Christianity has played a crucial role in world history since the death of Christ. From its humble beginnings along the Sea of Galilee until its solidified spread amongst Western European nations, the religion has had its fair share of conflict. Most notable would be the Crusades. An in depth look at the motivation, conflicts, and outcomes of the Crusades can be perfectly associated with the History of Jerusalem, Siege of Constantinople, and letters from Pope Innocent III. The Crusaders began as a religious mission, originally for the reinstatement of Christian presence in the Holy Land. However, as time waged on and soldiers returned glorified and rich, the intentions of future Crusaders desired wealth, not just the preservation of Roman Catholicism in the Levant. These accounts share the Western perspective directly involved with the Crusades and their missions, illustrating the struggles, as well as the successes of Christianity at that time.…
(1) The historical influence of Christianity in the West (Europe and the Americas) and in Africa and Asia…
Christianity as a religion is built on the belief that God, Whose existence is still questioned by many scholars based on the lack of scientific evidence, sent his son Jesus Christ to unite people under a belief system that is systematic, hierarchical and subjecting itself to…
Around the same time, the Byzantine Empire was another political power that was held together by Christianity. One might say that the whole Empire was built on the faith of Jesus alone. While the Byzantines also had monks, they used them for things like smuggling silk worms from China, which started the silk trade and helped the empire grow. Even though the church was a major force in keeping the empire together, the church also caused some problems. One of the largest of these problems was that the patriarch Photius condemned the Pope and excommunicated him, which ended up creating a major rift between the eastern and western churches.…
Although the Catholic Church started in Rome, Christianity was not the first religion practiced there. Like Greece, the Romans’ first religion was polytheistic; they worshipped the same gods as the Greeks but gave them Roman names and added a few gods too. Zeus became Jupiter, Hera became Juno, and Athena became Minerva. Also, some emperors were considered to be deities which influenced political power in Rome. Later on during the expansion of the empire, the popularity of religions such as Christianity and Judaism were on the rise. Certain emperors saw Jews and Christians as a threat to the empire, resulting in the Jewish Wars and the persecution of Christians. All of this would end though, following the Edict of Milan in 313 CE under the…
Christianity provided people with absolute truths and powers over others. European cultural superiority, Eurocentric. Different was evil. Christianity worked for centuries to reassure followers that values and practices were a right way to worship god. Wasn’t just religion, gave birth to social and political institutions that were validated by Christian belief. Aristocracy, bourbers and peasants. Women accused of withches: margins of society, misfits, gossip, trouble makers, strong willed women, women’s occupation. Led to rise of strong centralized royal governments, use of torture, judicial apparatus allowed for systematic way of accusations, rate of religion/reformation taking place. Universe works with fixed immutable laws not work of diety, god is taken out of nature, nature is engraved into all individuals ruled by mathematical laws. Quality of material of which objects were made, everything in universe eventually settled in a hierarchy of material, nobler than others (Crystalline spheres). House of Commons vs Charles: Politics, sovereignty and parliaments role in government; economics taxes have hurt English middle class; change in social order, aristocracy of king to middle class of burgues and merchants; religion; Anglican catholic & protestant.…
Christians were an easy blame for disastrous events. In Asia Minor, the provisional governor, Pliny asked a group of Christians to reconsider their religion, and freed those who denied Christianity, while executing those who refused to. This did not stop the spread of Christianity, in fact many times in which Rome oppressed those who believed in one god, ended fueling a mindset to continue their practice, especially in the early stages of Christianity, when the Jews were being oppressed and enslaved for their particular beliefs. It was easy for Rome to blame the Christians because it was very different from their own beliefs, it affected their traditional values, roles, and sacrifices for the gods as people branched away from the old ideas, it was a quick blame. Those branching to new religions were traitors not only of the religion, but also of society as a…
Every country has a dominant culture—a culture that is usually rooted in religion. In Europe, prior to the 19th and 20th century, politics, law, society, economics, and cultural norms were all primarily shaped by Christianity. Despite the rise of historical developments that opposed the teachings and traditions of Christianity such as Humanism and the Enlightenment, the power of the clergy remained untouched. Moreover, until the gradual uprising of Western civilization against the domination of the Church which reflected the desire of a democratic society that embodies secularism, along with the emergence of capitalism, modern science, Protestantism, and religious Reformation movements alike, religion had always been present throughout the…
Through the years , Christianity was one of the most questioned religion . Although , Christianity became a ruling religion in the European and Western world.Religion became a state of the Roman Empire, and Christianity became an enormous and influential religion nationwide . Some still wonder why and how religion has shaped through centuries, yet it’s clear that it is and was one of the most important events in history. Christianity changed the western world in so many different ways during the Middle ages and adapted now in the global world since The Enlightenment.…
I think the most important theme in pre-modern Western was religion, because of its central force; Christianity played a major role in shaping the Western Civilization. The Christian Church provided a major source of services such as medical care, schooling; creativity for culture, art, and philosophy. Christianity was also important to Christian theology because it established the godliness of the individual believer to a higher call for obedience to Christ rather than the secular ruler.…
Christianity is a religion based on the teachings of Jesus the Son of God. Jesus is also referred to as Christ thus comes the name Christianity, and believers in Christianity are known as Christians. Three of the largest groups of Christianity are the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Churches,…
Christianity has always been playing an important role in people’s lives. In the past, it was the unifying power between nations; today, it has a great concern in secular issues; and what the future will bring ? We can only guess.…
During the European colonial era, Christians operated from a position of privilege as compared with other religions because Christianity was regarded as a state religion. At the end of the first half of the twentieth century the Christian power position started to fade away. This had to be that way as the European colonial era was also coming to an end in most parts of the world. The non-Christian religions which seemed to have been suppressed by Christianity’s supremacy resurged yet they were thought to have declined or vanished. The resurged religions included Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Shintoism and Shamanism. The resurged religions now compete with Christianity for converts worldwide especially in the areas where they are concentrated. Over and above the resurged religions other new religions were formed which also challenge the witnessing of Christianity to the unreached people. Most of the unevangelised people in the world originate from the continent of Asia. Asia therefore remains by far the most significant challenge for world evangelism.…
To what extent is it true that religious fundamentalism arose as a reaction to the influences of the West?…
The spread of Christianity overtime replaced the old warrior religion changing the way of life, and at the giving it new meaning. With the coming of Christianity a hope for poets also came about. As the conversion of Ireland to Christianity took place a new era known as Ireland's Golden Age began to take over. Christian munks worked hard preserving literature of the ancient world and works of popular culture. Due to the rapid growth of Christianity the Anglo-Saxon's were given a common faith, a common system of morality and right conduct, linking England with Europe.…