Chapter 15 - Cultural Transformations (Religion & Science)

"The early modern era of world history gave birth to two intersecting cultural trends that continue to play out in the twenty-first century. The first was the spread of Christianity to Asians, Africans, and Native Americans, some of whom now seem to be returning the favor. The second was the emergence of a modern scientific outlook, which sharply challenged Western Christianity even as it too acquired a global presence."

One of the important things that Chapter 15 talks about is the spread of the Christian faith. For a long time Christianity was very limited to Europe only. Things started to really change around the 1500's when the globalization of Christianity really began. It was during this time that it started to stretch out to different parts of the world.  "The world of Christendom stretched from Spain and England in the west to Russia in the east, with small and beleaguered communities of various kinds in Egypt, Ethiopia, souther India, and Central Asia."

But Christianity at this point in history was very important to Europeans as it motivated political and economic expansion. It's crazy that they's use religion as a means to get into other territories, and eventually take control.

I found page 651 to be extremely interesting, because it gives two examples of how religion played a role and was used. When reading the quote from our textbook below I felt sad, and at the same time mad that anyone would use religion as a way to get what they wanted and in a way see Columbus as a hypocrite. He was telling these people he'd hope they'd become Christian, while telling the people who came on the voyage with him an abundance of items. I think is another example that shows that they were here to really just trying better themselves, they never cared about the people who were here before them.

"When Vasco da Gaza's small fleet landed in India in 1498, local authorities understandably asked, "What brought you hitcher?" The reply: they have come "in search of Christians and of spices." Likewise, Columbus, upon arriving in the Americas, expressed the no doubt sincere hope that people "might become Christians," even as he promised his Spanish patrons an abundant harvest of gold, spice, cotton, allow wood, and slaves"

While all these changes were happening around the world there was also a new way of thinking that was starting to happening. The textbook calling it The Birth of Modern Science. This happening sometime between the mid-sixteenth and early eighteenth century. The reason why this is so important is that it's really the reason why science is where it is today. This was the crucial time where people started to questioning things and finding the answers by proof rather than what's believed before.

"These men of science would no longer rely on the external authority of the Bible, the Church, the speculations of ancient philosophers, or the received wisdom of cultural tradition. For them, knowledge would be acquired through rational inquiry based on evidence, the product of human minds alone."

The men who created this revolution are names that are recognized today--Copernicus from Poland, Galileo from Italy, Descartes from France, Newton from England and many others.

What really gets my attention is the fact that I'm sure these men were made out to be nuts for their thinking. What would they say about how science has evolved over the years, and continues to evolve day by day.