Leonardo da Vinci understood the overlap of disciplines. Nothing stands alone. Science cannot be isolated from philosophy or theology. Reciprocally, because the Cardinals of the Catholic Church destroyed much of his work, it would be fair to say that theology (or at least religion) has affected science.
Da Vinci’s extensive and brilliant studies of human anatomy gave birth to ideas of artificial joints and systems of hydraulics. His concepts are still relied upon today as fundamental patterns for articulated movement. Very recently, cardiologists have realized that his observation of the “twisting” heart (the motion of a healthy heart while regularly contracting) is important to understand in treating the heart muscle.
Part of his brilliance is his ability to go way beyond observation. For him, observing, chronicling and drawing anatomy was not the end, it was barely the beginning. He questioned, “Is there a way to take an entirely different set of materials and components and construct something that can imitate the complex movement of an elbow or a shoulder?”
500 years ago, the Catholic Church saw his studies as a threat, an affront to the beauty of creation. He was regarded as a necromancer with a desire to build a mechanical (or artificial) man. This was theological heresy. A man could not be allowed to create man because then he would be making himself out to be a god.
Advanced technology threatened the core theological values of the day. And this is my point.
The clash of spirituality with present cultural trends is really nothing new.
How should we, as 21st century Christians in the western culture, respond to the technology assaulting us faster than we can assimilate it? Ignore it? Embrace it?
Stay tuned to this blog for more of my thoughts on this, if you’re interested.
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