UNBELIEVERS

3 THE ORIGINS OF UNBELIEF

ROMANTIC AND REVOLUTIONARY ATHEISM

ROBERT OWEN, GEORGE HOLYOAKE, AND THE VICTORIAN SECULAR ATHEISTS

THE MYTH THAT SIMPLE FAITH WAS DESTROYED BY DARWIN IN 1859

4 THE HISTORICAL ROOTS OF ANTI-CHRISTIANITY

THE MYTH OF THE MEDIEVAL "DARK AGE"

THE MYTH OF THE "ENLIGHTENMENT"

5 THE HISTORICAL ROOTS OF ANTI-CHRISTIANITY

THE PROBLEM OF ETERNAL DAMNATION

BIBLICAL CRITICISM, "MYTH", AND EARLY BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGY

NATIONALISTIC CHRISTIANITY

THE GROWTH AND POWER OF SCIENCE

6 SOME POPULAR MYTHS ABOUT SCIENCE AND RELIGION

CHRISTIANITY AND SCIENCE IN "CONFLICT": TWO NINETEENTH-CENTURY AMERICAN "ATHEISTS"

ALL CHRISTIANS ARE REALLY BIBLICAL FUNDAMENTALISTS

THE CHURCH HAS ALWAYS PERSECUTED SCIENCE AND SCIENTISTS

RELIGION CAUSES THE WORLD'S TROUBLES: ONLY SECULARISM CAN BRING PEACE

7 MONKEYING AROUND WITH HISTORY: THE MYTH OF THE BIG 1860 “OXFORD DEBATE” ON EVOLUTION

8 THE MYTH OF THE YOUNG EARTH AND THE ORIGINS OF EVOLUTIONARY IDEAS

DATING THE CREATION

THE ORIGINS OF LIFE: PRE-DARWINIAN IDEAS OF "EVOLUTION"

9 CHARLES DARWIN: MONKEY, MAN, AND MYTH

10 COUNTERING THE “BIG LIE”

WHY IS NATURE CONGRUENT?

WHY DO HUMANS RESPOND SO POSITIVELY TO BEAUTY AND ELEGANCE?

SCIENCE DESCRIBES EFFECTS, RELIGION TALKS OF CAUSES AND PURPOSES

11 DOES SCIENCE CHALLENGE RELIGION? THE GREAT ATHEIST MYTH

LACK OF NEW SECULARIST IDEAS

WHY HAS RELIGION FAILED TO DIE AWAY?

ARE ATHEISM AND SECULARISM MORE SUPERSTITIOUS THAN CHRISTIANITY?

DOUBTING SCEPTICISM

SEDUCTION BY REDUCTION

12 THE AGE THAT LOST ITS NERVE: THE DILEMMA OF CHRISTENDOM IN THE MODERN WORLD

THE MYTH OF A SECULAR SOCIETY

FORCED TO ACT: MECHANISM AND EVOLUTIONARY AND NEUROLOGICAL DETERMINISM

THE HISTORICAL ORIGINS OF SOCIAL SCIENCE EXPLANATIONS, AND THEIR EXPLOITATION BY SECULARIST MYTH-MAKERS

13 THE AGE THAT LOST ITS NERVE: THE DILEMMA OF CHRISTENDOM IN THE MODERN WORLD

THE MYTH OF HUMAN PERFECTIBILITY

THE UNACKNOWLEDGED PILLAGING OF CHRISTIAN MORALITY BY SECULARISTS

BELIEVING IN AN EXTERNAL TRANSCENDENT REALITY

WHY MUST HUMANS BE ALWAYS SAVING SOMETHING?

REINVENTING HEAVEN

14 REDISCOVERING THE COMPASS, OR WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

RECLAIMING CHRISTIAN IDENTITY

HOW "ENLIGHTENED" ARE THE NEW ATHEISTS?

CONCLUSION: SO WHERE DO WE STAND, AND WHAT DO WE DO?

15 POSTSCRIPT: WHY DO SO MANY MODERN INTELLECTUALS WASTE THEIR ENERGY ATTACKING CHRISTIANITY?

WHY GET HOT UNDER THE SECULAR COLLAR?

SURVIVING THE CRUCIFIXION

HISTORY? BUT THE GOSPELS WERE JUST MADE UP – WEREN'T THEY?

