Influence of Church on Cultural Evolution

1. Entity type Lemma
2. Original titleInfluence of Church on Cultural Evolution
3. Language term English
4. lemma author Tampakis, Kostas
5. lemma category Ethics - Orthodox view on technology and engineering
6. Publication date 12-10-2017
7. lemma work Influence of Church on Cultural Evolution
8. lemma manifestations European Journal of Science and Theology
9. Keywords European Society for the Study of Science and Theology - technology - morality - culture
10. Url Click Here
11. Lemma body

    1. The article discusses the way Christian Church influenced the evolution of culture throughout history and its current position. The authors begin by questioning that Christianity led to the disappearance of ancient Roman culture. They emphasize in the catalytic contribution of the Church and especially the monasteries in the intellectual movement of Renaissance. They then discuss the role of the Church as a supporter of education, focusing on monastery libraries and the intellectual labor of monks in Latin and Greek language. The Church is then analyzed as the space in which most of the modern sciences were cultivated during the Middle Age, with many scientists serving also as church men. A brief mention follows of the artistic, economic and social-missionary aspects of Church’s work. Finally, the article focuses on modern societies, and the prominence of the so called “third culture”, a new type of intellectuals-scientists and the loss of the Church’s old impact. The authors propose that the accelerating progress of a technological civilization, which tends to overcome culture, could potentially lead to a weakening of man’s spiritual identity, in the new “globalized” context. The writers promote as a solution the old spiritual values, which must be defended through the co-operation of Science and Theology, citing as an example the “European Society for the Study of Science and Theology”. The article finishes by pointing out the necessity of God in modern human’s life, as a locus of true moral values and, as a result, the absolute need for redefining Christian Church’s position in the context of the European Union.