Роль христианства в цивилизации

«Диспут о Святых Таинствах» итальянского эпохи Возрождения художника Рафаэля , 1509–1510 гг.

Христианство было неразрывно переплетено с историей и формированием западного общества . На протяжении всей своей долгой истории Церковь ; была основным источником социальных услуг, таких как образование и медицинское обслуживание вдохновение для искусства , культуры и философии ; и влиятельный игрок в политике и религии . Разными способами оно стремилось повлиять на отношение Запада к пороку и добродетели в различных областях. Такие фестивали, как Пасха и Рождество, отмечаются как государственные праздники; григорианский календарь был принят на международном уровне как гражданский календарь ; а сам календарь измеряется по приблизительной дате рождения Иисуса .

Культурное влияние Церкви было огромным. Церковные ученые сохранили грамотность в Западной Европе после падения Западной Римской империи . В средние века церковь заменила Римскую империю и стала объединяющей силой в Европе. Средневековые соборы остаются одними из самых знаковых архитектурных шедевров, созданных западной цивилизацией . Многие университеты Европы в то время также были основаны церковью. Многие историки утверждают, что университеты и соборные школы были продолжением интереса к обучению, пропагандируемого монастырями. В целом университет считается как учреждение, берущее свое начало в средневековой христианской среде, рожденное в соборных школах . Многие ученые и историки приписывают вклад христианства в возникновение научной революции .

Реформация Микеланджело положила конец религиозному единству на Западе, но шедевры эпохи Возрождения, созданные католическими художниками, такими как , Леонардо да Винчи и Рафаэль, остаются одними из самых знаменитых произведений искусства, когда-либо созданных. Точно так же христианская духовная музыка таких композиторов, как Пахельбель , Вивальди , Бах , Гендель , Моцарт , Гайдн , Бетховен , Мендельсон , Лист и Верди , входит в число наиболее почитаемой классической музыки в западном каноне.

Библия . и христианское богословие также оказали сильное влияние на западных философов и политических активистов Некоторые утверждают, что учение Иисуса , такое как « Притча о добром самаритянине », является одним из наиболее важных источников современных представлений о « правах человека » и благосостоянии, обычно предоставляемых правительствами на Западе. Давние христианские учения о сексуальности, браке и семейной жизни в последнее время также оказались влиятельными и противоречивыми. Христианство в целом повлияло на положение женщин, осуждая супружескую неверность , развод , инцест , многоженство , контроль над рождаемостью , детоубийство (младенцев женского пола чаще убивали) и аборты . Хотя официальное учение католической церкви считает женщин и мужчин дополняющими друг друга (равными и разными), некоторые современные «защитники рукоположения женщин и другие феминистки» утверждают, что учения, приписываемые Св. Павлу , а также учения отцов церкви и схоластических богословов, выдвинули идею божественного предписанная женская неполноценность. Тем не менее, женщины сыграли выдающуюся роль в западной истории через церковь и как ее часть, особенно в сфере образования и здравоохранения, а также как влиятельные теологи и мистики.

Христиане внесли бесчисленное множество вкладов в прогресс человечества в широком и разнообразном диапазоне областей, как исторических, так и в наше время, включая науку и технику . лекарство , изобразительное искусство и архитектура , политика, литература , музыка , филантропия , философия , этика , гуманизм , театр и бизнес. По данным журнала «100 лет Нобелевской премии», обзор присуждения Нобелевских премий за период с 1901 по 2000 год показывает, что (65,4%) лауреатов Нобелевской премии определили христианство в его различных формах как свое религиозное предпочтение. Восточные христиане (особенно христиане -несторианцы ) также внесли свой вклад в арабскую исламскую цивилизацию в периоды Омейядов и Аббасидов , переводя произведения греческих философов на сирийский , а затем на арабский язык . Они также преуспели в философии, науке, теологии и медицине.

Родни Старк пишет, что достижения средневековой Европы в методах производства, навигации и военных технологиях «можно объяснить уникальным христианским убеждением в том, что прогресс был данным Богом обязательством, вытекающим из дара разума. Новые технологии и методы всегда будут появляться». было фундаментальным догматом христианской веры. Следовательно, ни епископы, ни богословы не осуждали часы или парусные корабли, хотя и то, и другое осуждалось по религиозным мотивам в различных незападных обществах».

Христианство внесло большой вклад в развитие европейской культурной идентичности, хотя некоторый прогресс возник в других местах, романтизм начался с любопытства и страсти языческого мира. древнего За пределами западного мира христианство оказало влияние и внесло свой вклад в различные культуры, например, в Африке, Центральной Азии, на Ближнем Востоке, на Ближнем Востоке, в Восточной Азии, Юго-Восточной Азии и на Индийском субконтиненте. Ученые и интеллектуалы отмечают, что христиане внесли значительный вклад в арабскую и исламскую цивилизацию с момента появления ислама .

Политика и право

От ранних преследований к государственной религии

Икона с изображением римского императора Константина (в центре) и епископов Первого Никейского собора (325 г.), держащих Никео-Константинопольский Символ веры 381 г.

Основа канонического права заложена в его самых ранних текстах и ​​их интерпретации в трудах отцов церкви. Христианство зародилось как еврейская секта в середине I века, возникшая на основе жизни и учения Иисуса из Назарета . Жизнь Иисуса описана в Новом Завете Библии, одном из основополагающих текстов западной цивилизации и источнике вдохновения для бесчисленных произведений западного искусства . Рождение Иисуса отмечается в праздник Рождества, его смерть во время Пасхального Триденствия и его воскресение во время Пасхи. Рождество и Пасха остаются праздниками во многих западных странах.

Иисус выучил тексты еврейской Библии с ее Десятью заповедями (которые позже стали влиятельными в западном законодательстве). ) и стал влиятельным странствующим проповедником. Он был убедительным рассказчиком притч и философом-моралистом, призывавшим своих последователей поклоняться Богу, действовать без насилия и предрассудков и заботиться о больных, голодных и бедных. Эти учения глубоко повлияли на западную культуру. Иисус раскритиковал лицемерие религиозного истеблишмента, что вызвало гнев властей, которые убедили римского губернатора провинции Иудея Понтия Пилата казнить его. В Талмуде говорится, что Иисус был казнен правительством Хасмонеев, которое побило его камнями и повесило, и что его наказанием будет вечное кипячение в человеческих экскрементах за колдовство и за то, что они привели людей к отступничеству. В Иерусалиме около 30 года нашей эры Иисус был распят .

Первые последователи Иисуса, в том числе святые Павел и Петр, распространили эту новую теологию об Иисусе и его этике по всей Римской империи и за ее пределами, сея семена для развития католической церкви , первым Папой которой считается святой Петр. В эти первые века христиане иногда сталкивались с гонениями , особенно за отказ присоединиться к поклонению императорам . Тем не менее, распространяемое через синагоги, купцов и миссионеров по всему известному миру, христианство быстро росло в размерах и влиянии. Его уникальная привлекательность отчасти была результатом его ценностей и этики.

Библия ; оказала глубокое влияние на западную цивилизацию и культуры по всему миру он внес свой вклад в формирование западного права , искусства , текстов и образования. Имея литературную традицию, охватывающую два тысячелетия, Библия является одним из самых влиятельных произведений, когда-либо написанных. От практики личной гигиены до философии и этики Библия прямо и косвенно повлияла на политику и право, войну и мир, сексуальную мораль, брак и семейную жизнь, туалетный этикет , письмо и обучение, искусство, экономику, социальную справедливость, медицинское обслуживание. и многое другое.

Человеческие ценности как основа права

Первыми цивилизациями в мире были священные государства Месопотамии , управляемые от имени божества или правителями, которых считали божественными. Правители, а также священники, солдаты и бюрократы, исполнявшие их волю, составляли небольшое меньшинство, сохранявшее власть за счет эксплуатации большинства.

Если мы обратимся к корням нашей западной традиции, мы обнаружим, что в греческие и римские времена не вся человеческая жизнь считалась неприкосновенной и достойной защиты. Рабы и «варвары» не имели полного права на жизнь, а человеческие жертвоприношения и гладиаторские бои были приемлемы... Спартанский закон требовал казни уродливых младенцев; для Платона детоубийство — один из обычных институтов идеального государства; Аристотель считает аборт желательным вариантом; а философ-стоик Сенека без извинений пишет: «Неестественное потомство мы уничтожаем; мы топим даже детей, которые при рождении слабы и ненормальны... И хотя были отклонения от этих взглядов..., вероятно, правильно будет сказать, что такие практики. ...были менее запрещены в древние времена. Большинство историков западной морали согласны с тем, что возникновение ...христианства во многом способствовало распространению чувства, что человеческая жизнь ценна и достойна уважения.

В.Е.Лекки в своей истории европейской морали дает ставшее уже классическим описание святости человеческой жизни, утверждая, что христианство «образовало новый стандарт, более высокий, чем любой, который тогда существовал в мире...». Христианский специалист по этике Дэвид П. Гуши говорит: «Учение Иисуса о справедливости тесно связано с приверженностью святости жизни…».

Джон Киоун , профессор христианской этики, отличает эту « святости жизни доктрину » от «подхода, основанного на качестве жизни , который признает только инструментальную ценность человеческой жизни, и виталистического подхода, который рассматривает жизнь как абсолютную моральную ценность... [ Кевон говорит, что это подход «святости жизни… который закладывает презумпцию в пользу сохранения жизни, но признает, что существуют обстоятельства, при которых жизнь не должна сохраняться любой ценой», и именно это обеспечивает прочную основу. для закона, касающегося вопросов конца жизни.

Ранние юридические взгляды на женщин

В Риме существовала социальная кастовая система, при которой женщины не имели «юридической независимости и независимой собственности». В раннем христианстве, как объясняет Плиний Младший в своих письмах императору Траяну, были люди «всех возрастов и рангов, обоих полов». Плиний сообщает об аресте двух рабынь, которые утверждали, что они «дьякониссы», в первом десятилетии второго века. В Римской папской книге (литургической книге) вплоть до XII века существовал обряд рукоположения женщин-дьяконов. Для женщин-дьяконов самый древний обряд на Западе происходит из книги восьмого века, тогда как восточные обряды восходят к третьему веку, и их больше.

В Новом Завете упоминается ряд женщин из ближайшего окружения Иисуса. Есть несколько евангельских рассказов о том, как Иисус передавал важные учения женщинам и о женщинах: его встреча с самаритянкой у колодца, его помазание Марией Вифанской, его публичное восхищение бедной вдовой, пожертвовавшей две медные монеты Храму в Иерусалиме, его шаг на помощь женщине, обвиняемой в прелюбодеянии, его дружба с Марией и Марфой, сестрами Лазаря, а также присутствие Марии Магдалины, его матери и других женщин, когда он был распят. Историк Джеффри Блейни заключает, что «поскольку положение женщин в Палестине было невысоким, доброта Иисуса к ним не всегда одобрялась теми, кто строго придерживался традиций».

По словам христианского апологета Тима Келлера, в греко-римском мире было обычным делом выставлять напоказ младенцев женского пола из-за низкого статуса женщины в обществе. Церковь запретила своим членам это делать. Греко-римское общество не видело никакой ценности в незамужней женщине, и поэтому для вдовы было незаконно оставаться в браке более двух лет без повторного замужества. Христианство не принуждало вдов выходить замуж и поддерживало их материально. Языческие вдовы теряли всякий контроль над имуществом своего мужа, когда снова выходили замуж, но церковь позволяла вдовам сохранять имущество своего мужа. Христиане не верили в сожительство. Если мужчина-христианин хотел жить с женщиной, церковь требовала брака, и это давало женщинам законные права и гораздо большую безопасность. Наконец, языческий двойной стандарт, разрешавший женатым мужчинам иметь внебрачный секс и иметь любовниц, был запрещен. Учение Иисуса о разводе и защита моногамии Павлом положили начало процессу повышения статуса женщин, так что женщины-христианки, как правило, пользовались большей безопасностью и равенством, чем женщины в соседних культурах.

Законы, касающиеся детей

В древнем мире детоубийство не было законным, но редко преследовалось по закону. Обычно проводилось широкое различие между детоубийством и воздействием на младенцев, что широко практиковалось. Многие подвергшиеся воздействию дети умерли, но многих забрали спекулянты, которые вырастили их рабами или проститутками. Невозможно установить с какой-либо степенью точности, какое сокращение детоубийства произошло в результате юридических усилий против него в Римской империи. «Однако можно с уверенностью утверждать, что гласность торговли незащищенными детьми стала невозможной под влиянием христианства и что ощущение серьезности преступления значительно возросло».

