> >Precisely! In fact, it is my experience that such anti-scientific attitudes
> >which students bring with them to college only serve to inhibit intellectual
> >exploration even among believing scientists. This false dichotomy often
> >results in an irrational fear of scientific knowledge. Surly, if the
> >christian position is True, than we have nothing to fear.
>
> In my opinion it is precisely this issue that explains the failure of the
> Jewish mind to exhibit the kind of intellectual curiosity found among the
> Greeks. The Jews, under the guidance of a theocrasy had their scientific
> curiosity stifled. They knew who had done it! They clearly were
> antiscientific. It was the Greeks, freed from this knowledge that went on
> to establish the roots of modern science and intellectual exploration.
This is an overstatement. Certainly the Greeks gave more
emphasis to rational exploration of the world, but their science was
limited by (among other things) their unwillingness to get their hands
dirty. The Jews didn't mind doing that. & the Hebrews were not devoid
of interest in understanding the world, as in their wisdom tradition
(which has commonalities with such traditions in other cultures of the
ancient near east.)
George Murphy