The Law of Common Sense, by Terry Mejdrich
Saint Augustine (354-430 AD), one of the most important, respected, and influential figures in early Christian history said of what he called ‘natural philosophy’, which was the term used for science at that time, that “if natural philosophy leads to a conclusion that contradicts our interpretation of the bible, then we must change our [biblical] interpretation.” We might loosely translate that as: First there is the Law of Common Sense.
What Augustine meant was that if scientific evidence is overwhelmingly supportive of a proposition that contradicts accepted biblical interpretations, then it is the biblical interpretations that must be changed to adapt to the new and better information.
So why has there always been a core of believers since his time that reject sound scientific principles, or even rational thought, because they do not fit in their interpretation of the biblical narrative and in direct opposition to Augustine’s directive? In our time, this would include but not be limited to the chemical basis of life, the origin and evolution of the Universe, the natural development of elements beginning with primordial hydrogen, species change and adaptation by Natural Selection (Evolution), the proven ancient age of the Universe, universal and unchanging natural laws, and others. Moving from the scientific to the more esoteric, one might also mention other logically scientifically unfounded doctrines including that of original sin and others. So given Augustine’s message centuries ago in support of and confidence in scientific discoveries and reason over individual interpretation, why then is there still now, after all that science has discovered and proven and yielded in terms of life span and standard of living and the broader understanding of nature, i.e. natural events without gods, resistance to science by many in the religious community?
One key piece of evidence relates to the time in which Augustine lived. At that time Greek (Hellenistic) philosophy (a logical evidence based approach to understanding reality upon which all modern scientific achievements are based) still had a very strong influence on anyone who participated in the higher educated segment of society. He lived and died just at the turning point in Western Civilization when it was in transition from reason based (Hellenistic and secular) to rigid and dogmatic Church controlled (sectarian). If he had made the above statement a few centuries later when the sectarian authorities controlled literally everything including even what a person could think, then he would have likely been labeled a heretic and suffered the fate of heretics along with the many other thousands the authorities found troublesome, i.e. torture and execution. Church doctrine and the power of the papacy became utterly unchallengeable on penalty of death.
We take free speech largely for granted in the free world, and one must right away qualify the right to free speech by noting it does not include falsely yelling ‘fire!’ in a crowded theater. In other words free speech is not a blanket endorsement to say whatever the hell you want whenever you want. Generally free speech is only free when it does not cause considerable harm to the society as a whole, a grey area to be sure. But it is hard for us to imagine being sentenced to death by a church tribunal for merely expressing our opinion, yet such was the sectarian control throughout much of human history from the Bronze Age on when rulers proclaimed a duel role of king and bishop, of lord and master, and God’s emissary on Earth.
In Augustine’s time, the reality based philosophical base of Greek philosophy was still a fairly strong bulwark against the rising tide of religious fanaticism. But inexorably, sectarian power gained control and deemed itself infallible, but then, centuries later when it began to break apart, instead of meaningful reform, each part took on the mantle of infallibility. Various groups, each believing their own special conduit to God was sacrosanct, then went to war to decide which side God was really on, which was made all the more ironic because all sides claimed their foundational principles were peace, brotherly love, and forgiveness. Thus began the mostly religion-based wars in and around Europe and the Near East for the next thousand plus years with an outcome no closer to resolution today. The armies and tactics have changed and even the battlefield, but the conflict continues.
War is not logical, but then no one ever accused people of being too logical. In fact it is generally insanity en masse, yet it is an affliction that humanity is not likely to throw off anytime soon. And it is contagious. One side instigates conflict over what they deem to be sound reasons, and the other must then respond out of self-preservation. At least that has been standard procedure for at least as long as recorded history and probably before. In fact, brutal conflict and the resulting horrors of war is normal human behavior, if we define normal as that which most commonly occurs and if we accept it as such. Aggression, territorialism, tribalism, and loyalty to just our ‘kind’ or our ‘belief’ are inbred tendencies and are the catalysts for conflict. And so bombs will continue to fall as long as the belief holds in a critical mass of people that we must kill other people, who are mostly pawns, in great quantity in order to achieve peace, no matter what the founding principles of our faith dictate.