Правовой статус при Константине

императора Константина в Миланский эдикт 313 году нашей эры положил конец спонсируемому государством преследованию христиан на Востоке, а его собственное обращение в христианство стало важным поворотным моментом в истории. В 312 году Константин предложил христианам гражданскую терпимость и во время своего правления ввел законы и политику, соответствующие христианским принципам: сделав воскресенье субботой «днем отдыха» для римского общества (хотя первоначально это было только для горожан) и приступив к Программа строительства церкви. В 325 году нашей эры Константин созвал Первый Никейский собор , чтобы достичь консенсуса и единства внутри христианства с целью сделать его религией Империи. Население и богатство Римской империи перемещались на восток, и примерно в 330 году Константин основал Константинополь как новый имперский город, который стал столицей Восточной Римской империи . Восточный Патриарх в Константинополе теперь стал соперником Папы в Риме. Хотя культурная преемственность и взаимообмен между этими Восточными и Западными Римскими империями продолжались, история христианства и западной культуры пошла разными путями, с окончательным Великим расколом, разделившим Римскую империю. и восточное христианство в 1054 году нашей эры.

Политическое влияние четвертого века и законы против язычников

Смотрите также: Преследование язычников в поздней Римской империи

В четвертом веке христианская письменность и богословие переросли в «золотой век» литературной и научной деятельности, не имеющий аналогов со времен Вергилия и Горация. Многие из этих работ остаются влиятельными в политике, праве, этике и других областях. В IV веке зародился и новый жанр литературы: церковная история.

Святой Амвросий и император Феодосий , Антонис ван Дейк .

Замечательное превращение христианства из периферийной секты в крупную силу внутри Империи часто считается результатом влияния святого Амвросия , епископа Милана , но это маловероятно. император Феодосий I приказал устроить карательную резню тысяч граждан Салоник В апреле 390 года . В частном письме Амвросия к Феодосию, где-то в августе после этого события, Амвросий сказал Феодосию, что его нельзя причащать, пока Феодосий не раскаивается в этом ужасном поступке. Вольф Либешуец говорит, что записи показывают, что «Феодосий должным образом подчинился и смиренно приходил в церковь, без своего императорского одеяния, до Рождества, когда Амвросий открыто снова допустил его к причастию».

Маклинн заявляет, что «встреча у дверей церкви уже давно известна как благочестивая выдумка». Дэниел Уошберн объясняет, что образ прелата в митре, закрепленного в дверях миланского собора и преграждающего вход Феодосию, является продуктом воображения Феодорита , историка пятого века, который писал о событиях 390 года, «используя свои собственные идеология, призванная заполнить пробелы в исторических записях». По мнению Питера Брауна , эти события касаются личного благочестия; они не представляют собой поворотный момент в истории подчинения государства церкви.

Согласно христианской литературе четвертого века, язычество закончилось к началу-середине пятого века, когда все либо обратились, либо были запуганы. Современная археология, напротив, указывает на то, что это не так; язычество продолжалось по всей империи, и конец язычества варьировался от места к месту. Насилие, такое как разрушение храмов, засвидетельствовано в некоторых местах, как правило, в небольших количествах и неравномерно распространено по всей империи. В большинстве регионов, удаленных от императорского двора, конец язычества чаще всего был постепенным и безболезненным.

Феодосий правил (хотя и ненадолго) как последний император объединенной Восточной и Западной Римской империи. Между 389 и 391 годами Феодосий издал Феодосиевы указы — сборник законов времен Константина, включавший законы против еретиков и язычников. В 391 году Феодосий заблокировал восстановление языческого Алтаря Победы римскому сенату, а затем воевал против Евгения , который заручился поддержкой язычников в своей борьбе за императорский трон. Браун говорит, что формулировки Феодосианских указов «всегда суровы, а наказания суровы и зачастую ужасны». Возможно, они послужили основой для подобных законов в эпоху Высокого Средневековья. Однако в древности эти законы не соблюдались, и Браун добавляет, что «в большинстве районов многобожники не подвергались притеснениям, и, за исключением нескольких отвратительных случаев местного насилия, еврейские общины также наслаждались столетием стабильного, даже привилегированного существования». , существование." Современные ученые указывают, что язычники не были истреблены и не полностью обращены в веру к пятому веку, как утверждают христианские источники. Язычники оставались на протяжении четвертого и пятого веков в достаточном количестве, чтобы сохранить широкий спектр языческих практик до VI века, а в некоторых местах даже позже.

Политические и правовые последствия падения Рима

Центральная бюрократия имперского Рима осталась в Риме в шестом веке, но в остальной части империи была заменена немецкой племенной организацией и церковью. После падения Рима (476 г.) большая часть Запада вернулась к натуральному аграрному образу жизни. Та небольшая безопасность, которая была в этом мире, в основном обеспечивалась христианской церковью. Папство . служило источником власти и преемственности в это критическое время В отсутствие жившего в Риме военного магистра даже управление военными делами перешло к папе.

Роль христианства в политике и праве в период Средневековья.

Историк Джеффри Блейни сравнил деятельность католической церкви в средние века с ранней версией государства всеобщего благосостояния: «У нее были больницы для престарелых и приюты для молодых; хосписы для больных всех возрастов; приюты для прокаженных ; и общежития или гостиницы, где паломники могли дешево купить ночлег и еду». Оно снабжало население продовольствием во время голода и раздавало еду беднякам. Эту систему социального обеспечения церковь финансировала за счет сбора крупных налогов и владения большими сельскохозяйственными угодьями и поместьями. Каноническое право Католической церкви ( лат . jus canonicum ) Это система законов и правовых принципов, созданная и применяемая иерархическими властями Церкви для регулирования ее внешней организации и управления, а также для упорядочения и направления деятельности католиков в соответствии с миссией Церкви. Это была первая современная западная правовая система. и является старейшей постоянно действующей правовой системой на Западе, предшествовали традициям европейского общего права и гражданского права .

Правило Бенедикта как правовая основа в темные века

Период между падением Рима (476 г. н.э.) и возвышением франков Каролингов (750 г. н.э.) часто называют «Темными веками», однако его также можно назвать «Эпохой монаха». Эта эпоха оказала длительное влияние на политику и право через христианских эстетов, таких как святой Бенедикт (480–543), которые поклялись вести целомудренную жизнь, послушание и бедность; После тщательной интеллектуальной подготовки и самоотречения бенедиктинцы жили по «Правилу Бенедикта»: работай и молись. Это «Правило» стало основой большинства из тысяч монастырей, разбросанных по территории современной Европы; «...конечно, не будет никаких сомнений в признании того, что правило св. Бенедикта было одним из величайших фактов в истории Западной Европы, и что его влияние и последствия сохраняются с нами по сей день».

Папа Григорий Великий ( ок. 540–604), установивший в Церкви средневековые темы, на картине Карло Сарасени , ок. 1610, Рим.

Монастыри были образцом производительности и экономической изобретательности, обучая местные общины животноводству, производству сыра, виноделию и различным другим навыкам. Они были приютом для бедных, больницами, приютами для умирающих и школами. Медицинская практика имела большое значение в средневековых монастырях, и они наиболее известны своим вкладом в медицинскую традицию. Они также добились успехов в таких науках, как астрономия. На протяжении веков почти все светские лидеры обучались у монахов, поскольку, за исключением частных репетиторов, которые зачастую все еще были монахами, это было единственное доступное образование.

Формирование этих организованных групп верующих, отличных от политической и семейной власти, особенно для женщин, постепенно создало ряд социальных пространств с некоторой степенью независимости, тем самым революционизировав социальную историю.

Григорий Великий ( ок. 540–604) провел строгую реформу церкви. Обученный римский юрист, администратор и монах, он представляет собой переход от классического мировоззрения к средневековому и был отцом многих структур позднейшей католической церкви. Согласно Католической энциклопедии, он рассматривал церковь и государство как сотрудничающие, образующие единое целое, которое действовало в двух различных сферах, церковной и светской, но к моменту его смерти папство было великой властью в Италии: Григорий был одним из немногих государей, названных Великим по всеобщему согласию. Он известен тем, что отправил первую зарегистрированную крупномасштабную миссию из Рима для обращения тогдашних англосаксов -язычников в Англии, своими многочисленными сочинениями, своими административными навыками и своей заботой о благосостоянии людей. Он также боролся с арианской ересью и донатистами , усмирил готов, оставил знаменитый пример покаяния за преступление, пересмотрел литургию и повлиял на музыку посредством развития антифонных песнопений.

Папа Григорий Великий сделал себя в Италии властью более сильной, чем император или экзарх, и установил политическое влияние, которое доминировало на полуострове на протяжении веков. С этого времени разнообразное население Италии обращалось к папе за руководством, а Рим как папская столица продолжал оставаться центром христианского мира.

Карл Великий изменил право и основал феодализм в раннем средневековье.

EB1911 Европа – империя Карла Великого в ее наибольшем масштабе

Карл Великий («Карл Великий» по-английски) стал королем франков в 768 году. Он завоевал Нидерланды , Саксонию, северную и центральную Италию, а в 800 году папа Лев III короновал Карла Великого императором Священной Римской империи . Карл Великий, которого иногда называют «Отцом Европы» и основателем феодализма, провел политическую и судебную реформу и возглавил то, что иногда называют Ранним Возрождением или Христианским Возрождением . Иоганнес Фрид пишет, что Карл Великий оставил такое глубокое впечатление на его эпоху, что следы этого остаются до сих пор. Он продвигал образование и грамотность, субсидировал школы, работал над защитой бедных, проводя экономическую и денежную реформу; они, наряду с правовыми и судебными реформами, создали более законное и процветающее королевство. Это помогло сформировать группу независимых военачальников в хорошо управляемую империю с традицией сотрудничества с Папой, которая стала предшественником французской нации. Фрид говорит: «Он был первым королем и императором, который серьезно ввел в действие правовой принцип, согласно которому Папа был вне досягаемости всякого человеческого правосудия – решение, которое будет иметь серьезные последствия в будущем».

Современное общее право, преследования и секуляризация начались в эпоху высокого средневековья.

Генрих IV и папа Григорий VII в Каносе 1077 года, изображенные Карло Эмануэлем.

К концу 11 века, начиная с усилий Папы Григория VII , Церковь успешно зарекомендовала себя как «автономное юридическое и политическое ... [субъектность] в пределах западного христианского мира». В течение следующих трехсот лет Церковь имела большое влияние на западное общество; церковные законы были единственным «универсальным законом… общим для юрисдикций и народов по всей Европе». Имея собственную судебную систему, Церковь сохраняла юрисдикцию над многими аспектами повседневной жизни, включая образование, наследование, устные обещания, клятвы, моральные преступления и брак. Позиции Церкви, одного из наиболее влиятельных институтов Средневековья, нашли отражение во многих светских законах того времени. Католическая церковь была очень мощной, по существу интернационалистической и демократической по своей структуре, с ее многочисленными ветвями, управляемыми различными монашескими организациями, каждая из которых имела свою собственную теологию и часто не согласовывалась с другими.

Люди с научным уклоном обычно принимали священный сан и часто вступали в религиозные институты . Те, кто обладал интеллектуальными, административными или дипломатическими навыками, могли выйти за рамки обычных ограничений общества. Ведущие церковники из далеких стран были приняты в местные епископства, связывая европейскую мысль на больших расстояниях. Такие комплексы, как аббатство Клюни, стали яркими центрами, чьи зависимости распространились по всей Европе. Обычные люди также преодолевали огромные расстояния в паломничествах, чтобы выразить свое благочестие и помолиться к святым мощам .

В решающем двенадцатом веке (1100-е годы) Европа начала закладывать основу для постепенной трансформации от средневековья к современности. Феодалы постепенно уступили власть феодальным королям, поскольку короли начали централизовать власть внутри себя и своего национального государства. Короли строили свои собственные армии вместо того, чтобы полагаться на своих вассалов, тем самым отбирая власть у знати. «Государство» взяло на себя юридическую практику, которая традиционно принадлежала местной знати и чиновникам местной церкви; и они начали нападать на меньшинства. По мнению Р.И. Мура и других современных ученых, «рост светской власти и преследование светских интересов составили существенный контекст событий, которые привели к преследованию общества». Это оказало постоянное влияние на политику и право во многих отношениях: через новую риторику исключения, которая узаконила преследования, основанные на новых стереотипах , стигматизации и даже демонизации обвиняемых; путем создания новых гражданских законов, которые включали разрешение государству быть ответчиком и выдвигать обвинения от своего имени; изобретение полиции как инструмента государственного правоприменения; изобретение общего налогообложения, золотых монет и современного банковского дела, чтобы заплатить за все это; и инквизиции, которые представляли собой новую правовую процедуру , которая позволяла судье проводить расследование по собственной инициативе, не требуя от жертвы (кроме государства) выдвигать обвинения.

