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(1) It must be obvious here that the rationalism of the ancients was something quite different from what we understand by this word today. Far from being a scientific rationalism that would make “scientific reason” triumph over “religious superstition,” Greek rational philosophy aimed at removing all that was deemed improper to man’s nature, particularily material things, and thus lead him back to his true nature. It goes without saying that for most philosophers, man’s true nature was realized by a return to his original divine state. Even Epicurus, who asserted that gods had no interest in human affairs if they existed at all, was interested in achieving the unimpassioned life; his philosophy was a solution among others, and should not be considered the triumph of a modern-style reason over superstition.
(2) The background picture of the world stemming from the Old and New Testament continues to inform our modes of thought today, even unconsciously. Thus, all modern science seems to assume and take it for granted that the world has a beginning in time (the Big bang theory, the origins of life, etc.). What conclusions would science give us if it simply assumed that all matter was in fact eternal? Far from being objective truth, science also tacitely abides by this world picture.
