Reddit mentions of God's Philosophers: How the Medieval World Laid the Foundations of Modern Science

The whole "Christian Dark Ages" trope, where the Catholic Church suppressed reason and scientific thought. Historians have debunked it years ago, but it's still commonly believed by enough people that I see it fairly often, especially on the internet. For sources, I'd point to God's Philosophers by James Hannam which is a great read as a starting point.

You should give this book a read. It's quite excellent, and shows the Christian ideas that underlie much of the development of the scientific method. https://www.amazon.com/Gods-Philosophers-Medieval-Foundations-Science/dp/1848311508/

It depends (in part) on the kind of Baptist they are. If they're at all Calvinist, this book by St. Francis de Sales did wonders for my own conversion. It's online here for free.

Most Baptists, though, are more Arminian, and de Sales' book will still have some very persuasive arguments (about the origin of the canon of Scripture and the nature of the visible Church, for example), but others will fall flat (because they depend on the audience believing in double predestination). It's a good resource regardless, but be aware of how the arguments you use may land.

Since your father-in-law is the son of a preacher, he may be fairly well-versed in his own theology. In that case, tackling all of the issues will be difficult in brief. If your in-laws are not well-read in their theology, then most of their accusations will be of the anthropocentric, institutional variety--"But Galileo and the Spanish Inquisition and child abuse and intentionally obfuscating Scripture by using Latin and burning heretics who just wanted people to read the Bible," and so on. These are fairly easy to refute (history is on your side here), but difficult to convince someone against (because they are often taught from an early age, one way or another, and become emotional pleas instead of logical arguments). I haven't read it in full, but I'm given to understand that this book is quite good with those historical "arguments."

As u/Akzum said, Catholic Answers is phenomenal. I listened to it quite a lot before finalizing my conversion.

One final, somewhat self-aggrandizing note--I share this a lot (probably too much for all redditors to like me for it), but I was received into the Church a little over three years ago, and last year, I decided it was time to disabuse my parents (especially my mother) of the notion that I only converted because my wife is Catholic. I started a blog series in which I addressed every (or nearly every) argument I had used (or heard used) against the Catholic Church by Protestants and refuted it to the best of my ability, building upon earlier posts as I went. (In retrospect, the series doesn't really start to get good, in my opinion, until 8 or 10 posts in.) The table of contents for that (not quite complete) series is here. The titles may not make clear the subject of each post, so I may go back and add brief descriptions, but the short order is: Church authority, the canon of Scripture, the papacy, the priesthood, Church unity, the basics of Catholic morality, original sin, the sacraments, sacramentals, saints, Mary, sanctification, Catholic "scandals" (historical arguments), and Catholic moral behavior. When I finish that bit, I'll add posts on aetiology and eschatology. So I like to think it's pretty thorough, but it may not be helpful at all depending on where your in-laws are coming from (since it's primarily a recounting of my conversion, not a work of apologetics).

Hope that helps! Talking to family (perhaps especially in-laws) about this is really tough; both my wife and I are converts, and we're raising our children Catholic, so I think this festers a lot with our extended families, and it's difficult to keep it from being a problem.

Here you are

>I imagine a world where technological progress has been inhibited, and the world has been in a medieval state. (...)

In a "Medieval state", so, that can be summed up by much quicker technological advancement than either in Roman times or during the renaissance?

Medieval as in, religion had much less importance to civic life than in Rome (when religious festivals were a civic duty, which did put Christians at odds with traditions) and much less power than during the renaissance (when the papacy had regained independence from secular states)? a Church which basically is struggling to liberate itself from secular domination - until it did, at the very end of the middle ages, thanks to the Cluniac movement. A church that is the main driving engine of scientific progress (oh, this one will hurt some Redditors' head to no end.)

In short, a "middle ages" that would look nothing like the actual middle ages. This period was anything but low-tech or dominated by religion, and religious institutions such as the papacy and monasteries were incredibly important to scientific/technological progress. I wonder how much time before the public psyche catches up to historical research in this area. Because those views are totally at odds.

Sources:

• God's Philosophers: How the Medieval World Laid the Foundations of Modern Science
  
• The Beginnings of Western Science: The European Scientific Tradition in Philosophical, Religious, and Institutional Context, Prehistory to A.D. 1450
  
• The Foundations of Modern Science in the Middle Ages: Their Religious, Institutional and Intellectual Contexts - Cambridge Studies in the History of Science
  
• God and Reason in the Middle Ages
  
  

If you're interested in the history of the middle ages, and the scientific advancement that took place during this overlooked part of history, and the role the Church played, I would recommend the book God's Philosophers.

Haha, sorry, I just take every chance I can get to peddle my interest in Medieval history.

I think you're wrong about the relationship of the Catholic Church and Science. Might I recommend God's Philosophers?