«Исключительный характер преследований на Латинском Западе, начиная с двенадцатого века, заключался не в масштабах или жестокости конкретных преследований... а в их способности к устойчивому долгосрочному росту. Модели, процедуры и риторика преследований, которые были созданы в двенадцатом веке, дали ему силу бесконечного и неопределенного самовосстановления и самообновления».

В конце концов, это привело к развитию среди первых протестантов убеждения, что концепции религиозной терпимости и разделения церкви и государства имеют важное значение.

Каноническое право, ценность дебатов и естественное право средневековых университетов.

Христианство в эпоху Высокого Средневековья оказало длительное влияние на политику и право через недавно созданные университеты. Каноническое право возникло из богословия и развивалось там независимо. К 1200-м годам гражданское и каноническое право стало важным аспектом церковной культуры, доминируя в христианской мысли. Большинство епископов и пап того периода были юристами, а не богословами, и многие христианские мысли того времени стали не более чем продолжением закона. В эпоху Высокого Средневековья религия, которая началась с порицания силы закона (Римлянам 7:1) разработал самый сложный религиозный закон, который когда-либо видел мир. Каноническое право стало благодатной почвой для тех, кто выступал за сильную папскую власть. и Брайан Даунинг говорит, что в эту эпоху империя, ориентированная на церковь, почти стала реальностью. Однако Даунинг говорит, что верховенство закона, установленное в средние века, является одной из причин, почему в Европе в конечном итоге вместо этого возникла демократия.

Средневековые университеты не были светскими учреждениями, но они, как и некоторые религиозные ордена, были основаны с уважением к диалогу и дебатам, полагая, что хорошее понимание приходит, если рассматривать что-то с разных сторон. По этой причине они включили аргументированные споры в свою систему исследований. Соответственно, в университетах проводилось так называемое квадрибеттал , на котором «магистр» поднимал вопрос, студенты приводили аргументы, а эти аргументы оценивались и аргументировались. Брайан Лоу говорит: «Присутствовать мог буквально кто угодно: мастера и ученые из других школ, всевозможные священнослужители и прелаты и даже гражданские власти, все «интеллектуалы» того времени, которых всегда привлекали к стычкам такого рода, и все который имел право задавать вопросы и возражать против доводов». В своего рода атмосфере «собрания муниципалитета» вопросы могли быть заданы устно кем угодно ( quolibet ) буквально о чем угодно ( de quolibet ).

Фома Аквинский дважды был магистром Парижского университета и проводил квадлибеталии . Фома Аквинский интерпретировал Аристотеля относительно естественного права. Александр Пассерен д'Энтрев пишет, что естественное право подвергается нападкам на протяжении полутора веков, но оно остается аспектом философии права, поскольку на нем основана большая часть теории прав человека. Фома Аквинский учил, что справедливое лидерство должно работать на «общее благо». Он определяет закон как «постановление разума» и что он не может быть просто волей законодателя и быть хорошим законом. Фома Аквинский говорит, что основная цель права состоит в том, что «добро следует делать и к нему стремиться, а зла избегать».

Естественное право и права человека

«Философскую основу либеральной концепции прав человека можно найти в теориях естественного права», и многие размышления о естественном праве восходят к мысли доминиканского монаха Фомы Аквинского. Фома Аквинский продолжает оказывать влияние на работы ведущих политических и юридических философов.

Согласно Фоме Аквинскому, каждый закон в конечном итоге вытекает из того, что он называет «вечным законом»: Божьего устройства всего сотворенного. Для Фомы Аквинского человеческое действие является хорошим или плохим в зависимости от того, соответствует ли оно разуму, и именно это участие «разумного существа» в «вечном законе» называется «естественным законом». Фома Аквинский сказал, что естественный закон — это фундаментальный принцип, вплетенный в ткань человеческой природы. Секуляристы, такие как Гуго Гроций, позже расширили идею прав человека и развили ее.

«...нельзя и не нужно отрицать, что права человека имеют западное происхождение. Этого нельзя отрицать, поскольку они морально основаны на иудео-христианской традиции и греко-римской философии; они были систематизированы на Западе на протяжении многих столетий, они заняли прочное место в национальных декларациях западных демократий и были закреплены в конституциях этих демократий».

Говард Тамбер говорит: «Права человека – это не универсальная доктрина, а потомок одной конкретной религии (христианства)». Это не означает, что христианство было лучше в своей практике или не имело «своей доли нарушений прав человека».

Дэвид Гуши говорит, что христианство имеет «трагически смешанное наследие», когда дело доходит до применения собственной этики. Он рассматривает три случая «христианского мира, расколовшегося сам в себе»: крестовые походы и попытку Святого Франциска заключить мир с мусульманами; Испанские завоеватели, убийства коренных народов и протесты против этого; и продолжающееся преследование и защита евреев.

Чарльз Малик , ливанский академик, дипломат, философ и богослов, был ответственным за разработку и принятие Всеобщей декларации прав человека 1948 года .

Возрождение римского права в средневековой инквизиции

Основная статья: Инквизиция

По словам Дженнифер Дин , ярлык «Инквизиция» подразумевает «институциональную согласованность и официальное единство, которых никогда не существовало в средние века». Средневековые инквизиции на самом деле представляли собой серию отдельных инквизиций, начавшихся примерно с 1184 года и продолжавшихся до 1230-х годов, которые были ответом на диссидентов, обвиненных в ереси. в то время как Папская инквизиция (1230–1302 гг.) Была создана для восстановления порядка, нарушенного массовым насилием над еретиками. Ересь была религиозной, политической и социальной проблемой. Таким образом, «первые проявления насилия против диссидентов обычно были результатом народного недовольства». Это привело к разрушению социального порядка. В Поздней Римской империи сложилась инквизиторская система правосудия, возрожденная в средние века. В качестве инквизитора использовалась объединенная коллегия, состоящая из гражданских и церковных представителей, с епископом, его представителем или местным судьей. По сути, церковь вновь ввела римское право в Европе (в форме инквизиции), когда казалось, что германское право потерпело неудачу. «[Средневековая] инквизиция не была организацией, произвольно созданной и навязанной судебной системе амбициями или фанатизмом церкви. Это была скорее естественная – можно сказать почти неизбежная – эволюция сил, действовавших в тринадцатом веке. ."

Изобретение Священной войны, рыцарства и корни современной толерантности

В 1095 году папа Урбан II призвал к крестовому походу, чтобы вернуть Святую Землю из- под власти мусульман . Хью С. Пайпер говорит, что «важность города [Иерусалима] отражена в том факте, что на картах раннего средневековья [Иерусалим] помещается в центр мира».

«К одиннадцатому веку турки-сельджуки завоевали [три четверти христианского мира]. Владения старой Восточной Римской империи, известной современным историкам как Византийская империя, сократились до уровня немногим больше, чем Греция. В отчаянии, император в Константинополе обратился к христианам Западной Европы с просьбой помочь их братьям и сестрам на Востоке».

Это послужило толчком к первому крестовому походу, однако «колоссом средневекового мира был ислам, а не христианский мир», и, несмотря на первоначальный успех, эти конфликты, длившиеся четыре столетия, в конечном итоге закончились неудачей для западного христианского мира.

Во времена Первого крестового похода не было четкого представления о том, что такое крестовый поход, кроме паломничества. Райли-Смит говорит, что крестовые походы были продуктом обновленной духовности центрального средневековья, а также политическими обстоятельствами. Высокопоставленные церковники этого времени преподносили верующим понятие христианской любви как повод взяться за оружие. Люди заботились о том, чтобы жить vita apostolica и выражать христианские идеалы в активной благотворительной деятельности, примером которой являются новые больницы, пастырская работа августинцев и премонстрантов, а также служение монахов. Райли-Смит заключает: «Милосердие Святого Франциска теперь может привлечь нас больше, чем благотворительность крестоносцев, но обе они возникли из одних и тех же корней». Констебль добавляет, что те «учёные, которые рассматривают крестовые походы как начало европейского колониализма и экспансионизма, удивили бы людей в то время. земли, которые когда-то были христианскими, и на самопожертвовании, а не на корысти участников». Райли-Смит также говорит, что ученые отворачиваются от идеи, что крестовые походы имели материальную мотивацию.

Такие идеи, как священная война и христианское рыцарство, как в мышлении, так и в культуре, продолжали постепенно развиваться с одиннадцатого по тринадцатый века. Это можно проследить в выражениях закона, традиций, сказок, пророчеств и исторических повествований, в письмах, буллах и стихах, написанных в период крестовых походов.

По словам профессора политологии Эндрю Р. Мерфи , концепции толерантности и нетерпимости не были отправной точкой для размышлений об отношениях какой-либо из различных групп, участвовавших в крестовых походах или затронутых ими. Вместо этого во время крестовых походов начали развиваться концепции толерантности в результате попыток определить правовые границы и природу сосуществования. В конечном итоге это поможет заложить основу для убеждения первых протестантов внедрения концепции религиозной терпимости . в необходимости

Моральный упадок и рост политической власти церкви в позднем средневековье

В течение «катастрофического» четырнадцатого века с его чумой , голодом и войнами люди были ввергнуты в смятение и отчаяние. С момента своего расцвета в 1200-х годах церковь вступила в период упадка, внутренних конфликтов и коррупции. По словам Вальтера Ульмана , церковь потеряла «моральное, духовное и авторитетное руководство, которое она выработала в Европе на протяжении столетий кропотливой, последовательной, детальной, динамичной дальновидной работы. ... Папство теперь было вынуждено проводить политику, которая по существу, были направлены на умиротворение и уже не были директивными, ориентирующими и определяющими».

По словам Мэтьюза и ДеВитта, «Папы в четырнадцатом — середине пятнадцатого века обратили свой интерес к искусству и гуманитарным наукам, а не к насущным моральным и духовным проблемам. Более того, они были жизненно озабочены атрибутами политической власти. в итальянскую политику... правя как светские князья на своих папских землях. Их мирские интересы и вопиющие политические маневры только усилили растущее неодобрение папства и предоставили критикам церкви еще больше примеров коррупции и упадка этого учреждения». По мере того как Церковь становилась более могущественной, богатой и коррумпированной, многие стремились к реформам. Были основаны доминиканский или новая и францисканский ордены, которые подчеркивали бедность и духовность, и развивалась концепция светского благочестия — Devotio Moderna преданность, — которая работала на идеал благочестивого общества простых нерукоположенных людей и, в конечном итоге, на Реформация и развитие современных концепций толерантности и религиозной свободы.

Политическая власть женщин росла и падала

В Римском Папском соборе XIII века молитва о рукоположении женщин в дьяконы была удалена, а определение рукоположения было изменено и применялось только к священникам-мужчинам.

Женщина-ведьма стала стереотипом в 1400-х годах, пока он не был систематизирован в 1487 году Папой Иннокентием VIII, который заявил, что «большинство ведьм - женщины». «Европейский стереотип о ведьмах воплощает в себе два очевидных парадокса: во-первых, он был порожден не «варварскими темными веками», а во время прогрессивного Возрождения и раннего Нового времени; во-вторых, западное христианство не признавало реальность ведьм на протяжении веков, или криминализировать их примерно до 1400 года». Социолог Дон Свенсон говорит, что объяснение этому может лежать в природе средневекового общества как иирократического, которое приводило к насилию и использованию принуждения для принуждения к подчинению. «Было много споров... о том, сколько женщин было казнено... [и оценки сильно различаются, но цифры], маленькие и большие, мало что дают для описания ужаса и позора, нанесенного этим женщинам. Такое обращение обеспечивает [драматическое] контраст с уважением, оказываемым женщинам в раннюю эпоху христианства и в ранней Европе...»

Женщины были во многих отношениях исключены из политической и торговой жизни; однако некоторые ведущие церковницы были исключением. Средневековые аббатисы и женщины-настоятельницы монашеских домов были влиятельными фигурами, чье влияние могло соперничать с влиянием епископов и аббатов-мужчин: «Они обращались с королями, епископами и величайшими лордами на условиях полного равенства; ... они присутствовали на всех великих религиозных собраниях». и национальных торжествах, при освящении церквей, и даже, подобно королевам, принимала участие в совещаниях национальных собраний...». Растущая популярность преданности Деве Марии (матери Иисуса) сделала материнскую добродетель центральной культурной темой католической Европы. Кеннет Кларк писал, что «Культ Богородицы» в начале XII века «научил расу жестоких и безжалостных варваров добродетелям нежности и сострадания».

