ABSTRACT
Tertullian is quoted only to illustrate the point that the Christian religion developed on the basis that the Gospel was the primary source of guidance and of truth, and was inviolate. The great Greek scientific and philosophical writings were translated extensively into Arabic and, as in the Christian world, were accorded the status of truth, which was bestowed on antiquity by both religions. As was recounted earlier, religion also influenced the development of astronomy in Mesopotamia and Egypt, although its effect on Greek astronomy was minimal. After the great Greek period, scientific, and indeed all intellectual activities, declined in Europe and the Middle East. All of the Mediterranean countries and large parts of Europe were under the military domination of Rome for some six centuries and, by the time its empire collapsed in ad 476, intellectual pursuits had effectively vanished in all areas of scholarship.