I'm not interested in bickering with you two, but I've read into this area quite a bit. Islam and the middle east made minuscule contributions to science outside of Western Europe, although there certainly was influence from the Islamic world, it pales in comparison. It was actually considered fashionable and myserious to read about the writings of the East for a while in Western Europe. Many scholars would boast about it, but if you follow the lines, there really wasn't much there. Particularly the writings of medicine and astronomy, the vast bulk of discovery was by Western Europeans, often monks or funded by the Catholic church.

There's an arrogant attitude of individuals living within the "enlightenment" that has lead many to view medieval history as nothing but barbaric superstitious religion. A lot of history written by Protestants and atheists has really muddied the water as It's an ample opportunity to bash the Catholics or the religious. Not to say that I'm turning a blind eye to the atrocities committed by the Vatican or religious dogma in general. It's also unfair to mock people from the dark ages, when It's likely that if we were born in that era and location, we'd be exactly the same. Western Europe really climbed It's way out of the gutter.

Relying on online sources of information (wikipedia) has often proven a waste of time from my experience, too much bias and half truths, I recommend reading original source material. Hold on I'll get a link to a book that is a good place to start.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Gods-Philosophers-Medieval-Foundations-Science/dp/1848311508?SubscriptionId=AKIAILSHYYTFIVPWUY6Q&tag=duckduckgo-brave-uk-21&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=1848311508

Western Europe really is responsible for huge leaps forward in humanity. The Anglican's also weren't JUST barbarians, (although I understand why you'd think so considering some of the sacrificing).

I don't think we appreciate just how weird this period in time is for humanity in the West. The level of freedom I believe is a consequence of Christian teaching along with Greek Philosophy, particularly Aristotle's writing. Aristotle was a huge thorn in the side of the Catholic church, but it lead to the constantly searching mind of Western Europe, and combined with the order enforced through the Catholic church lead to a lot of interesting human thought. It's difficult to imagine the world from the perspective of people who thought of the world with god in the center of it.

There's a bibliography in the back of that book that you can work through. The significance of Europe really is a marvel to behold. I hope you read and enjoy it guys.

This book studies the relation of the Church and the sciences during the Middle Ages, particularly going into how the Church fostered science instead of suppressing it as many mistakenly believe.

This book is a history of the western rites and their liturgies. It should have a few chapters on the development of the mass in the Middle Ages. It goes into how the mass developed in Spain, Africa, Rome, and other areas.

This book is on pilgrimaged in the Middle Ages. Though many pilgrims couldn’t go to the Holy Land, they still went on pilgrimages to local shrines of saints.

Edit: Added a few books.

Absolutely. There's a great book about this topic: https://www.amazon.com/Gods-Philosophers-James-Hannam/dp/1848311508

Also, how is the Church not pro-sex now?

The 'better' interpretation is found in historical books and journals, but since I'm going to have to do your work for you:
You could start with Clarke's [Civilisation series](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civilisation_(TV_series), James Hannan wrote a reasonable book outlining the course of science over the mediaeval period, and you should read Ronald Numbers to finish off an overview.

But go ahead and downvote, because as everyone knows, uninformed comments are far more popular than facts.

Actually there wasn't, contrary to popular understanding:

http://www.amazon.com/Gods-Philosophers-James-Hannam/dp/1848311508
http://www.strangenotions.com/gods-philosophers/

OK, fine, but if you or anyone else are interested in learning more then I'd recommend these two books-

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gods-Philosophers-Medieval-Foundations-Science/dp/1848311508/ref=pd_sim_b_3/277-5792810-1915043?ie=UTF8&refRID=04H38HNG0PZFERVS5CR2

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Catholic-Church-Built-Western-Civilization/dp/1596983280

http://www.amazon.com/The-Genesis-Science-Scientific-Revolution/dp/1596981555/bedeslibrary

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gods-Philosophers-Medieval-Foundations-Science/dp/1848311508/

These may be available through your library..

Look at Syria, Somalia, Bacha Bazi, Mao,Stalin, Jonestown, Kristallnacht, Rwandan Genocide...human beings desire what helps them and their friends at the expense of others

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As for Christianity's influence, check out these

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000SEV7OQ/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_taft_p1_i3

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https://www.amazon.com/Under-Influence-Christianity-Transformed-Civilization/dp/0310236371/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=under+the+influence+schmidt&qid=1550452179&s=books&sr=1-1-catcorr

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https://www.amazon.com/Shame-Sin-Christian-Transformation-Antiquity/dp/0674660013/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=from+shame+to+sin&qid=1550452191&s=books&sr=1-1

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https://www.amazon.com/Origin-Science-Its/dp/0895269031/ref=sr_1_6?keywords=stanley+jaki&qid=1550452348&s=books&sr=1-6

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https://www.amazon.com/Gods-Philosophers-Medieval-Foundations-Science/dp/1848311508/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2U9CLH46W3A1O&keywords=god%27s+philosophers&qid=1550452394&s=books&sprefix=god%27s+phi%2Cstripbooks%2C127&sr=1-1

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