Политические Папы

В 1054 году, после столетий напряженных отношений, из-за разногласий в доктринах произошел Великий раскол , разделивший христианский мир на Католическую церковь с центром в Риме и доминирующую на Западе, и Восточную Православную Церковь с центром в Константинополе , столице Византийской империи. Империя.

Отношения между крупнейшими державами западного общества: дворянством, монархией и духовенством также иногда приводили к конфликтам. Например, спор об инвестициях был одним из наиболее значительных конфликтов между церковью и государством в средневековой Европе . Ряд Пап оспаривали власть монархий над контролем над назначениями или инвеститурами церковных чиновников. Двор императора Священной Римской империи Фридриха II , базирующийся на Сицилии, испытывал напряженность и соперничество с папством за контроль над Северной Италией.

В 1302 году Папа Бонифаций VIII (1294–1303) издал Unam Sanctam — папскую буллу, провозглашавшую превосходство Папы над всеми светскими правителями. Филипп IV Французский ответил отправкой армии для ареста Папы. Бонифаций бежал, спасая свою жизнь, и вскоре умер. «Этот эпизод показал, что папы больше не могут конкурировать с феодальными королями» и показал заметное падение папского престижа. Джордж Гарнетт говорит, что реализация идеи папской монархии привела к потере престижа, поскольку чем эффективнее становилась папская бюрократическая машина, тем дальше она отчуждала людей и тем дальше она приходила в упадок.

Двор папства находился в Авиньоне с 1305 по 1378 год. Это возникло в результате конфликта между итальянским папством и французской короной. Богослов Роджер Олсон говорит, что церковь достигла своего апогея в то время, когда три разных человека претендовали на звание законного Папы.

«То, что наблюдал наблюдатель за папством во второй половине тринадцатого века, было постепенным, хотя и ясно ощутимым, разложением Европы как единой церковной единицы и фрагментацией Европы на независимые, автономные образования, которые вскоре стали называться национальными. монархий или государств. Эта фрагментация ознаменовала отмирание папства как управляющего института, действующего в универсальном масштабе».

Политическая и юридическая власть государства через современную инквизицию

История инквизиции делится на две основные части: «ее создание средневековым папством в начале тринадцатого века и ее трансформация между 1478 и 1542 годами в постоянные светские правительственные бюрократии: испанскую, португальскую и римскую инквизиции... который просуществовал до девятнадцатого века». Старая средневековая инквизиция имела ограниченную власть и влияние, тогда как полномочия современного «Священного Трибунала» были расширены и расширены за счет власти государства, превратившегося в «одну из самых грозных машин разрушения, которые когда-либо существовали».

Историк Хелен Роулингс говорит: « Испанская инквизиция отличалась [от более ранних инквизиций] в одном фундаментальном отношении: она несла ответственность перед короной, а не перед Папой, и использовалась для консолидации государственных интересов». Это было санкционировано Папой, однако первые инквизиторы оказались настолько суровыми, что Папа почти сразу же выступил против этого, но безрезультатно. В начале 1483 года король и королева учредили совет — Consejo de la Suprema y General Inquisición , чтобы управлять инквизицией, и выбрал Торквемаду главой ее в качестве генерального инквизитора. В октябре 1483 года папская булла передала контроль короне. По словам Хосе Кассановы , испанская инквизиция стала первым по-настоящему национальным, единым и централизованным государственным учреждением. После 1400-х годов лишь немногие испанские инквизиторы принадлежали к религиозным орденам.

Португальская инквизиция также полностью контролировалась короной, которая учредила правительственный совет, известный как Генеральный совет, для надзора за ней. Великий инквизитор, которого избирал король, всегда был членом королевской семьи. Первый статут Limpieza de sangre (чистоты крови) появился в Толедо в 1449 году, а позже был принят и в Португалии. Первоначально эти статуты были осуждены Церковью, но в 1555 году весьма коррумпированный папа Александр VI утвердил статут о «чистоте крови» для одного из религиозных орденов. В своей истории португальской инквизиции Джузеппе Маркоччи говорит, что существует глубокая связь между появлением Фелипе в Португалии, ростом инквизиции и принятием статутов чистоты крови, которые распространялись и увеличивались и больше касались этническое происхождение, чем религия.

Историк Т. Ф. Майер пишет, что « римская инквизиция действовала, чтобы служить давним политическим целям папства в Неаполе, Венеции и Флоренции». При Павле III и его преемнике Юлии III, а также при большинстве последующих пап деятельность римской инквизиции была относительно ограниченной, а ее командная структура была значительно более бюрократической, чем у других инквизиций. Если средневековая инквизиция сосредоточивала свое внимание на популярных заблуждениях, приводивших к нарушению общественного порядка, то римская инквизиция занималась ортодоксальностью более интеллектуального, академического характера. Римская инквизиция, вероятно, наиболее известна своим осуждением трудного и сварливого Галилея, которое больше стремилось «подчинить Флоренцию», чем ереси.

Роль христианства в политике и праве от Реформации до Нового времени.

Смотрите также: Политическое влияние евангелизма в Латинской Америке

Кальвин проповедовал в соборе Сен-Пьер , главной церкви Женевы.

В средние века Церковь и мирская власть были тесно связаны. Мартин Лютер принципиально разделял религиозную и мирскую сферы ( доктрина двух царств ). Верующие были обязаны использовать разум, чтобы управлять мирской сферой упорядоченным и мирным способом. Учение Лютера о священстве всех верующих значительно повысило роль мирян в церкви. Члены конгрегации имели право выбирать служителя и, при необходимости, голосовать за его увольнение (Трактат « О праве и власти христианского собрания или конгрегации судить все учения и призывать, назначать и увольнять учителей, о чем свидетельствует в Писании 1523). Кальвин укрепил этот по своей сути демократический подход, включив избранных мирян ( церковных старейшин , пресвитеров ) в свое представительное церковное правительство. Гугеноты и национальный синод, члены добавили региональные синоды к кальвиновской системе церковного самоуправления которого избирались общинами. Эту систему использовали другие реформатские церкви.

В политическом отношении Жан Кальвин предпочитал сочетание аристократии и демократии. Он высоко оценил преимущества демократии: «Это бесценный дар, если Бог позволит народу свободно выбирать свою собственную власть и повелителей». Кальвин также считал, что земные правители теряют свое божественное право и должны быть свергнуты, когда восстают против Бога. Для дальнейшей защиты прав простых людей Кальвин предлагал разделить политические власти в системе сдержек и противовесов ( разделение властей ). Кальвинисты и лютеране XVI века разработали теорию сопротивления, названную доктриной меньшего магистрата , которая позже была использована в Декларации независимости США. Таким образом, ранние протестанты сопротивлялись политическому абсолютизму и проложили путь к подъему современной демократии. Помимо Англии, Нидерланды под руководством кальвинистов были самой свободной страной в Европе в XVII и XVIII веках. Он предоставил убежище таким философам, как Рене Декарт , Барух Спиноза и Пьер Бейль . Гуго Гроций смог преподавать свою теорию естественного права и относительно либеральную интерпретацию Библии.

В соответствии с политическими идеями Кальвина протестанты создали как английскую, так и американскую демократию. В Англии 17 века наиболее важными людьми и событиями в этом процессе были Гражданская война в Англии , Оливер Кромвель , Джон Мильтон , Джон Локк , Славная революция , Английский Билль о правах и Акт об урегулировании . Позже британцы принесли свои демократические идеалы и в свои колонии, например, в Австралию, Новую Зеландию и Индию. В XIX и XX веках британскую разновидность современной демократии, конституционную монархию , переняли протестантские Швеция, Норвегия, Дания и Нидерланды, а также католические страны Бельгия и Испания. В Северной Америке Плимутская колония ( Отцы-пилигримы ; 1620) и Колония Массачусетского залива (1628) практиковали демократическое самоуправление и разделение властей . Эти конгрегационалисты были убеждены, что демократическая форма правления — это воля Божья. Мэйфлауэрский договор был общественным договором .

Сексуальная мораль

Исследователь-классик Кайл Харпер говорит, что в течение определенного периода времени

«...триумф христианства не только привел к глубоким культурным изменениям, но и создал новые отношения между сексуальной моралью и обществом... Наследие христианства заключается в распаде древней системы, в которой социальный и политический статус, власть и передача социального неравенства следующему поколению прописана в условиях сексуальной морали. "

- Кайл Харпер, От стыда к греху: христианская трансформация сексуальной морали в поздней античности, страницы 4 и 7.

И древние греки, и римляне заботились о сексуальной морали и писали о ней в категориях добра и зла, чистого и оскверненного, идеала и преступления. Но сексуальные этические структуры римского общества были построены на статусе, и сексуальная скромность означала для мужчин нечто иное, чем для женщин, и для знатных людей, чем для бедных, а для свободных граждан, чем для свободных граждан. для раба, для которого понятия чести, стыда и сексуальной скромности, можно сказать, не имеют вообще никакого значения. Считалось, что рабы не ведут внутреннюю этическую жизнь, потому что они не могли опускаться ниже в социальном плане и обычно использовались сексуально; Считалось, что свободные и знатные люди олицетворяют социальную честь и поэтому могут проявлять тонкое чувство стыда, соответствующее их положению. Римская литература указывает на то, что римляне осознавали эту двойственность.

Стыд был глубоко социальным понятием, которое в Древнем Риме всегда опосредовалось полом и статусом. «Недостаточно того, чтобы жена просто регулировала свое сексуальное поведение общепринятыми способами; требовалось, чтобы ее добродетель в этой области была заметной». Мужчинам, с другой стороны, разрешалось жить с любовницами, называемыми паллаке . Это, например, позволило римскому обществу считать контроль мужа над сексуальным поведением жены вопросом чрезвычайной важности и в то же время рассматривать его собственный секс с маленькими мальчиками как не вызывающий особого беспокойства. Христианство стремилось установить равные сексуальные стандарты для мужчин и женщин и защитить всех молодых людей, будь то рабы или свободные. Это была трансформация глубокой логики сексуальной морали.

Отцы ранней церкви выступали против прелюбодеяния, полигамии, гомосексуализма, педерастии, зоофилии, проституции и инцеста, одновременно выступая за святость брачного ложа. Центральный христианский запрет на подобную порнейю , которая является единственным названием для этого комплекса сексуального поведения, «сталкивался с глубоко укоренившимися образцами римской вседозволенности, где легитимность сексуальных контактов определялась прежде всего статусом. Св. Павел, взгляды которого стали доминирующими в Раннее христианство превратило тело в освященное пространство, точку посредничества между личностью и божественным. Преобладающее чувство Павла о том, что гендер, а не статус, власть, богатство или положение, является главным фактором, определяющим уместность пола. Этот акт имел важное значение. Сведя половой акт к самым базовым составляющим мужского и женского пола, Пол смог описать окружающую его сексуальную культуру в преобразующих терминах».

Христианская сексуальная идеология неотделима от концепции свободы воли. «В своей первоначальной форме христианская свобода воли была космологическим утверждением — аргументом об отношениях между Божьей справедливостью и личностью… по мере того, как христианство переплеталось с обществом, дискуссия сместилась в сторону раскрытия путей к фактической психологии воли и материальных ограничений. о сексуальных действиях... Острая озабоченность церкви проблемой воли ставит христианскую философию в самое живое течение имперской греко-римской философии, [где] ортодоксальные христиане предлагали ее радикально своеобразную версию». Греки и римляне говорили, что наша глубочайшая нравственность зависит от нашего социального положения, данного нам судьбой. Христианство «проповедовало освобождающее послание свободы». Это была революция в правилах поведения, но и в самом образе человека как существа сексуального, свободного, хрупкого и грозно ответственного за самого себя перед одним Богом. «Это была революция в природе требований общества к моральному агенту... Есть риск переоценки изменений в старых моделях, которые христианство смогло начать осуществлять; но есть также риск и в недооценке христианизации как водораздел».

Marriage and family life

See also: Catholic Church and women

"Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate." (Gospel of Matthew 19:6) Matrimony, The Seven Sacraments, Rogier van der Weyden, ca. 1445.

The teachings of the Church have also been used to "establish[...] the status of women under the law". There has been some debate as to whether the Church has improved the status of women or hindered their progress.

Orthodox wedding, Cathedral of Ss. Cyrill and Methodius, Prague, Czech Republic.

