Why do people still have a 17/18th century anti-religious view of the "dark ages" instead of a modern view

Question

Why do people still have a 17/18th century anti-religious view of the "dark ages" instead of a modern view

Answer 1

Well...Christians in Europe were getting their butts handed to them in the crusades....and about 1/3 of the population died of plague at one point....sounds pretty "dark" to me.



Its probably still used because it sounds catchy and is easier to remember...you know how it is.

Answer 2

That makes them no less dark. Let's look at when they took place: Between the days of the Roman empire (a period in time when academia was sought after throughout the entire world, where science flourished and medicine saw daily advancement) to the middle-ages as you call them (a time of oppression and intolerance of other faiths where science and medicine were almost destroyed at the hands of the church) and into the Renaissance (the second age of enlightenment when science and medicine rose again).



Did you know that in the time of the Roman empire there were battle surgeons who had a detailed understanding of the human body and how it worked but that their knowledge was lost after the fall of the empire when their papers were burned due to their "heretic" content?



Out of the three time periods, the days of Rome were where one empire took control and said, "We're in charge but locally do as you please." The middle ages was the church going, "My way or die-way." and Renaissance was the age of, "I wonder what happens if I pull this... Oh, I'm doing this for God, really."



Ironically, the first one atheists were accepted, the middle one we were tortured and slaughtered, and the third one we had learned to hide ourselves and make snide remarks from behind the drapes.

Answer 3

Revisionist history. I took a real history class from a legitimate school and got the real scoop -- the middle ages really were a long period of anti-intellectualism.



The so-called reevaluation you're speaking of has only happened among Catholic historians with an agenda. And the "dark ages" was still used as a phrase when I went to university in the 90s.

Answer 4

Voltaire (Frenchman) and Thoureau (American)... two brilliant minds, but I am sure the latter would have considered his time the "Dark Ages" that being said, any period in time that sees book burnings, people burnings, torture racks, inquisitions and a Church either in direct control or being puppet master to kings should be considered a dark age...



And yet it moves still...Gallileo, after he had his eyes burned out of his head by the enlightened Church leaders of the day

Answer 5

It was most certainly the European dark ages if you compare it to the accomplishments of the classical world. It wasn't the dark ages everywhere though. The Muslim world carried on the knowledge of the ancients and China was the most advanced nation on Earth. Don't forget the Byzantine Empire too, they still considered themselves Romans.

Answer 6

Habit

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colloquial

Answer 7

I'm not condemning the artists or writers, just many of the social beliefs brought on by the early church which condemned freethinkers or anyone who threatened the existence and thus the livelihood of the church.

Answer 8

yes i've heard this new christian view if the dark ages ...its all over the internet now.... i had already read and was amazed at the wiki article you cite ... what a crock of sh*t .



read all the arguments on the back pages of that article ...it'll take you all night to read.



the dark history of that time period was caused by religion/church/ignorance ....christian ignorance specifically



addition: the (christian) writer who helped make this new view popular, also claims there was no ancient 'flat earth' belief ... that this story is just ANOTHER modern myth started by "secularists" and that not a SINGLE PERSON believed in a "flat earth" after the 1st century.



this is also a crock. pretty much everyone in the middle east still thought the world was flat in that period.



(ps ...i'm not referring to the dumb christopher columbus fable)

Answer 9

Because nothing has really changed.People are still vile.

Answer 10

Great question! Some of the unenlightened answers above illustrate the level of ignorance out there. At first, I was a little surprised by your use of the term "Dark Ages" because when I studied history in college it was NEVER used. And I studied at a secular college.



I have noticed over the years what I would call historical chauvinism, or a tendency to view the past as repressed and backward, while thinking of the present day as progressive and everything good.



If more people would learn their history a lot of our problems today, at least in this country, would go away. [Feminism would definitely lose some ground, for example, because women in the Middle Ages were better integrated into the world of commerce than they are today.] But ignorance is a powerful and destructive force. All we can do is combat it when we find it. And we can teach our children to love and respect history.

Answer 11

If you read the bible, and abandon a 'left behind' viewpoint of end-times, you can see from prophecy why those were indeed the dark ages. Voltaire was an atheist that said the bible would be a relic in a museum, Wrong! did you know that the french revolution is prophecied in the Revelation, as well as the rise of the papacy, the Holy roman empire, rise of islam, and much more. do another reading of the bible.



also, the bible is what led to the increase of knowledge in the first place because of the Reformation, so if it wasnt for religion we probably would not be online right now.

Answer 12

Here is a modern view - it was a sad and pathetic time period in human history. People brought themselves to their knees, both literally and figuratively, because of religion.



If it weren't for religion, more specifically Christianity, Rome probably wouldn't have fallen so early.



If it weren't for religion, we wouldn't have had the crusades.



If it weren't for religion, all the cats wouldn't have been killed which caused a dramatic increase of rats which then led to the black plague.





How else can you view it? It certainly wasn't a glorious time period of technological advances for the betterment of man. No, it was a time of war and death based on religion.

Answer 13

we are suppose to follow what is written in the word of God. Not the word of the world.