As our country marks Columbus Day, the Colson Center for Christian Worldview has re-released a 2003 commentary from the late Chuck Colson about Christopher Columbus, the rise of science in Europe, and the role Christianity played in scientific discovery.

Colson writes,

Science only happened in areas whose worldview was shaped by Christianity, that is, Europe. Many civilizations had alchemy; only Europe developed chemistry. Likewise, astrology was practiced everywhere, but only in Europe did it become astronomy.

That’s because Christianity depicted God as a “rational, responsive, dependable, and omnipotent being” who created a universe with a “rational, lawful, stable” structure. These beliefs uniquely led to “faith in the possibility of science.”

You can listen to Chuck Colson’s entire commentary below or read it here.

[audio:http://www.breakpoint.org/images/content/breakpoint/audio/2016/101016_BP.mp3|titles=Columbus and the Rise of Science by Chuck Colson]