Origins of the Conflict Between Science and Religion In Ancient Greece

The modern conflict between science and religion had its origins in ancient Greek astronomy. The discovery that the heavenly bodies were subject to natural laws challenged the early myths about the gods and shook the foundations of the world's religions. Religion is as old as man but science was born in Greece just 2,500 years ago.

Science originated with the discovery of causal relationships that explained occurrences in the natural world such as the predictable transit of the heavenly bodies across the skies, regular seasonal changes in weather, natural disasters, and many other events of major importance in the daily life of people. Science irrevocably changed the way man thought about himself and his world. With each new discovery, the power of the gods was diminished and the stature of man was elevated.