What Augustine meant was that if scientific evidence is overwhelmingly supportive of a proposition that contradicts accepted biblical interpretations, then it is the biblical interpretations that must be changed to adapt to the new and better information.
So why has there always been a core of believers since his time that reject sound scientific principles, or even rational thought, because they do not fit in their interpretation of the biblical narrative and in direct opposition to Augustine’s directive? In our time, this would include but not be limited to the chemical basis of life, the origin and evolution of the Universe, the natural development of elements beginning with primordial hydrogen, species change and adaptation by Natural Selection (Evolution), the proven ancient age of the Universe, universal and unchanging natural laws, and others. Moving from the scientific to the more esoteric, one might also mention other logically scientifically unfounded doctrines including that of original sin and others. So given Augustine’s message centuries ago in support of and confidence in scientific discoveries and reason over individual interpretation, why then is there still now, after all that science has discovered and proven and yielded in terms of life span and standard of living and the broader understanding of nature, i.e. natural events without gods, resistance to science by many in the religious community?
One key piece of evidence relates to the time in which Augustine lived. At that time Greek (Hellenistic) philosophy (a logical evidence based approach to understanding reality upon which all modern scientific achievements are based) still had a very strong influence on anyone who participated in the higher educated segment of society. He lived and died just at the turning point in Western Civilization when it was in transition from reason based (Hellenistic and secular) to rigid and dogmatic Church controlled (sectarian). If he had made the above statement a few centuries later when the sectarian authorities controlled literally everything including even what a person could think, then he would have likely been labeled a heretic and suffered the fate of heretics along with the many other thousands the authorities found troublesome, i.e. torture and execution. Church doctrine and the power of the papacy became utterly unchallengeable on penalty of death.
We take free speech largely for granted in the free world, and one must right away qualify the right to free speech by noting it does not include falsely yelling ‘fire!’ in a crowded theater. In other words free speech is not a blanket endorsement to say whatever the hell you want whenever you want. Generally free speech is only free when it does not cause considerable harm to the society as a whole, a grey area to be sure. But it is hard for us to imagine being sentenced to death by a church tribunal for merely expressing our opinion, yet such was the sectarian control throughout much of human history from the Bronze Age on when rulers proclaimed a duel role of king and bishop, of lord and master, and God’s emissary on Earth.
In Augustine’s time, the reality based philosophical base of Greek philosophy was still a fairly strong bulwark against the rising tide of religious fanaticism. But inexorably, sectarian power gained control and deemed itself infallible, but then, centuries later when it began to break apart, instead of meaningful reform, each part took on the mantle of infallibility. Various groups, each believing their own special conduit to God was sacrosanct, then went to war to decide which side God was really on, which was made all the more ironic because all sides claimed their foundational principles were peace, brotherly love, and forgiveness. Thus began the mostly religion-based wars in and around Europe and the Near East for the next thousand plus years with an outcome no closer to resolution today. The armies and tactics have changed and even the battlefield, but the conflict continues.
War is not logical, but then no one ever accused people of being too logical. In fact it is generally insanity en masse, yet it is an affliction that humanity is not likely to throw off anytime soon. And it is contagious. One side instigates conflict over what they deem to be sound reasons, and the other must then respond out of self-preservation. At least that has been standard procedure for at least as long as recorded history and probably before. In fact, brutal conflict and the resulting horrors of war is normal human behavior, if we define normal as that which most commonly occurs and if we accept it as such. Aggression, territorialism, tribalism, and loyalty to just our ‘kind’ or our ‘belief’ are inbred tendencies and are the catalysts for conflict. And so bombs will continue to fall as long as the belief holds in a critical mass of people that we must kill other people, who are mostly pawns, in great quantity in order to achieve peace, no matter what the founding principles of our faith dictate.
