The Ways of the Worldviews (Part 57): Draper and White’s False Narrative of the Conflict Between Science and Faith

As one should be able to see from the last number of posts, the 19^th century was a pivotal century. There was the struggle for the soul of European Christianity, there was the birth of Marxism, there was Darwin’s theory of evolution, and there was Nietzsche’s maddening philosophical hammer. And amidst all that, poets, novelists, artists and musicians were creating some of the most inspiring poetry, literature, art and music in the history of the Western world.

Despite all the philosophical/theological upheaval and turmoil, though, there was one thing that was, ironically, not in upheaval: the relationship between science and religion, particularly Christianity. While the philosophers where thundering away in the 19^th century, the slow and steady work of scientific study continued by the dedicated scientists of the days…many, if not most, of whom were either strongly committed Christians, or actual clergymen. Even what has come to be the most hotly controversial issue among 20^th and 21^st century Evangelicals—evolution—barely caused a stir in the 19^th century. Although there was certainly scientific debate, there simply weren’t too many Christians in the 19^th century who viewed Darwin’s theory as a threat. Simply put, there was no “war” between science and religion. There never had been.

Yet somehow this has come to be the perception in today’s world. How did this happen? The answer is actually quite simple.

Start the Propaganda Machine
The propaganda push of late 18^th century so-called Enlightenment thinkers was given new life by two specific men: John William Draper (1811-1882) and Andrew Dickson White (1832-1918). They were to the late 19^th century what Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens have been to the early 21^st century. And if you’ve read my previous posts about the New Atheist Movement, you are well aware of what my opinion is of them. In any case, Draper and White churned out such unbelievably false propaganda that it actually took root in the collective memory of society.

Draper and White’s mission was simple: to slander Christianity (in particular, the Catholic Church) as having always been “anti-science” and hostile to progress. If anyone knows anything about how it was the decidedly Christian worldview of the High Catholic Age that was actually the impetus for the flourishing of science in Europe, Draper and White’s vitriol has about as much credibility as someone accusing Gandhi as being a pro-English colonialist who advocated violence. It is simply that ludicrous.

And yet, their false narrative somehow stuck, to the detriment of western civilization. Draper’s infamous work, The History of the Conflict between Science and Religion, was an all-out attack on the Catholic Church as being the most feared enemy of science and progress. White’s book, The History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom, didn’t just stop with the Catholic Church—it was an indictment of all Christianity. No doubt, these books would have made the likes of Rousseau and Voltaire smile. Damn the actual history and facts, it was sensationalistic propaganda at its finest…or worst, depending on your point of view.

Consider the following two quotations from Draper and White respectively:

“The antagonism we thus witness between Religion and Science is the continuation of a struggle that commences when Christianity began to attain political power…. The history of Science is not a mere record of isolated discoveries; it is a narrative of the conflict of two contending powers, the expansive force of the human intellect on one side, and the compression arising from traditionary faith and human interests on the other.”

–John William Draper, History of the Conflict between Religion and Science (1874)

“I propose, then, to present to you this evening an outline of the great sacred struggle for the liberty of Science—a struggle which has been going on for so many centuries. …In all modern history, interference with Science in the supposed interest of religion—no matter how conscientious such interference may have been—has resulted in the direst evils both to Religion and Science, and invariably.”

–Andrew Dickson White, “The Battle-Fields of Science” (1869)

In those two quotes alone, we are able to see the dominant, yet false narrative, that we in the 21^st century have so easily bought into: Christianity is all about gaining political power in order to suppress discovery and human interests, and religion has been at fault for bringing for the worst evils to humankind. Draper and White did their work so effectively, that most will read what I just wrote and say, “Well, of course that’s true. That’s what we’ve always known…right?”

Wrong. That is certainly not to say that there hasn’t been evil done in the name of religion in the past, but it simply is a historical falsehood that Christianity and the Church have always been in conflict with and hostile toward science and scientific discovery. It is worse than a historical falsehood, it is the complete opposite of what is true. Draper and White’s claim are the equivalent of teaching that the South won the Civil War, or that the KKK has always been for civil rights.

Imagine what our society would be like if we were so ignorant of our history that we really did believe that Gandhi was pro-colonialist, that the South won the Civil War, and that the KKK was a civil rights group. We’d be living in bizarro-world. And yet, when it comes to this falsehood of the so-called conflict between Christianity and science, most in our society accept it without question. And yet, there are things like this…

The Curious Case of Christopher Columbus
I’m sure everyone remembers the story of Christopher Columbus confronting the leaders of the Catholic Church, and claiming he was going to sail around the world to prove that the world was round, despite the Catholic Church’s insistence that it was flat. Chances are most of us grew up being taught that Columbus proved the world was round, and up until then, the Catholic Church had taught that it was flat.

