Catholicism Embraces Aristotle

In medieval “Christian” Europe, some of Aristotle’s teachings attained the status of received truth​—that is, they were generally accepted as being correct. Roman Catholic theologians​—most notably Thomas Aquinas (c. 1224-1274)​—incorporated Aristotle’s writings into their theology. Thus, Aristotle’s notion that a stationary earth lies at the center of the universe became Catholic dogma. The teaching was also adopted by Protestant leaders, such as Calvin and Luther, who said it was Biblical.​—See the box “They Read Too Much Into the Bible.”

“In some areas of thought [Aristotle’s teachings] and Catholicism became virtually indistinguishable,” said writer Charles Freeman. Thus, it has been said that Aquinas “baptized” Aristotle into the Catholic faith. In reality, however, “Aquinas was converted to Aristotelianism,” wrote Freeman. And to some extent, we might add, so was the church. As a result, Italian astronomer and mathematician Galileo, who dared to present observational proof that the earth orbited the sun, was required to appear before the Inquisition and was forced to recant.a Ironically, Aristotle recognized that scientific knowledge is progressive, subject to revision. If only churches had adopted the same view!