The middle ages were anything but dark in many respects and in fact many of the greatest advances of civilization occurred during this period. It is particularly ironic to hear secular college professors disdainfully refer to the middle ages as the dark ages because the concept of the university itself was birthed during this time. The University of Paris, founded circa 1170, was an outgrowth of the schools of the cathedral of Notre Dame.

In 1257 Robert de Sorbon endowed the university a large sum of money and later the University of Paris became known as the Sorbonne. Oxford University in England was founded in the twelfth century as a similar outgrowth of church schools. All the great universities were founded by Christians desiring to impart understanding of Christian theology, Christian values and practical knowledge. The arts and sciences flourished on the foundation of Christian revelation.  

Ancient Rome adopted Christianity as its civil religion in the early fourth century and Rome fell at the end of the fifth century as the result of being overrun by barbarians from northwestern Europe. What followed was centuries of evangelization of these and other European tribes so that Europe eventually became a predominantly Christian continent. One direct result of this was that Europe became the first continent to abolish slavery. Slavery was replaced by the more humane feudal system under which serfs had rights, including the right to sue their masters at law.

Medieval Europe was far from utopia. It was a patchwork of tribes and cultures that had adopted Christianity as civil religion but nonetheless retained some pagan practices. The Christian moral code contained in the Bible did serve to restrain evil and give order to society. Many studies of medieval times point to the moral lapses of the period such as the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition and the witch hunts. Bad as these events were, and they were bad, they pale into insignificance compared to the events which occurred centuries later in the secular dominated 20th century when fascism and communism repudiated Christian morality altogether and murdered millions.

By one estimate 13,000 people were killed under the Spanish Inquisition over a period of 65 years. That was certainly a terrible tragedy but to put it in perspective 13,000 fatalities was a slow week under Stalin's purges of the late 1930s. The Black Book of Communism, written by two French socialists, estimates that between 70 million and 100 million people were murdered by communist governments in the 20th century.

Another aspect of the so called dark ages is that the foundations of modern science were laid by Bible believing people of this period. Roger Bacon (1214-1294), Franciscan monk and professor at Oxford, said that "all science has its source in revelation, especially in holy scripture." (The Wycliffe Biographical Dictionary of the Church page 26.) Bacon promoted the inductive method of scientific inquiry. This is in stark contrast to the deductive methods of Aristotle that were the standard from ancient times. Deductive analysis does not give much credence to experimentation and hence little pure science flourished in ancient times.

Roger Bacon and later Christian scholars such as Isaac Newton built scientific learning on the regularity principle found in the Bible. The regularity principle is the idea that since God is an intelligent being who has given us laws to live by and to order society, He must be a God who values order and therefore we can expect to find order or regularity in His physical creation. The physical elements must be subject to God's physical laws. Therefore we can conduct experiments on a small part of His creation in a test tube and infer (induce) that the results of the experiment hold true for the whole creation. God's creation is not random but is ordered. If water freezes at 32 degrees in Paris it will freeze at the same temperature in London.

Modern science came about largely by the adoption of the scientific method which came to us from the Christian worldview which comes from God's revelation in the holy Bible. The advancement of science began in medieval times and accelerated greatly after the Protestant Reformation under Christian scholars such as Isaac Newton and Blaise Pascal. The Protestant Reformation resulted in the Bible being translated into the languages of the masses and being available for the first time in history to an entire continent of people. This Bible literate continent produced all of the pioneers of modern science.

Philosophical modernism is the idea that reason (or rationalism) supersedes revelation. Philosophical modernists cannot claim to have birthed modern science. The Bible which contains revelation presented in a rational, orderly way is what gave the underpinnings for experimental science. In recent decades we have seen the rise of postmodernism which is a rejection of both revelation and reason and results in the embrace of randomness, meaninglessness and emotion driven argumentation.

The middle ages show us that barbarian tribes can form ordered societies when they adopt Christian values. Modern science (i. e. experimental science) arose in no other place on earth or at any other time in history than late medieval Europe. The dark ages weren't so dark after all.   

The Bible is scientifically accurate! Find the evidence at www.icr.org.  

Steps to salvation: Jesus said "Ye must be born again." (John 3:7)

1. Believe that God created you and loves you and sent the Messiah (Messiah is Hebrew for Christ) to redeem you.
2. Believe that Jesus the Messiah came in fulfillment of over 300 Bible prophecies to die for you to take upon Himself the penalty for your sins. (Isaiah 53:5-6, John 6:29, Romans 4:5, First Peter 3:18)
3. Turn from sin and call on the name of Jesus to receive forgiveness. (Romans 10:13)
4. Receive Jesus as Savior and experience the new birth. (John 1:12, Acts 2:38)
5. Follow Him as Lord. (John 14:21)

"Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Romans 10:13)

To receive the salvation that Jesus purchased for us at the terrible cost of His suffering and death on our behalf I invite you to pray this simple prayer:

"Dear heavenly Father, I thank you for sending Jesus, the promised Messiah, to die for my sins. I admit that I am a sinner and I ask for your forgiveness on the basis of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I ask you to fill me with your Holy Spirit to empower me to serve you under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, Amen."