Well, as it turns out, that story is pure nonsense. It came from an entirely fictitious scene that Washington Irving (famous for writing Sleepy Hollow, and Rip Van Winkle) put into his biography of Christopher Columbus. It was completely made up. But thanks to both Draper and White, who both took that fictitious account and put it forth as actual historical fact in their own books, Europeans and Americans for the past 200 years have been taught a complete lie. It is ironic that even though both men wrote books in which the word “history” was invoked, both men succeeded in making people more historically ignorant than ever before.

Consequently, perhaps no two men succeeded more in ginning up an entirely fictitious “conflict” between science and Christianity than Draper and White. With such nonsense being proclaimed throughout society, it almost acted like a self-fulfilling prophecy in the 20^th century, particularly surrounding the issue of evolution. Whether they realize it or not, New Atheist zealots like Richard Dawkins and YECist zealots like Ken Ham are puppets of the propaganda from the previous two centuries. Simply put, they’ve been indoctrinated into believing a lie, and now they’ve made it their life’s mission to propagate that very lie and indoctrinate others.

Christian Educational Institutions
With all that said, it should now be briefly emphasized at how much Christianity actually contributed to the advancement of education here in America. We’ve already seen how the very establishment of universities was a distinctly Christian endeavor that took place during the High Catholic Age. We’ve already noted the numerous technological and scientific advances brought about because of the distinctively Christian worldview of the past 2,000 years. So now we’re going to highlight just how much the Christian worldview has shaped education in America. It really isn’t hard to find. All one has to do is look at virtually every college or university in America.

The original stated goal of Harvard University was: “Let every student be plainly instructed and earnestly pressed to consider well the main end of his life and studies is to know God and Jesus Christ which is eternal life, John 17:3, and therefore to lay Christ in the bottom, as the only foundation of all sound knowledge and learning.” Duke University was founded by the Methodist, James Duke. Yale University was founded by Elihu Yale, who financially supported the work of Cotton Mather.

As for Presbyterians, they founded: Princeton, Hampden-Syndey, Lafayette, Union, Hamilton, Washington and Jefferson of Pittsburgh, New York University, Wabash, Davidson, the University of Buffalo, and the College of Wooster.

And what about Baptists? They founded Brown, Colby, Colgate, Bucknell, Wake Forest, Baylor, Hillsdale, Rochester, Vassar, and the University of Chicago.

Methodists founded: Randolph-Macon, Wesleyan, Emory, DePauw, Northwestern, Boston Duke, and South Union.

Catholics founded: 233 colleges, including Holy Cross, Fordham, Villanova, Georgetown, Notre Dame, Loyola, and St. Louis.

Episcopalians founded: William and Mary, Columbia, Trinity, Hobart, Sewanee.

Lest anyone be in the dark, let’s just state the obvious: there would be no such thing as higher education in America if Christian churches and committed Christians had not established colleges and universities throughout the country. Draper and White might have tried to claim that science and religion were at odds with one another, but anyone familiar with history in general, and the history of universities in particular, has to snicker at such outrageous claims.

Incidentally, some might say, “Yes, that may be true, but many of those universities are anything but Christian now.” Well, yes, some have veered far away from their original Christian roots. Why is that? Part of that answer is the very thing I’ve been discussing in this post.

Christian Charities
Not only was Christianity the major shaping educational influence in Europe and America, it also was at the forefront of charitable work. Ever since the days of the early Church, Christians had been known for their selfless charitable work, be it orphans, widows, the destitute, the needy, or the sick. In the 19^th century, the tradition continued. Jane Adams founded Chicago’s Hull House in 1889, and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her charitable work. William and Catherine Booth founded the Salvation Army. During the Great Depression, the Salvation Army provided 100,000 meals and 25,000 lodgings free of charge for the poor and destitute in New York every week. In fact, according to the book, Christianity on Trial, in 1999 the Salvation Army led all charities in the country in fundraising for the eighth straight year, collecting $1.4 billion in cash and donated goods. (The YMCA was second, Lutheran Services in America sixth, and Habitat for Humanity International ninth.) Today, the Salvation Army is active in 80 countries, maintains 16,000 evangelical centers, 3,000 social welfare institutions, hospitals, schools and agencies.

It is easy to mindlessly imbibe the false narrative in today’s society that paints the entire history of Christianity as one big antagonist to freedom and progress. We need to realize, though, that such a narrative is nothing more than propaganda. In fact, it is an example of the very language games Nietzsche saw was inevitable in society if there is no God: there is no real truth or facts; what becomes accepted as “true” really is just a result of who has the biggest megaphone.

That is the state of the world in which we are now living. As we turn to the 20^th century, in addition to analyzing the cultural trends, we need to start considering what should Christians do about it? In the words of Francis Schaeffer, how should we then live?