Theology and Science in the Orthodox World: Some Doubts from a Latin Perspective

Efthymios Nicolaidis et alii open their essay with what amounts to a paradox: they maintain that Orthodox Christianity “scarcely participated in the making of the new European science” but also quote John William Draper’s positive assessment of the openness of the Orthodox Church to the sciences. Whether they manage to resolve this paradox is unclear. This response to their overview suggests that they neglect two key elements: the categorical difference between medieval scientia and modern science; and the role of institutions such as universities and scientific societies. Furthermore, to gauge the relation of Orthodox Christianity to modern science, one would also have had to take the Russian Orthodox Church into account, as after the fall of Constantinople the Greek Orthodox Church was deprived of much of its political and institutional power.