A History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom: From Creation to the Victory of Scientific and Literary Methods

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Given the powerful and forthright title of Andrew Dickson White’s classic study, it is best to make clear his own sense of the whole as given in the original 1896 edition: “My conviction is that science, though it has evidently conquered dogmatic theology based on biblical texts and ancient modes of thought, will go hand in hand with religion, and that although theological control will continue to diminish, religion as seen in the recognition of a ‘power in the universe, not ourselves, which makes for righteousness’ and in the love of God and of our neighbor, will steadily grow stronger and stronger, not only in the American institutions of learning, but in the world at large.” White began to assemble his magnum opus, a two volume work first published in 1896 as A History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom. In correspondence he wrote that he intended the work to stake out a position between such religious orthodoxy as John Henry Newman’s on one side and such secular scoffing as Robert Ingersoll’s on the other. Historian Paul Carter declared that this book did as much as any other published work “toward routing orthodoxy in the name of science.” Insofar as science andreligion came to be widely viewed as enemies, with science holding the moral high ground, White inadvertently, became one of the most effective and influential advocates for unbelief.

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Andrew Dickson White (1832-1918) did more than any other American to impress upon late nineteenth- and twentieth century thought the idea that science and religion are enemies locked in combat on an almost military scale. In 1849, he entered Geneva College and later enrolled in Yale. After graduating, White joined the University of Michigan as a lecturer in history. He returned to New York and won election to the state senate. Finally, White went on to become the first president and cofounder of Cornell University. He also is the author of books, including Seven Great Statesmen in the Warfare of Humanity with Unreason and a 1906 autobiography. Tom Flynn is editor of Free Inquiry and executive director of the Council for Secular Humanism. His works include The New Encyclopedia of Unbelief, The Trouble with Christmas, Galactic Rapture, Nothing Sacred, and various articles that have appeared both in Free Inquiry and Secular Humanist Bulletin.