Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Book Club

An Extensive Aside, Dispelling Myths: An Interview with Rodney Stark

May 18, 2016 by Kathleen A. Mulhern

Continued from Page 1

Your chapter on science and your chapter on the "dark ages" in many ways go together, both of them disputing this notion that the Church dragged down intellectual development after the fall of Rome and suppressed scientific development. On the contrary, you argue that the scientific revolution is itself a product of the work done through the intervening years, much of it by Catholics.

Yes, the scientific revolution was merely the next step in a long development during "dark ages," and the work during those years, along with the work of many during the so-called revolution was done by religious people. The Church fostered scientific inquiry; it didn't squelch it. For example, many like to see Galileo as a complete victim, but the Inquisition never put Galileo's work on the Index, it never banned his writings. In fact, when you look at what the Church banned, much of it was pornography.

And what about the Crusades? You argue this point more thoroughly in your book God's Battalions, but what points are you making in this book?

We all too often isolate the events of the Crusade, which makes it look like the European knights and kings were the aggressors and without provocation forced war on the Muslims. But we forget that Islam had been trying to colonize Europe for centuries; the Battle of Tours, where their expansion was stopped, was fought 100 miles from Paris. The Crusades were a centuries-long conflict of Islamic aggression that the West responded to, and while there were travesties on both sides, it certainly was not a unilateral Catholic action.

Don't you think that over the last few decades there has been a growing rapprochement between Catholics and Protestants?

Oh yes, certainly! Two years ago, Baylor and Georgetown announced a joint program at a papal audience in Rome. Ten years ago, it would have been unthinkable that the world's largest Baptist university would cooperate with a Catholic institution.

Do you think today these stories are more generally anti-Christian attacks than anti-Catholic? Has it become less about power and more about religious hostility?

Yes, certainly the hostility is now coming from secular writers who hate religion, but there still seems a special hatred for Catholicism. It continues to puzzle me why experts in these fields don't communicate more broadly than to other experts; some of these anti-Christian attacks need to be addressed in a popular arena.

So why the dedication to Andrew Greeley?

Both Andrew and John Richard Neuhaus were good friends. I knew Neuhaus when he was a Lutheran. One of the funnier stories of my friendship with Greeley includes the time I went to a Catholic reading club and one woman there was a great fan of Andrew's novels. When she found out I was a friend of his, she went and got several of his books and asked me to autograph them. I signed them, "Rodney Stark for Andrew Greeley." Andrew thought that was hilarious.

What's next?

I'm interested in beginning a study of miracles, which should be fascinating.

Page: 2 of 2

5/18/2016 4:00:00 AM

Book Club

Anti-Semitism

Violence

Books

History

politics

science

Christianity

Protestantism

Roman Catholicism

more at patheos

The Sea of Galilee: Exploring the Lake of Jesus

Alice Murray

What Happens to Pagans When We Die?

Emily Guenther

Inspired Prophets: An Analogy to Infallible Popes

Dave Armstrong

Balancing Rationality And Mysticism In Catholic Theology

David Schloss

About Kathleen A. Mulhern

Kathleen Mulhern teaches in the areas of Church History and Spiritual Formation at Denver Seminary and blogs at Dry Bones.

Patheos Logo Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Subscription Support Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In

Follow Patheos