From the beginning of the thirteenth century, the Church formally recognized marriage between a freely consenting, baptized man and woman as a sacrament—an outward sign communicating a special gift of God's love. The Council of Florence in 1438 gave this definition, following earlier Church statements in 1208, and declared that sexual union was a special participation in the union of Christ in the Church. However, the Puritans, while highly valuing the institution, viewed marriage as a "civil", rather than a "religious" matter, being "under the jurisdiction of the civil courts". This is because they found no biblical precedent for clergy performing marriage ceremonies. Further, marriage was said to be for the "relief of concupiscence" as well as any spiritual purpose. During the Protestant Reformation, Martin Luther and John Calvin denied the sacramentality of marriage. This unanimity was broken at the 1930 Lambeth Conference, the quadrennial meeting of the worldwide Anglican Communion—creating divisions in that denomination.

Catholicism equates premarital sex with fornication and ties it with breaking the sixth commandment ("Thou shalt not commit adultery") in its Catechism. While sex before marriage was not a taboo in the Anglican Church until the "Hardwicke Marriage Act of 1753, which for the first time stipulated that everyone in England and Wales had to be married in their parish church" Prior to that time, "marriage began at the time of betrothal, when couples would live and sleep together... The process begun at the time of the Hardwicke Act continued throughout the 1800s, with stigma beginning to attach to illegitimacy."

Scriptures in the New Testament dealing with sexuality are extensive. Subjects include: the Apostolic Decree (Acts 15), sexual immorality, divine love (1 Corinthians 13), mutual self-giving (1 Corinthians 7), bodily membership between Christ and between husband and wife (1 Corinthians 6:15–20) and honor versus dishonor of adultery (Hebrews 13:4).

The Hebrew Bible and its traditional interpretations in Judaism and Christianity have historically affirmed and endorsed a patriarchal and heteronormative approach towards human sexuality, favouring exclusively penetrative vaginal intercourse between men and women within the boundaries of marriage over all other forms of human sexual activity, including autoeroticism, masturbation, oral sex, non-penetrative and non-heterosexual sexual intercourse (all of which have been labeled as "sodomy" at various times). They have believed and taught that such behaviors are forbidden because they are considered sinful, and further compared to or derived from the behavior of the alleged residents of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Roman Empire

Social structures before and at the dawn of Christianity in the Roman Empire held that women were inferior to men intellectually and physically and were "naturally dependent". Athenian women were legally classified as children regardless of age and were the "legal property of some man at all stages in her life." Women in the Roman Empire had limited legal rights and could not enter professions. Female infanticide and abortion were practiced by all classes. In family life, men could have "lovers, prostitutes and concubines" but wives who engaged in extramarital affairs were considered guilty of adultery. It was not rare for pagan women to be married before the age of puberty and then forced to consummate the marriage with her often much older husband. Husbands could divorce their wives at any time simply by telling the wife to leave; wives did not have a similar ability to divorce their husbands.

Early Church Fathers advocated against polygamy, abortion, infanticide, child abuse, homosexuality, transvestism, and incest. After the Roman Empire adopted Christianity as the official religion, however, the link between Christian teachings and Roman family laws became more clear.

For example, Church teaching heavily influenced the legal concept of marriage. During the Gregorian Reform, the Church developed and codified a view of marriage as a sacrament. In a departure from societal norms, Church law required the consent of both parties before a marriage could be performed and established a minimum age for marriage. The elevation of marriage to a sacrament also made the union a binding contract, with dissolutions overseen by Church authorities. Although the Church abandoned tradition to allow women the same rights as men to dissolve a marriage, in practice, when an accusation of infidelity was made, men were granted dissolutions more frequently than women.

Medieval period

According to historian Shulamith Shahar, "[s]ome historians hold that the Church played a considerable part in fostering the inferior status of women in medieval society in general" by providing a "moral justification" for male superiority and by accepting practices such as wife-beating. "The ecclesiastical conception of the inferior status of women, deriving from Creation, her role in Original Sin and her subjugation to man, provided both direct and indirect justification for her inferior standing in the family and in society in medieval civilization. It was not the Church which induced husbands to beat their wives, but it not only accepted this custom after the event, if it was not carried to excess, but, by proclaiming the superiority of man, also supplied its moral justification." Despite these laws, some women, particularly abbesses, gained powers that were never available to women in previous Roman or Germanic societies.

Although these teachings emboldened secular authorities to give women fewer rights than men, they also helped form the concept of chivalry. Chivalry was influenced by a new Church attitude towards Mary, the mother of Jesus. This "ambivalence about women's very nature" was shared by most major religions in the Western world.

Family relations

Christian family saying grace before eating.

Christian culture puts notable emphasis on the family, and according to the work of scholars Max Weber, Alan Macfarlane, Steven Ozment, Jack Goody and Peter Laslett, the huge transformation that led to modern marriage in Western democracies was "fueled by the religio-cultural value system provided by elements of Judaism, early Christianity, Roman Catholic canon law and the Protestant Reformation". Historically, extended families were the basic family unit in the Catholic culture and countries. According to a study by the scholar Joseph Henrich from Harvard University, the Catholic church "changed extended family ties, as well as values and psychology of individuals in the Western world".

Most Christian denominations practice infant baptism to enter children into the faith. Some form of confirmation ritual occurs when the child has reached the age of reason and voluntarily accepts the religion. Ritual circumcision is used to mark Coptic Christian, Ethiopian Orthodox Christian and Eritrean Orthodox infant males as belonging to the faith. Circumcision is practiced among many Christian countries and communities; Christian communities in Africa, the Anglosphere countries, the Philippines, the Middle East, South Korea and Oceania have high circumcision rates, while Christian communities in Europe and South America have low circumcision rates.

During the early period of capitalism, the rise of a large, commercial middle class, mainly in the Protestant countries of Holland and England, brought about a new family ideology centred around the upbringing of children. Puritanism stressed the importance of individual salvation and concern for the spiritual welfare of children. It became widely recognized that children possess rights on their own behalf. This included the rights of poor children to sustenance, membership in a community, education, and job training. The Poor Relief Acts in Elizabethan England put responsibility on each Parish to care for all the poor children in the area. And prior to the 20th century, three major branches of Christianity—Catholicism, Orthodoxy and Protestantism—as well as leading Protestant reformers Martin Luther and John Calvin generally held a critical perspective of birth control.

The LDS church's Family History Library is the world's largest library dedicated to genealogical research.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints puts notable emphasis on the family, and the distinctive concept of a united family which lives and progresses forever is at the core of Latter-day Saint doctrine. Church members are encouraged to marry and have children, and as a result, Latter-day Saint families tend to be larger than average. All sexual activity outside of marriage is considered a serious sin. All homosexual activity is considered sinful and same-sex marriages are not performed or supported by the LDS Church. Latter-day Saint fathers who hold the priesthood typically name and bless their children shortly after birth to formally give the child a name and generate a church record for them. Mormons tend to be very family-oriented and have strong connections across generations and with extended family, reflective of their belief that families can be sealed together beyond death. In the temple, husbands and wives are sealed to each other for eternity. The implication is that other institutional forms, including the church, might disappear, but the family will endure. A 2011 survey of Mormons in the United States showed that family life is very important to Mormons, with family concerns significantly higher than career concerns. Four out of five Mormons believe that being a good parent is one of the most important goals in life, and roughly three out of four Mormons put having a successful marriage in this category. Mormons also have a strict law of chastity, requiring abstention from sexual relations outside heterosexual marriage and fidelity within marriage.

A Pew Center study about Religion and Living arrangements around the world in 2019, found that Christians around the world live in somewhat smaller households, on average, than non-Christians (4.5 vs. 5.1 members). 34% of world's Christian population live in two parent families with minor children, while 29% live in household with extended families, 11% live as couples without other family members, 9% live in household with least one child over the age of 18 with one or two parents, 7% live alone, and 6% live in single parent households. Christians in Asia and Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, Middle East and North Africa, and in Sub-Saharan Africa, overwhelmingly live in extended or two parent families with minor children. While more Christians in Europe and North America live alone or as couples without other family members.

Clerical marriage

Main article: Clerical marriage

Married Eastern Orthodox priest from Jerusalem with his family (three generations), c. 1893

Clerical marriage is admitted among Protestants, including both Anglicans and Lutherans. Some Protestant clergy and their children have played an essential role in literature, philosophy, science, and education in Early Modern Europe.

Many Eastern Churches (Assyrian Church of the East, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, or Eastern Catholic), while allowing married men to be ordained, do not allow clerical marriage after ordination: their parish priests are often married, but must marry before being ordained to the priesthood. Within the lands of the Eastern Christendom, priests' children often became priests and married within their social group, establishing a tightly-knit hereditary caste among some Eastern Christian communities.

The Catholic Church not only forbids clerical marriage, but generally follows a practice of clerical celibacy, requiring candidates for ordination to be unmarried or widowed. However, this public policy in the Catholic Church has not always been enforced in private.

Slavery

Main article: Catholic Church and slavery

The Church initially accepted slavery as part of the Greco-Roman social fabric of society, campaigning primarily for humane treatment of slaves but also admonishing slaves to behave appropriately towards their masters. Historian Glenn Sunshine says, "Christians were the first people in history to oppose slavery systematically. Early Christians purchased slaves in the markets simply to set them free. Later, in the seventh century, the Franks..., under the influence of its Christian queen, Bathilde, became the first kingdom in history to begin the process of outlawing slavery. ...In the 1200s, Thomas Aquinas declared slavery a sin. When the African slave trade began in the 1400s, it was condemned numerous times by the papacy."

During the early medieval period, Christians tolerated enslavement of non-Christians. By the end of the Medieval period, enslavement of Christians had been mitigated somewhat with the spread of serfdom within Europe, though outright slavery existed in European colonies in other parts of the world. Several popes issued papal bulls condemning mistreatment of enslaved Native Americans; these were largely ignored. In his 1839 bull In supremo apostolatus, Pope Gregory XVI condemned all forms of slavery; nevertheless some American bishops continued to support slavery for several decades. In this historic Bull, Pope Gregory outlined his summation of the impact of the Church on the ancient institution of slavery, beginning by acknowledging that early Apostles had tolerated slavery but had called on masters to "act well towards their slaves... knowing that the common Master both of themselves and of the slaves is in Heaven, and that with Him there is no distinction of persons". Gregory continued to discuss the involvement of Christians for and against slavery through the ages:

In the process of time, the fog of pagan superstition being more completely dissipated and the manners of barbarous people having been softened, thanks to Faith operating by Charity, it at last comes about that, since several centuries, there are no more slaves in the greater number of Christian nations. But – We say with profound sorrow – there were to be found afterwards among the Faithful men who, shamefully blinded by the desire of sordid gain, in lonely and distant countries, did not hesitate to reduce to slavery Indians, negroes and other wretched peoples, or else, by instituting or developing the trade in those who had been made slaves by others, to favour their unworthy practice. Certainly many Roman Pontiffs of glorious memory, Our Predecessors, did not fail, according to the duties of their charge, to blame severely this way of acting as dangerous for the spiritual welfare of those engaged in the traffic and a shame to the Christian name; they foresaw that as a result of this, the infidel peoples would be more and more strengthened in their hatred of the true Religion.

Latin America

Saint Peter Claver worked for the alleviation of the suffering of African slaves brought to South America.

It was women, primarily Amerindian Christian converts who became the primary supporters of the Latin American Church. While the Spanish military was known for its ill-treatment of Amerindian men and women, Catholic missionaries are credited with championing all efforts to initiate protective laws for the Indians and fought against their enslavement. This began within 20 years of the discovery of the New World by Europeans in 1492 – in December 1511, Antonio de Montesinos, a Dominican friar, openly rebuked the Spanish rulers of Hispaniola for their "cruelty and tyranny" in dealing with the American natives. King Ferdinand enacted the Laws of Burgos and Valladolid in response. The issue resulted in a crisis of conscience in 16th-century Spain. Further abuses against the Amerindians committed by Spanish authorities were denounced by Catholic missionaries such as Bartolomé de Las Casas and Francisco de Vitoria which led to debate on the nature of human rights and the birth of modern international law. Enforcement of these laws was lax, and some historians blame the Church for not doing enough to liberate the Indians; others point to the Church as the only voice raised on behalf of indigenous peoples.

Slavery and human sacrifice were both part of Latin American culture before the Europeans arrived. Indian slavery was first abolished by Pope Paul III in the 1537 bull Sublimis Deus which confirmed that "their souls were as immortal as those of Europeans", that Indians were to be regarded as fully human, and they should neither be robbed nor turned into slaves. While these edicts may have had some beneficial effects, these were limited in scope. European colonies were mainly run by military and royally-appointed administrators, who seldom stopped to consider church teachings when forming policy or enforcing their rule. Even after independence, institutionalized prejudice and injustice toward indigenous people continued well into the twentieth century. This has led to the formation of a number of movements to reassert indigenous peoples' civil rights and culture in modern nation-states.

