Buddhist-Meditation-Systematic-and-Practical

weakened), but also makes it necessary, as people are
wandering without any true guidance. A few
contributing factors may be mentioned that have helped
to loosen the grip which Christian teachings had over
people.
1. The awakening of the scientific spirit with such men
as Copernicus and Galileo did much to weaken Church
authority, for they rejected the Church's absolute
dogmas regarding "science." In particular, such men
demolished the notion of the Earth and its highest being,
man, as the center of the universe. This was a valuable
step forward in mankind's thought, giving him a greater
ability to judge his place in the universe more truly than
had been possible with blind men-centered dogmas.
From that time on, when the Church's authority was
thus challenged, it began to decline.
2. The Renaissance led to skeptical disbelief in the
definitions and, later, the origins of many things held by
pious medieval Christians to be indisputable truths.
Artists of that period wanted freedom from Church
restraints in the arts generally, and particularly in
literature. Escape from the control of the Church was
aided by the revival of Greek literature among European
scholars, thus giving them ideas as to how philosophers
and playwrights thought and wrote before the era of
Christianity and its elaboration in medieval scholastic
philosophy.
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