"Theological necessity was among the main reasons which led St. Isidore of Seville, in the seventh century, to incorporate this theory [see preceding quote], supported by St. Basil and St. Augustine, into his great encyclopedic work [Etymologiae] which gave materials for thought on God and Nature to so many generations. He familiarized the theological world still further with the doctrine of secondary creation, giving such examples of it as that "bees are generated from decomposed veal, beetles from horseflesh, grasshoppers from mules, scorpions from crabs," and, in order to give still stronger force to the idea of such transformations, he dwells on the biblical account of Nebuchadnezzar, which appears to have taken strong hold upon medieval thought in science, and he declares that other human beings had been changed into animals, especially into swine, wolves, and owls."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
p. 55.
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/A_History_of_the_Warfare_of_Science_with_Theology_in_Christendom
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
A History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom
A History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom was written 1896 by Andrew Dickson White, and was the culmination of over thirty years of research and publication on the conflict thesis. His research was stimulated by difficulties in assisting Ezra Cornell in the establishment of Cornell University to be free from official religious affiliation. The following quotes are from the 1922 edition of Volume 1 and the 1920 edition of Volume 2. The "warfare" characterization has been di
162 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by A History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom →
Related Quotes
"Great men for eighteen hundred years developed the theory that before Adam's disobedience there was no death, and the…"
"Thus was developed a sacred science of creation and of the divine purpose in Nature, which went on developing from th…"
"At the Reformation the vast authority of Luther was thrown in favor of the literal acceptance of Scripture as the mai…"
"The inquiry into Nature having thus been pursued nearly two thousand years theologically, we find by the middle of th…"
"Some difficulties arose here and there as zoology progressed and revealed ever-increasing numbers of species; but thr…"
"Naturally there was developed among both ecclesiastics and laymen a human desire to... know what the creation really …"
"Spinoza, Hume, and Kant... might have done much to aid in the development of a truer theory had not the theologic atm…"
"Herein lies the truth of all bibles, and especially of our own. ...they are eminently precious, not as a record of ou…"
"Not less explicit in his adherence to the literal account of creation given in Genesis was Calvin. He warns those who…"
"In the middle of the thirteenth century we have a triumph of this theological method in the great work of the English…"