A catastrophe was wrought upon the Amerindians by contact with Europeans. Old World diseases like smallpox, measles, malaria and many others spread through Indian populations. "In most of the New World 90 percent or more of the native population was destroyed by wave after wave of previously unknown afflictions. Explorers and colonists did not enter an empty land but rather an emptied one".

See also: Population history of American indigenous peoples

Africa

Slavery and the slave trade were part of African societies and states which supplied the Arab world with slaves before the arrival of the Europeans. Several decades prior to discovery of the New World, in response to serious military threat to Europe posed by Muslims of the Ottoman Empire, Pope Nicholas V had granted Portugal the right to subdue Muslims, pagans and other unbelievers in the papal bull Dum Diversas (1452). Six years after African slavery was first outlawed by the first major entity to do so, (Great Britain in 1833), Pope Gregory XVI followed in a challenge to Spanish and Portuguese policy, by condemning slavery and the slave trade in the 1839 papal bull In supremo apostolatus, and approved the ordination of native clergy in the face of government racism. The United States would eventually outlaw African slavery in 1865.

Clapham Sect were a group of social reformers associated with Clapham in the period from the 1780s to the 1840s. Despite the label "sect", most members remained in the established (and dominant) Church of England, which was highly interwoven with offices of state. However, its successors were in many cases outside of the established Anglican Church.

By the close of the 19th century, European powers had managed to gain control of most of the African interior. The new rulers introduced cash-based economies which created an enormous demand for literacy and a western education—a demand which for most Africans could only be satisfied by Christian missionaries. Catholic missionaries followed colonial governments into Africa, and built schools, hospitals, monasteries and churches.

Letters and learning

Main articles: Christianity and science and Catholic Church and science

See also: List of Christian thinkers in science, List of Christian Nobel laureates, List of Roman Catholic scientist-clerics, and List of Catholic scientists

Map of mediaeval universities established by Catholic students, faculty, monarchs, or priests

The influence of the Church on Western letters and learning has been formidable. The ancient texts of the Bible have deeply influenced Western art, literature and culture. For centuries following the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, small monastic communities were practically the only outposts of literacy in Western Europe. In time, the Cathedral schools developed into Europe's earliest universities and the church has established thousands of primary, secondary and tertiary institutions throughout the world in the centuries since. The Church and clergymen have also sought at different times to censor texts and scholars. Thus different schools of opinion exist as to the role and influence of the Church in relation to western letters and learning.

One view, first propounded by Enlightenment philosophers, asserts that the Church's doctrines are entirely superstitious and have hindered the progress of civilization. Communist states have made similar arguments in their education in order to inculcate a negative view of Catholicism (and religion in general) in their citizens. The most famous incidents cited by such critics are the Church's condemnations of the teachings of Copernicus, Galileo Galilei and Johannes Kepler. Events in Christian Europe, such as the Galileo affair, that were associated with the Scientific Revolution and the Age of Enlightenment led some scholars such as John William Draper to postulate a conflict thesis, holding that religion and science have been in conflict throughout history. While the conflict thesis remains popular in atheistic and antireligious circles, it has lost favor among most contemporary historians of science.

Set of pictures for a number of notable scientists self-identified as Christians: Isaac Newton, Robert Boyle, Francis Bacon and Johannes Kepler.

In opposition to this view, some historians of science, including non-Catholics such as J.L. Heilbron, A.C. Crombie, David Lindberg, Edward Grant, historian of science Thomas Goldstein, and Ted Davis, have argued that the Church had a significant, positive influence on the development of Western civilization. They hold that, not only did monks save and cultivate the remnants of ancient civilization during the barbarian invasions, but that the Church promoted learning and science through its sponsorship of many universities which, under its leadership, grew rapidly in Europe in the 11th and 12th centuries. Copernicus, Galileo Galilei, and Johannes Kepler all considered themselves Christian. St.Thomas Aquinas, the Church's "model theologian", argued that reason is in harmony with faith, and that reason can contribute to a deeper understanding of revelation, and so encouraged intellectual development. The Church's priest-scientists, many of whom were Jesuits, have been among the leading lights in astronomy, genetics, geomagnetism, meteorology, seismology, and solar physics, becoming some of the "fathers" of these sciences. Examples include important churchmen such as the Augustinian abbot Gregor Mendel (pioneer in the study of genetics), the monk William of Ockham who developed Ockham's Razor, Roger Bacon (a Franciscan friar who was one of the early advocates of the scientific method), and Belgian priest Georges Lemaître (the first to propose the Big Bang theory). Other notable priest scientists have included Albertus Magnus, Robert Grosseteste, Nicholas Steno, Francesco Grimaldi, Giambattista Riccioli, Roger Boscovich, and Athanasius Kircher. Even more numerous are Catholic laity involved in science:Henri Becquerel who discovered radioactivity; Galvani, Volta, Ampere, Marconi, pioneers in electricity and telecommunications; Lavoisier, "father of modern chemistry"; Vesalius, founder of modern human anatomy; and Cauchy, one of the mathematicians who laid the rigorous foundations of calculus.

Most contemporary historians of science agree that Galileo affair as an exception, with the relationship between science and Christianity, and have corrected numerous false interpretations of the affair. Professor Noah J Efron says that “Generations of historians and sociologists have discovered many ways in which Christians, Christian beliefs, and Christian institutions played crucial roles in fashioning the tenets, methods, and institutions of what in time became modern science. They found that some forms of Christianity provided the motivation to study nature systematically...” Virtually all modern scholars and historians agree that Christianity moved many early-modern intellectuals to study nature systematically.

Christian Scholars and Scientists have made noted contributions to science and technology fields, as well as Medicine, both historically and in modern times. Many well-known historical figures who influenced Western science considered themselves Christian such as Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, Newton and Boyle. Some scholars and historians attributes Christianity to having contributed to the rise of the Scientific Revolution.

According to 100 Years of Nobel Prize (2005), a review of Nobel prizes awarded between 1901 and 2000, 65.4% of Nobel Prize Laureates, have identified Christianity in its various forms as their religious preference (423 prizes). Overall, Christians have won a total of 78.3% of all the Nobel Prizes in Peace, 72.5% in Chemistry, 65.3% in Physics, 62% in Medicine, 54% in Economics and 49.5% of all Literature awards.

Antiquity

David dictating the Psalms, book cover. Ivory, end of the 10th century–11th century.

Christianity began as a Jewish sect in the 1st century AD, and from the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth and his early followers. Jesus learned the texts of the Hebrew Bible and became an influential wandering preacher. Accounts of his life and teachings appear in the New Testament of the Bible, one of the bedrock texts of Western Civilization. His orations, including the Sermon on the Mount, The Good Samaritan and his declaration against hypocrisy "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone" have been deeply influential in Western literature. Many translations of the Bible exist, including the King James Bible, which is one of the most admired texts in English literature. The poetic Psalms and other passages of the Hebrew Bible have also been deeply influential in Western Literature and thought. Accounts of the actions of Jesus' early followers are contained within the Acts of the Apostles and Epistles written between the early Christian communities – in particular the Pauline epistles which are among the earliest extant Christian documents and foundational texts of Christian theology.

After the death of Jesus, the new sect grew to be the dominant religion of the Roman Empire and the long tradition of Christian scholarship began. When the Western Roman Empire was starting to disintegrate, St Augustine was Bishop of Hippo Regius. He was a Latin-speaking philosopher and theologian who lived in the Roman Africa Province. His writings were very influential in the development of Western Christianity and he developed the concept of the Church as a spiritual City of God (in a book of the same name), distinct from the material Earthly City. His book Confessions, which outlines his sinful youth and conversion to Christianity, is widely considered to be the first autobiography of ever written in the canon of Western Literature. Augustine profoundly influenced the coming medieval worldview.

Byzantine Empire

See also: Byzantine science, Byzantine medicine, and Byzantine law

Interior panorama of the Hagia Sophia, the patriarchal basilica in Constantinople designed 537 CE by Isidore of Miletus, the first compiler of Archimedes' various works. The influence of Archimedes' principles of solid geometry is evident.

The Byzantine Empire was one of the peaks in Christian history and Christian civilization, and Constantinople remained the leading city of the Christian world in size, wealth, and culture. There was a renewed interest in classical Greek philosophy, as well as an increase in literary output in vernacular Greek.

The Byzantine science played an important role in the transmission of classical knowledge to the Islamic world and to Renaissance Italy, and also in the transmission of Islamic science to Renaissance Italy. Many of the most distinguished classical scholars held high office in the Eastern Orthodox Church.

The Imperial University of Constantinople sometimes known as the University of the Palace Hall of Magnaura (Greek: Πανδιδακτήριον τῆς Μαγναύρας), was an Eastern Roman educational institution that could trace its corporate origins to 425 AD, when the emperor Theodosius II founded the Pandidakterion (Medieval Greek: Πανδιδακτήριον). The Pandidakterion was refounded in 1046 by Constantine IX Monomachos who created the Departments of Law (Διδασκαλεῖον τῶν Νόμων) and Philosophy (Γυμνάσιον). At the time various economic schools, colleges, polytechnics, libraries and fine arts academies also operated in the city of Constantinople. And a few scholars have gone so far as to call the Pandidakterion the first "university" in the world.

The writings of Classical antiquity never ceased to be cultivated in Byzantium. Therefore, Byzantine science was in every period closely connected with ancient philosophy, and metaphysics. In the field of engineering Isidore of Miletus, the Greek mathematician and architect of the Hagia Sophia, produced the first compilation of Archimedes works c. 530, and it is through this tradition, kept alive by the school of mathematics and engineering founded c. 850 during the "Byzantine Renaissance" by Leo the Geometer that such works are known today (see Archimedes Palimpsest). Indeed, geometry and its applications (architecture and engineering instruments of war) remained a specialty of the Byzantines.

The frontispiece of the Vienna Dioscurides, which shows a set of seven famous physicians

Though scholarship lagged during the dark years following the Arab conquests, during the so-called Byzantine Renaissance at the end of the first millennium Byzantine scholars re-asserted themselves becoming experts in the scientific developments of the Arabs and Persians, particularly in astronomy and mathematics. The Byzantines are also credited with several technological advancements, particularly in architecture (e.g. the pendentive dome) and warfare technology (e.g. Greek fire).

Although at various times the Byzantines made magnificent achievements in the application of the sciences (notably in the construction of the Hagia Sophia), and although they preserved much of the ancient knowledge of science and geometry, after the 6th century Byzantine scholars made few novel contributions to science in terms of developing new theories or extending the ideas of classical authors.;

In the final century of the Empire, Byzantine grammarians were those principally responsible for carrying, in person and in writing, ancient Greek grammatical and literary studies to early Renaissance Italy. During this period, astronomy and other mathematical sciences were taught in Trebizond; medicine attracted the interest of almost all scholars.

In the field of law, Justinian I's reforms had a clear effect on the evolution of jurisprudence, and Leo III's Ecloga influenced the formation of legal institutions in the Slavic world.

In the 10th century, Leo VI the Wise achieved the complete codification of the whole of Byzantine law in Greek, which became the foundation of all subsequent Byzantine law, generating interest to the present day.

Preservation of Classical learning

The Book of Kells. Celtic Church scholars did much to preserve the texts of ancient Europe through the Dark Ages.

During the period of European history often called the Dark Ages which followed the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, Church scholars and missionaries played a vital role in preserving knowledge of Classical Learning. While the Roman Empire and Christian religion survived in an increasingly Hellenised form in the Byzantine Empire centred at Constantinople in the East, Western civilisation suffered a collapse of literacy and organisation following the fall of Rome in 476AD. Monks sought refuge at the far fringes of the known world: like Cornwall, Ireland, or the Hebrides. Disciplined Christian scholarship carried on in isolated outposts like Skellig Michael in Ireland, where literate monks became some of the last preservers in Western Europe of the poetic and philosophical works of Western antiquity. By around 800AD they were producing illuminated manuscripts such as the Book of Kells, by which old learning was re-communicated to Western Europe. The Hiberno-Scottish mission led by Irish and Scottish monks like St Columba spread Christianity back into Western Europe during the Middle Ages, establishing monasteries through Anglo-Saxon England and the Frankish Empire during the Middle Ages.

Thomas Cahill, in his 1995 book How the Irish Saved Civilization, credited Irish Monks with having "saved" Western Civilization:

[A]s the Roman Empire fell, as all through Europe matted, unwashed barbarians descended on the Roman cities, looting artifacts and burning books, the Irish, who were just learning to read and write, took up the great labor of copying all western literature – everything they could lay their hands on. These scribes then served as conduits through which the Greco-Roman and Judeo-Christian cultures were transmitted to the tribes of Europe, newly settled amid the rubble and ruined vineyards of the civilization they had overwhelmed. Without this Service of the Scribes, everything that happened subsequently would be unthinkable. Without the Mission of the Irish Monks, who single-handedly re-founded European civilization throughout the continent in the bays and valleys of their exile, the world that came after them would have been an entirely different one-a world without books. And our own world would never have come to be.