Chapman, Allan

In this lively and often surprising study, Dr Chapman examines popular misunderstandings about key events in the history of science-faith relations. He covers the major episodes such as Galileo's trial, the Wilberforce-Huxley debate and the Scopes trial of 1925, but also looks further back through the medieval period to the Classical age, revealing how these events have acquired mythical and misleading status. He exposes the facts that have been forgotten and the contemporary opinions that have been supplanted by modern propaganda. Slaying the Dragons is an important book that strips away layers of misunderstanding and misinterpretation and, in so doing, helps us to appreciate that science and religion are not the common enemies we think they are.

Are science and faith the common enemies we are led to believe? This important study examines popular misunderstandings about key events in the history of science-faith relations. Lively and often surprising, it covers the major episodes such as Galileo's trial, the Wilberforce-Huxley debate and the Scopes trial of 1925, but also looks further back through the medieval period to the Classical age, revealing how these events have acquired mythical and misleading status.

"The dragons of the title are the myths, half-truths and downright untruths that have ... distorted strongly the Science-Religion debate. The author attacks these dragons with the passion of a latter-day St George and in a book that is forthright, clear, readable, convincing and sometimes humorous, he sets the record straight." -- John Bryant, Professor Emeritus of Biological Sciences at the University of Exeter. "A very enjoyable and instructive read." -- Keith Ward, Fellow of the British Academy and Professional Research Fellow at Heythrop College, London. "From an encyclopaedic knowledge of his subject matter, Dr Allan Chapman systematically exposes the multiple myths and flagrant falsehoods propagated by the so-called 'New Atheists'." -- The Revd Dr Rodney D. Holder, The Faraday Institute, Cambridge "Allan Chapman offers a robust and highly readable response to the 'not-so-New' Atheism." -- Edmund Newell, Christ Church, Oxford "This is a fascinating, timely and highly accessible study ... after reading this book, no-one can doubt that the supposed clash of science and religion has been greatly distorted." -- John Pritchard, Bishop of Oxford An excellent section on popular myths on science and religion. -- Bookshelf War Cry Chapman is a committed Christian and a first-class historian of science.This book will appeal to Christians and Athiests alike. The Christians will nod sagaciously, time and again in agreement. The Atheists, new and old, will at least realise some of the huge problems they are up against -- David W Hughes The Observatory Magazine 'After an absorbing analysis of popular myths about science and religion, Chapman confronts the lie that science and Christianity are inherently in conflict.' -- Paul Valler Christianity

Allan Chapman teaches history of science in the University of Oxford and is a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society. He is the author of ten books, including “Mary Somerville and the World of Science”, and the main lecturer for EuroSpring, being with them from their inception. His annual lecture is considered one of the highlights of the academic year at Bemidji State University, Minnesota. He has made two television series: “Gods in the Sky” and “Great Scientists,” and has been featured on several BBC radio discussions on history. Visiting professor in the history of science at Gresham College, he holds an honorary doctorate from the University of Central Lancashire. Chapman was invited by the Danish government and the Danish Crown to write on Danish scientific connections with China from 1600 to the present, and was invited to lecture in Copenhagen in 2006 at the Nils Bohr Institute as part of the same project

In ‘Slaying the Dragons’, professor and member of the Faculty of History at Wadham College, Oxford, Allan Chapman examines the claims of the ‘New Atheists that: religion really belongs to an earlier phase of human development, and that nowadays science has taken its place as the yardstick of authority. But are science and religion friends or foes? There are a great many scientists of the highest intellectual distinction - ranging from cosmology to medical research, who make no bones about their faith and cannot understand what the ‘New Atheists’ are getting so worked up about.

Chapman explores whether anything has changed in the nature of scientific discovery to allow for the modern atheistic interpretations of science that did not exist in the past. He also examines whether or not modern discoveries in biology, brain science, cosmology and physics seriously undermine religious belief.

In this study, Allan Chapman examines popular misunderstandings about key events in the history of science-faith relations. He covers the major episodes such as Galileo's trial, the Wilberforce-Huxley debate and the Scopes trial of 1925, but also looks further back through the medieval period to the Classical age, revealing how these events have acquired mythical and misleading status.

Asking if religious modern scientists just the fools that new atheists paint them to be, or are the latter just so blind in their dogmatic brain-washing that they cannot see the bigger world beyond their test-tubes, ‘Slaying the Dragons’ exposes the atheists’ worn-out tale which itself goes back centuries, and which they are trying to spice up with big helpings of rhetoric and ridicule.

Putting popular misunderstandings of the science vs faith debate under the microscope with Oxford lecturer Allan Chapman.

\["Seeking clarity in the faith vs science debate? ","Slaying the Dragons clears up some of the false assumptions you may have","You'll discover the story of science and faith in Western thought "\]

Destroying Myths in the History of Science and Faith

Slaying the Dragons

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