If you prayed that prayer in the humble sincerity of your heart then you have received everlasting life, which includes power to live right in this life and entrance into heaven in the afterlife!

Bill Nugent, Overcomer Ministries of West Harrison, New York, USA

(C) 2009 William P. Nugent, permission granted to email or republish if credit given

DEFENDING THE FAITH APOLOGETIC ARTICLES Bill Nugent currently writes a series of articles called "Defending the Faith" which, as the title suggests, defend the Christian faith from the many attacks leveled against it in our postmodern world. The articles deal with such topics as evolution, UFOs, cults, modern/postmodern philosophy, liberal theology and popular culture. At the end of each article is an invitation to receive Christ as Savior and Lord. These articles are sent out over the Internet to several opt-in email lists. People who receive these articles are encouraged to resend them to their own lists and in this way reach their own unsaved relatives and friends with the Gospel. All Defending the Faith articles are © 2009 William P. Nugent, permission is granted to email or republish if credit given. To receive these articles which are sent out once per month fill in your email address below and click the SUBMIT button. *Security: Write the characters in the image above (Case sensitive)

LAWFUL OR LEGALISTIC HOW NEW TESTAMENT BELIEVERS MUST UNDERSTAND OLD TESTAMENT LAWS Published by Xulon Press, Longwood, Florida USA, this book is available in soft cover at xulonpress.com at a reasonable price. It is similar to our free eBook #1 (Messianic Jews and the Law of Moses) but is written more from a Gentile perspective. Winner of the Best Christian Biblical Book of the year 2008 award given by Christianstoryteller.com. Grace versus law is an issue of supreme importance to every follower of Jesus the Messiah. Finding the proper balance between grace versus law is a major key to a joyful, victorious lifestyle that glorifies God. The on-line book titled Messianic Jews and the Law of Moses and the new paperback Lawful or Legalistic: How New Testament Believers Must Understand Old Testament Laws tackle the subject of grace versus law from a whole new perspective. The author, Bill Nugent, a gifted Bible teacher, approaches grace versus law by giving a proper understanding of how the Old Testament law is a prophetic picture of the New Testament walk by the Spirit. For instance the Sabbath was a day of rest on which the people were commanded to cease from work. Under the New Testament we observe not a literal cessation from work every seventh day but rather we observe the spiritual fullness of resting in Christ whereby we cease striving and simply flow in Christ's strength and joy to work in such liberation that it hardly seems like work. Other aspects of the Old Testament Law such as tithing and the dietary laws are also discussed from this perspective. Issues such as Jewish believers' Torah observance are discussed. The prophetic issues pertaining to the millennium in which some teachers claim that animal sacrifices will be offered in a rebuilt temple are also discussed at length. Other chapters contain some extremely helpful teaching on laying down the self-life and how to walk in continued guidance by the Holy Spirit. You will enjoy reading this timely, insightful, practical and thought provoking book. What follows are short descriptions of each chapter: THE TEACHINGS AND LIFE EXAMPLES OF THE APOSTLES REGARDING THE LAW: The whole concept of covenant and covenant law is defined. The New Testament apostolic teaching on the Abrahamic and Sinaitic covenants is explained as a foundation for the central premise of the book. The fact that we fulfill the Law by walking in the Spirit is shown. Voluntary keeping of the literal Law of Moses is permitted but not biblically required. The apostles’ teachings in the epistles are studied in the context of their godly lifestyles which are recorded in the book of Acts. It is important to understand the lifestyle and cultural context of the apostles' teachings. The emphasis in this chapter is why we must walk in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter. THE NEW WINESKIN INSTEAD OF THE OLD" Specific examples of literal Mosaic laws (Sabbath, dietary laws etc.) are given in order to show how these laws find fulfillment in Christ. The emphasis in this chapter is on how to walk in the Spirit to keep the law in substance rather than shadow. WILL ANIMAL SACRIFICES BE OFFERED IN A MILLENIAL TEMPLE? The eschatological question as to whether or not animal sacrifices will be offered in a stone temple during the millennium is dealt with here. This chapter explains why a reinstitution of the animal sacrifice system is not at all intended by the prophetic passages often cited to make this claim. A correct understanding of the prophetic passages is given. ARE GENTILES UNDER THE COMMANDS OF NOAH? There are some teachers who put Jewish believers under the literal Law of Moses who also attempt to put Gentiles under a separate legal system based on the Noahide covenant of Genesis nine. This chapter explains that Gentiles are free from this obligation because the commands given to Noah also find their fulfillment in Christ. Each of the commands of Acts 15:29 (alleged to be derived from Noah) are analyzed in depth. THE LAW OF MESSIAH: We are under grace and not under law yet the New Testament is full of commands. This chapter analyzes the commands Jesus gave in the Sermon on the Mount and the commands given through the apostles in the epistles and explains how we are to understand and obey them. Specific examples of how the apostles understood and obeyed these commands are given. Examples from modern day life are also given to shed light on how we must walk by the Spirit to obey New Testament commands. Click Here to Order