According to art historian Kenneth Clark, for some five centuries after the fall of Rome, virtually all men of intellect joined the Church and practically nobody in western Europe outside of monastic settlements had the ability to read or write. While church scholars at different times also destroyed classical texts they felt were contrary to the Christian message, it was they, virtually alone in Western Europe, who preserved texts from the old society.

As Western Europe became more orderly again, the Church remained a driving force in education, setting up Cathedral schools beginning in the Early Middle Ages as centers of education, which became medieval universities, the springboard of many of Western Europe's later achievements.

Numbers written with Cistercian numerals. From left to right: 1 in units place, 2 in tens place (20), 3 in hundreds place (300), 4 in thousands place (4000), then compound numbers 5555, 6789, 9394.

The Catholic Cistercian order used its own numbering system, which could express numbers from 0 to 9999 in a single sign. According to one modern Cistercian, "enterprise and entrepreneurial spirit" have always been a part of the order's identity, and the Cistercians "were catalysts for development of a market economy" in 12th-century Europe. Until the Industrial Revolution, most of the technological advances in Europe were made in the monasteries. According to the medievalist Jean Gimpel, their high level of industrial technology facilitated the diffusion of new techniques: "Every monastery had a model factory, often as large as the church and only several feet away, and waterpower drove the machinery of the various industries located on its floor." Waterpower was used for crushing wheat, sieving flour, fulling cloth and tanning – a "level of technological achievement [that] could have been observed in practically all" of the Cistercian monasteries. The English science historian James Burke examines the impact of Cistercian waterpower, derived from Roman watermill technology such as that of Barbegal aqueduct and mill near Arles in the fourth of his ten-part Connections TV series, called "Faith in Numbers". The Cistercians made major contributions to culture and technology in medieval Europe: Cistercian architecture is considered one of the most beautiful styles of medieval architecture; and the Cistercians were the main force of technological diffusion in fields such as agriculture and hydraulic engineering.

Index Librorum Prohibitorum

Title page of Index Librorum Prohibitorum (Venice 1564).

The Index Librorum Prohibitorum ("List of Prohibited Books") was a list of publications prohibited by the Catholic Church. While the promulgation of the Index has been described by some as the "turning-point in the freedom of enquiry" in the Catholic world, the actual effects of the Index were minimal and it was largely ignored. John Hedley Brooke explains:

It is important not to exaggerate the oppressive effects of Index and Inquisition. The Counter-Reformation did not prevent Italian scholars from making original contributions in classical scholarship, history, law, literary criticism, logic, mathematics, medicine, philology, and rhetoric. Nor were they isolated by the Index from European scholarship. Prohibited books entered private libraries where they would be consulted by those prepared to break the rules in the interests of learning. One such collection was in the hands of Galileo's Paduan friend, G. V. Pinelli. One can lose a sense of perspective if the condemnation of Galileo is taken to epitomize the attitude of Catholic authorities toward the natural sciences. Relatively few scientific works were placed on the Index. The attempt to put a stop to the moving earth stands out because it proved so tragic an aberration – a personal tragedy for Galileo and, in the long run, a tragedy for the Church, which overreached itself in securing a territory that would prove impossible to hold.

The first Index was published in 1559 by the Sacred Congregation of the Roman Inquisition. The last edition of the Index appeared in 1948 and publication of the list ceased 1966.

The avowed aim of the list was to protect the faith and morals of the faithful by preventing the reading of immoral books or works containing theological errors. Books thought to contain such errors included some scientific works by leading astronomers such as Johannes Kepler's Epitome astronomiae Copernicianae, which was on the Index from 1621 to 1835. The various editions of the Index also contained the rules of the Church relating to the reading, selling and pre-emptive censorship of books.

Canon law still recommends that works concerning sacred Scripture, theology, canon law, church history, and any writings which specially concern religion or good morals, be submitted to the judgement of the local Ordinary.

Some of the scientific works that were on early editions of the Index (e.g. on heliocentrism) have long been routinely taught at Catholic universities worldwide. Giordano Bruno, whose works were on the Index, now has a monument in Rome, erected over the Church's objections at the place where he was burned alive at the stake for heresy.

Protestant role in science

According to the Merton Thesis there was a positive correlation between the rise of puritanism and protestant pietism on the one hand and early experimental science on the other. The Merton Thesis has two separate parts: Firstly, it presents a theory that science changes due to an accumulation of observations and improvement in experimental techniques and methodology; secondly, it puts forward the argument that the popularity of science in 17th-century England and the religious demography of the Royal Society (English scientists of that time were predominantly Puritans or other Protestants) can be explained by a correlation between Protestantism and the scientific values. In his theory, Robert K. Merton focused on English Puritanism and German Pietism as having been responsible for the development of the scientific revolution of the 17th and 18th centuries. Merton explained that the connection between religious affiliation and interest in science was the result of a significant synergy between the ascetic Protestant values and those of modern science. Protestant values encouraged scientific research by allowing science to study God's influence on the world and thus providing a religious justification for scientific research.

Astronomy

Vatican Observatory Telescope in Castel Gandolfo.

Historically, the Catholic Church has been a major a sponsor of astronomy, not least due to the astronomical basis of the calendar by which holy days and Easter are determined. Nevertheless, the most famous case of a scientist being tried for heresy arose in this field of science: the trial of Galileo.

The Church's interest in astronomy began with purely practical concerns, when in the 16th century Pope Gregory XIII required astronomers to correct for the fact that the Julian calendar had fallen out of sync with the sky. Since the Spring equinox was tied to the celebration of Easter, the Church considered that this steady movement in the date of the equinox was undesirable. The resulting Gregorian calendar is the internationally accepted civil calendar used throughout the world today and is an important contribution of the Catholic Church to Western Civilisation. It was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII, after whom the calendar was named, by a decree signed on 24 February 1582. In 1789, the Vatican Observatory opened. It was moved to Castel Gandolfo in the 1930s and the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope began making observation in Arizona, US, in 1995.

Detail of the tomb of Pope Gregory XIII celebrating the introduction of the Gregorian Calendar.

Galileo facing the Roman Inquisition by Cristiano Banti (1857).

The famous astronomers Nicholas Copernicus, who put the Sun at the centre of the heavens in 1543, and Galileo Galilei, who experimented with the new technology of the telescope and, with its aid declared his belief that Copernicus was correct, were both practising Catholics – indeed Copernicus was a Catholic clergyman. Yet the church establishment at that time held to theories devised in pre-Christian Greece by Ptolemy and Aristotle, which said that the sky revolved around the Earth. When Galileo began to assert that the Earth in fact revolved around the Sun, he therefore found himself challenging the Church establishment at a time where the Church hierarchy also held temporal power and was engaged in the ongoing political challenge of the rise of Protestantism. After discussions with Pope Urban VIII (a man who had written admiringly of Galileo before taking papal office), Galileo believed he could avoid censure by presenting his arguments in dialogue form, but the Pope took offence when he discovered that some of his own words were being spoken by a character in the book who was a simpleton and Galileo was called for a trial before the Inquisition.

In this most famous example cited by critics of the Catholic Church's "posture towards science", Galileo Galilei was denounced in 1633 for his work on the heliocentric model of the Solar System, previously proposed by the Polish clergyman and intellectual Nicolaus Copernicus. Copernicus's work had been suppressed de facto by the Church, but Catholic authorities were generally tolerant of discussion of the hypothesis as long as it was portrayed only as a useful mathematical fiction, and not descriptive of reality. Galileo, by contrast, argued from his unprecedented observations of the Solar System that the heliocentric system was not merely an abstract model for calculating planetary motions, but actually corresponded to physical reality – that is, he insisted the planets really do orbit the Sun. After years of telescopic observation, consultations with the Popes, and verbal and written discussions with astronomers and clerics, a trial was convened by the Tribunal of the Roman and Universal Inquisition. Galileo was found "vehemently suspect of heresy" (not "guilty of heresy", as is frequently misreported), placed under house arrest, and all of his works, including any future writings, were banned. Galileo had been threatened with torture and other Catholic scientists fell silent on the issue. Galileo's great contemporary René Descartes stopped publishing in France and went to Sweden. According to Polish-British historian of science Jacob Bronowski:

The effect of the trial and imprisonment was to put a total stop to the scientific tradition in the Mediterranean. From now on the Scientific Revolution moved to Northern Europe.

Pope John Paul II, on 31 October 1992, publicly expressed regret for the actions of those Catholics who badly treated Galileo in that trial. Cardinal John Henry Newman, in the nineteenth century, claimed that those who attack the Church can only point to the Galileo case, which to many historians does not prove the Church's opposition to science since many of the churchmen at that time were encouraged by the Church to continue their research.

Evolution

Main article: Evolution and the Catholic Church

Since the publication of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species in 1859, the position of the Catholic Church on the theory of evolution has slowly been refined. For about 100 years, there was no authoritative pronouncement on the subject, though many hostile comments were made by local church figures. In contrast with many Protestant objections, Catholic issues with evolutionary theory have had little to do with maintaining the literalism of the account in the Book of Genesis, and have always been concerned with the question of how man came to have a soul. Modern Creationism has had little Catholic support. In the 1950s, the Church's position was one of neutrality; by the late 20th century its position evolved to one of general acceptance in recent years. However, the church insists that the human soul was immediately infused by God, and the reality of a single ancestor (commonly called monogenism) for the human race.

Today, the Church's official position is a fairly non-specific example of theistic evolution, stating that faith and scientific findings regarding human evolution are not in conflict, though humans are regarded as a special creation, and that the existence of God is required to explain both monogenism and the spiritual component of human origins. No infallible declarations by the Pope or an Ecumenical Council have been made. The Catholic Church's official position is fairly non-specific, stating only that faith and the origin of man's material body "from pre-existing living matter" are not in conflict, and that the existence of God is required to explain the spiritual component of man's origin.

Embryonic stem cell research

Recently, the Church has been criticized for its teaching that embryonic stem cell research is a form of experimentation on human beings, and results in the killing of a human person. Much criticism of this position has been on the grounds that the doctrine hinders scientific research; even some conservatives, taking a utilitarian position, have pointed out that most embryos from which stem cells are harvested are "leftover" from in vitro fertilization, and would soon be discarded whether used for such research or not. The Church, by contrast, has consistently upheld its ideal of the dignity of each individual human life, and argues that it is as wrong to destroy an embryo as it would be to kill an adult human being; and that therefore advances in medicine can and must come without the destruction of human embryos, for example by using adult or umbilical stem cells in place of embryonic stem cells.

The arts

Byzantium

Main articles: Art in Roman Catholicism, List of Roman Catholic Church musicians, and Byzantine art

The Creation of Adam by Michelangelo from the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

Byzantine mosaic of the Deesis, 13th century, Hagia Sophia.

An 18th century Italian depiction of the Parable of the Good Samaritan. Biblical subjects have been a constant theme of Western art.

Byzantine art comprises the body of Christian Greek artistic products of the Eastern Roman Empire, as well as the nations and states that inherited culturally from the empire. Though the empire itself emerged from the decline of Rome and lasted until the Fall of Constantinople in 1453.

Many Eastern Orthodox states in Eastern Europe, as well as to some degree the Muslim states of the eastern Mediterranean, preserved many aspects of the empire's culture and art for centuries afterward. A number of states contemporary with the Byzantine Empire were culturally influenced by it, without actually being part of it (the "Byzantine commonwealth"). These included Bulgaria, Serbia, and the Rus, as well as some non-Orthodox states like the Republic of Venice and the Kingdom of Sicily, which had close ties to the Byzantine Empire despite being in other respects part of western European culture. Art produced by Eastern Orthodox Christians living in the Ottoman Empire is often called "post-Byzantine". Certain artistic traditions that originated in the Byzantine Empire, particularly in regard to icon painting and church architecture, are maintained in Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Russia and other Eastern Orthodox countries to the present day.

Architecture

Main article: Architecture of cathedrals and great churches

Several historians credit the Catholic Church for what they consider to be the brilliance and magnificence of Western art. "Even though the church dominated art and architecture, it did not prevent architects and artists from experimenting..." Historians such as Thomas Woods refer to the western Church's consistent opposition to Byzantine iconoclasm, an eastern movement against visual representations of the divine, and the western church's insistence on building structures befitting worship. Important contributions include its cultivation and patronage of individual artists, as well as development of the Romanesque, Gothic and Renaissance styles of art and architecture. Augustine's repeated reference to Wisdom 11:20 (God "ordered all things by measure and number and weight") influenced the geometric constructions of Gothic architecture.

