The Philosophical and Theological Roots of Modern Science

Modern science as understood today is a recent invention: it appeared in the High Middle Ages in Western Europe. This seems to be a surprising location, considering that Western Europe at the time was a backward place just emerging from a long unstable political and social situation.

However, it did happen and, once born, science spread its wings fast and wide. Its remarkable successes, from the Great Scientific Revolution of the 17th century to present times, raises the natural question: why there, why then? In search of an answer, this book uncovers an informed, realistic picture of the complex relationship between Church and science.

This is the first volume in The Unity of Truth Trilogy, a trilogy reuniting Science, Philosophy and Theology through History. It is a threefold endeavor conducted according to a single, unifying conviciton: thruth is one, and the fragmentation of knowledge in the modern world is neither inevitable, nor intellectually healthy. What we call "science,” "philosohpy," and "theology" were once interwoven in a coherent vision of reality grounded in metaphysical realism and confidence in the intelligibility of crteation. Over time, this unity was ruptured – first subtly, then dramatically – through a series of philosophical and cultural shifts. The purpose of this trilogy is to trace that arc: from unity, to rupture, to the possibility of recovery.