I found this a fascinating article - mystery story, dectective story, discovery story all rolled into one. The ironic twist in the fact that scientific principles were used to win out over the barbaric obliteration of the original manuscript in the end, was worthy of any modern thriller.

However, the paucity of finds such as this highlights the fact that each time "ignorant armies clash" the world loses so much more than peace. I often muse over what irreplacable relics are, even now, being lost to the future in the current battle grounds.

Some of Archimedes'work was preserved,inadvertedly, for the wrong reasons by the wilfully ignorant. We should be grateful to those scientist martyrs who helped the West emerge from the long dark night of Christian barbarism and ignorance, perhaps a thousand years of civilisation was lost under the rule of the theocrats.

Most interesting article.. and not a small amount of Greek cultural flag waving one might add.

Mac says:

<<We should be grateful to those scientist martyrs who helped the West emerge from the long dark night of Christian barbarism and ignorance, perhaps a thousand years of civilisation was lost under the rule of the theocrats.>>

I'd rephrase that Mac.. a few changes are in order....

"the long dark night of misapplied Christianity, by ignorant people who clearly did not know the one from whom they took their name"

"the rule of those who failed to grasp that Jesus did not come to establish an earthly kingdom" rather than 'theocrats'

It' not hard to get it right..and doing do make a big difference to the level of anti Christian hatred, bias and bigotry which feeds on this kind of misprepresentation in the popular media.

So..I hope all will work toward this end of firstly understanding the true message of our Lord, and secondly.. even though they might not personally subscribe to it, at least use terminology which more accurately describes the situation.

The most obvious mountain of misinformation in the article is the implication that the Roman Empire was suddenly 'forced to convert' when Constantine supposedly became Christian.

Anyone who knows even a shred of history of that time knows full well that the Church did not need Constantine to help it along..it had survived vicious persecution.. and without wars or weapons..had grown by the simple power of the message to the point where not to recognize is as the major ideological force in the Roman Empire would have been totally stupid.

Sadly....in recognizing this, Constantine used methods from the dark side rather than the light.. and brough the church into that dark age referred to by the author.

Christianity has nothing to fear from genuine science.

Polycarp,

I'll leave the theology and Church history to you and accept your argument that the theocrats were not true Christians, however that's not the point. The danger is from religious institutions subverting the secular state, not necessarily religion itself. Communism is another example of a humane ideology that, when applied, produced the worst tyranny in history. In reference to the author's theme,the pagan Roman Empire was conservative,with little technical innovation compared to the much-maligned "Christian" Medieval period. Although the theocrats destroyed much of classical civilisation they can't be blamed for the Romans failure to industrialise.

Who's being a revisionist now, eh Poly?

Funny stuff.

No, no Bugsy,

that's just the application of the "shred of knowledge of history" he possesses.

Tis a wondrous thing .. a treasure of knowledge regained from those who fear same such as the book burning nazis and persecutorial catholics, who remain we are told incapable of doctrinal error as they r guided by the

*Holy Spirit*

What a sick joke that they remain an ever present danger to children as a whole because of the fact that they remain convinced of their papal infallibility and holier than thou status to the extent of being dismissive of sexual abuse, for example.

QUOTE *MAC*
" ... The danger is from religious institutions subverting the secular state ... "

and I draw yr attention to the following Bill b4 guvment:
http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;adv=;db=LEGISLATION;group=;holdingType=;id=legislation%2Fbills%2Fs486_first%2F0009;orderBy=;page=;query=Id%3A%22legislation%2Fbills%2Fs486_first%2F0001%22;querytype=;rec=0;resCount=
Parliamentary Charter of Rights and Freedoms Bill 2001 [2008]

Division 4 — Privacy and family rights
Article 14
Rights of the child

(d) the liberty of parents and legal guardians to ensure the religious and moral education of their children in conformity with their own convictions is to be respected.

My view is that these people truly care not for their children else they would not allow them to be indoctrinated by the bigoted idiocy of their parents, as the case may be. Children ought be taught comparative religion only, that they may have an empathy with all the peoples of the world. And if when they come of age they wish to ascribe to one or the other, then, their own Will b done. To me it is a great travesty and failure to not recognise the unique magnificence and inherent majesty of the individual Soul such as to allow them to be treated as chattle to be subjegated by blood bonds.

As one "wise" person said to me long ago:
" ... Blood may b thicker than water, but Spirit is thicker still. ... "

There is no harvest in Spirit that comes from ill begotten mindless adherance, only puppets for the politically depraved.

Better to revamp the school curriculum in its entirety and offer also for consideration Archimedes, medicine and the law, and metaphorically speaking snap the necks of the religious bigots and zealots.

Evangelos,
A truely interesting piece. I await the text (translation) being relaased.

GrahamY
You've outdone yourself this weekend the articles have been trully worth the read. Thanks

Examinator, I'd love to claim the credit, but Susan Prior does 90% of the work most days, and for last weekend probably 110%.

A delightfully easy to read review. It seems clear to me, that the Muslims, whose messiah came seven centuries after that of the Christians, are still where the latter were seven centuries ago, before the likes of Luther.

What the author so clearly shows is how religion takes over from the boundaries of knowledge and those boundaries are forever shifting out. To wit the recent apology of the Church of England to Charles Darwin. Religion, as long as it involves dogma and beliefs of the ancients, will continue to resist, even violently, new understandings. Archimedes and the enlightened Greeks, bear testament to this.

Only when Christianity can unshackle itself from the past,can it be free from the burden its flock awakening. At least today, unlike in the days of Copernicus, can scientists say their truth. This does not (yet?) apply to the Muslims.

A great statement!