British art historian Kenneth Clark wrote that Western Europe's first "great age of civilization" was ready to begin around the year 1000. From 1100, he wrote, monumental abbeys and cathedrals were constructed and decorated with sculptures, hangings, mosaics and works belonging to one of the greatest epochs of art, providing stark contrast to the monotonous and cramped conditions of ordinary living during the period. The Late Middle Ages produced ever more extravagant art and architecture, but also the virtuous simplicity of those such as St Francis of Assisi (expressed in the Canticle of the Sun) and the epic poetry of Dante's Divine Comedy. Abbot Suger of the Abbey of St. Denis is considered an influential early patron of Gothic architecture. He believed that love of beauty brought people closer to God: "The dull mind rises to truth through that which is material". Clarke calls this "the intellectual background of all the sublime works of art of the next century and in fact has remained the basis of our belief of the value of art until today".

Painting and sculpture

Renaissance artists such as Raphael, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Bernini, Botticelli, Fra Angelico, Tintoretto, Caravaggio, and Titian, were among a multitude of innovative virtuosos sponsored by the Church. During both The Renaissance and the Counter-Reformation, Catholic artists produced many of the unsurpassed masterpieces of Western art – often inspired by Biblical themes: from Michelangelo's David and Pietà sculptures, to Da Vinci's Last Supper and Raphael's various Madonna paintings. Referring to a "great outburst of creative energy such as took place in Rome between 1620 and 1660", Kenneth Clarke wrote:

[W]ith a single exception, the great artists of the time were all sincere, conforming Christians. Guercino spent much of his mornings in prayer; Bernini frequently went into retreats and practised the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius; Rubens attended Mass every morning before beginning work. The exception was Caravaggio, who was like the hero of a modern play, except that he happened to paint very well.This conformism was not based on fear of the Inquisition, but on the perfectly simple belief that the faith which had inspired the great saints of the preceding generation was something by which a man should regulate his life.

Music

In music, Catholic monks developed the first forms of modern Western musical notation in order to standardize liturgy throughout the worldwide Church, and an enormous body of religious music has been composed for it through the ages. This led directly to the emergence and development of European classical music, and its many derivatives. The Baroque style, which encompassed music, art, and architecture, was particularly encouraged by the post-Reformation Catholic Church as such forms offered a means of religious expression that was stirring and emotional, intended to stimulate religious fervor.

The list of Catholic composers and Catholic sacred music which have a prominent place in Western culture is extensive, but includes Ludwig van Beethoven's Ode to Joy; Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Ave Verum Corpus; Franz Schubert's Ave Maria, César Franck's Panis angelicus, and Antonio Vivaldi's Gloria.

Literature

Main article: Christian literature

Further information: Christian library, Christian drama, American Catholic literature, Mennonite literature, and Mormon fiction

John Speed's Genealogies Recorded in the Sacred Scriptures (1611), bound into first King James Bible in quarto size (1612).

Christian literature is writing that deals with Christian themes and incorporates the Christian world view. This constitutes a huge body of extremely varied writing. Christian poetry is any poetry that contains Christian teachings, themes, or references. The influence of Christianity on poetry has been great in any area that Christianity has taken hold. Christian poems often directly reference the Bible, while others provide allegory.

Similarly, the list of Catholic authors and literary works is vast. With a literary tradition spanning two millennia, the Bible and Papal Encyclicals have been constants of the Catholic canon but countless other historical works may be listed as noteworthy in terms of their influence on Western society. From late Antiquity, St Augustine's book Confessions, which outlines his sinful youth and conversion to Christianity, is widely considered to be the first autobiography ever written in the canon of Western Literature. Augustine profoundly influenced the coming medieval worldview. The Summa Theologica, written 1265–1274, is the best-known work of Thomas Aquinas (c.1225–1274), and although unfinished, "one of the classics of the history of philosophy and one of the most influential works of Western literature." It is intended as a manual for beginners in theology and a compendium of all of the main theological teachings of the Church. It presents the reasoning for almost all points of Christian theology in the West. The epic poetry of the Italian Dante and his Divine Comedy of the late Middle Ages is also considered immensely influential. The English statesman and philosopher, Thomas More, wrote the seminal work Utopia in 1516. St Ignatius Loyola, a key figure in the Catholic counter-reformation, is the author of an influential book of meditations known as the Spiritual Exercises.

Saint Thomas Aquinas was one of the great scholars of the Medieval period.

Scholasticism was initially a program conducted by medieval Christian thinkers attempting to harmonize the various authorities of their own tradition, and to reconcile Christian theology with classical and late antiquity philosophy, especially that of Aristotle but also of Neoplatonism. The scholastics' intellectual systems by Aquinas, called the Summa Theologiae, influenced the writings of Dante, and in turn, Dante's creation and sacramental theology has contributed to a Catholic imagination influencing writers such as J. R. R. Tolkien and William Shakespeare.

In Catholicism, "Doctor of the Church" is a name is given to a saint from whose writings the whole Church is held to have derived great advantage and to whom "eminent learning" and "great sanctity" have been attributed by a proclamation of a pope or of an ecumenical council. This honour is given rarely, and only after canonization.

The King James Version, is an English translation of the Christian Bible, has been described as one of the most important books in English culture and a driving force in the shaping of the English-speaking world.

Protestant

The arts have been strongly inspired by Protestant beliefs. Martin Luther, Paul Gerhardt, George Wither, Isaac Watts, Charles Wesley, William Cowper, and many other authors and composers created well-known church hymns. Musicians like Heinrich Schütz, Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frederick Handel, Henry Purcell, Johannes Brahms, and Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy composed great works of music. Prominent painters with Protestant background were, for example, Albrecht Dürer, Hans Holbein the Younger, Lucas Cranach, Rembrandt, and Vincent van Gogh. World literature was enriched by the works of Edmund Spenser, John Milton, John Bunyan, John Donne, John Dryden, Daniel Defoe, William Wordsworth, Jonathan Swift, Johann Wolfgang Goethe, Friedrich Schiller, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Edgar Allan Poe, Matthew Arnold, Conrad Ferdinand Meyer, Theodor Fontane, Washington Irving, Robert Browning, Emily Dickinson, Emily Brontë, Charles Dickens, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Thomas Stearns Eliot, John Galsworthy, Thomas Mann, William Faulkner, John Updike, and many others.

Economic development

Statue of Francisco de Vitoria at San Esteban, Salamanca

The notion of Christian finance refers to banking and financial activities which came into existence several centuries ago.

Christian Churches, such as the Catholic Church and Reformed Church, traditionally prohibit usury as a sin against the eighth commandment.

The activities of the Knights Templar (12th century), Mounts of Piety (appeared in 1462) or the Apostolic Chamber attached directly to the Vatican, may have given rise to operations of a banking nature or a financial nature (issuance of securities, investments) is proved.

Francisco de Vitoria, a disciple of Thomas Aquinas and a Catholic thinker who studied the issue regarding the human rights of colonized natives, is recognized by the United Nations as a father of international law, and now also by historians of economics and democracy as a leading light for the West's democracy and rapid economic development.

Joseph Schumpeter, an economist of the twentieth century, referring to the Scholastics, wrote, "it is they who come nearer than does any other group to having been the 'founders' of scientific economics." Other economists and historians, such as Raymond de Roover, Marjorie Grice-Hutchinson, and Alejandro Chafuen, have also made similar statements. Historian Paul Legutko of Stanford University said the Catholic Church is "at the center of the development of the values, ideas, science, laws, and institutions which constitute what we call Western civilization."

Catholic banking families includes House of Medici, Welser family, Fugger family, and Simonetti family.

Protestant work ethic

Main article: Protestant work ethic

Cover of the original German edition of The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism

The rise of Protestantism in the 16th century contributed to the development of banking in Northern Europe. In the late 18th century, Protestant merchant families began to move into banking to an increasing degree, especially in trading countries such as the United Kingdom (Barings, Lloyd), Germany (Schroders, Berenbergs) and the Netherlands (Hope & Co., Gülcher & Mulder). At the same time, new types of financial activities broadened the scope of banking far beyond its origins. One school of thought attributes Calvinism with setting the stage for the later development of capitalism in northern Europe. The Morgan family is an American Episcopal Church family and banking dynasty, which became prominent in the U.S. and throughout the world in the late 19th century and early 20th century.

The Protestant work ethic, the Calvinist work ethic, or the Puritan work ethic is a work ethic concept in theology, sociology, economics and history which emphasizes that hard work, discipline, and frugality are a result of a person's subscription to the values espoused by the Protestant faith, particularly Calvinism. The phrase was initially coined in 1904–1905 by Max Weber in his book The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. Weber asserted that Protestant ethics and values along with the Calvinist doctrine of asceticism and predestination gave birth to capitalism. It is one of the most influential and cited books in sociology although the thesis presented has been controversial since its release. In opposition to Weber, historians such as Fernand Braudel and Hugh Trevor-Roper assert that the Protestant work ethic did not create capitalism and that capitalism developed in pre-Reformation Catholic communities. Just as priests and caring professionals are deemed to have a vocation (or "calling" from God) for their work, according to the Protestant work ethic the lowly workman also has a noble vocation which he can fulfil through dedication to his work.

The Protestant concept of God and man allows believers to use all their God-given faculties, including the power of reason. That means that they are allowed to explore God's creation and, according to Genesis 2:15, make use of it in a responsible and sustainable way. Thus a cultural climate was created that greatly enhanced the development of the humanities and the sciences. Another consequence of the Protestant understanding of man is that the believers, in gratitude for their election and redemption in Christ, are to follow God's commandments. Industry, frugality, calling, discipline, and a strong sense of responsibility are at the heart of their moral code. In particular, Calvin rejected luxury. Therefore, craftsmen, industrialists, and other businessmen were able to reinvest the greater part of their profits in the most efficient machinery and the most modern production methods that were based on progress in the sciences and technology. As a result, productivity grew, which led to increased profits and enabled employers to pay higher wages. In this way, the economy, the sciences, and technology reinforced each other. The chance to participate in the economic success of technological inventions was a strong incentive to both inventors and investors. The Protestant work ethic was an important force behind the unplanned and uncoordinated mass action that influenced the development of capitalism and the Industrial Revolution. This idea is also known as the "Protestant ethic thesis".

Trinity Church in Manhattan; it has been seen as embodying the White Anglo-Saxon Protestant culture in the United States.

Episcopalians and Presbyterians tend to be considerably wealthier and better educated (having more graduate and post-graduate degrees per capita) than most other religious groups in America, and are disproportionately represented in the upper reaches of American business, law and politics, especially the Republican Party. Large numbers of the most wealthy and affluent American families as the Vanderbilts, Astors, Rockefellers, Du Ponts, Whitneys, Morgans, Fords, Mellons, Van Leers, Browns, Waynes and Harrimans are Mainline Protestant families. The Boston Brahmins, who were regarded as the nation's social and cultural elites, were often associated with the American upper class, Harvard University; and the Episcopal Church. The Old Philadelphianss were often associated with the American upper class and the Episcopal Church and Quakerism. These families were influential in the development and leadership of arts, culture, science, medicine, law, politics, industry and trade in the United States.

Some academics have theorized that Lutheranism, the dominant traditional religion of the Nordic countries, had an effect on the development of social democracy there and the Nordic model. Schröder posits that Lutheranism promoted the idea of a nationwide community of believers and led to increased state involvement in economic and social life, allowing for nationwide welfare solidarity and economic co-ordination. Esa Mangeloja says that the revival movements helped to pave the way for the modern Finnish welfare state. During that process, the church lost some of its most important social responsibilities (health care, education, and social work) as these tasks were assumed by the secular Finnish state. Pauli Kettunen presents the Nordic model as the outcome of a sort of mythical "Lutheran peasant enlightenment", portraying the Nordic model as the result of a sort of "secularized Lutheranism"; however, mainstream academic discourse on the subject focuses on "historical specificity", with the centralized structure of the Lutheran church being but one aspect of the cultural values and state structures that led to the development of the welfare state in Scandinavia.

Social justice, care-giving, and the hospital system

See also: Catholic social teaching and Catholic Church and health care

Historian of hospitals, Guenter Risse, says that the Church spearheaded the development of a hospital system geared towards the marginalized.

The Catholic Church has contributed to society through its social doctrine which has guided leaders to promote social justice and providing care to the sick and poor. In orations such as his Sermon on the Mount and stories such as The Good Samaritan, Jesus called on followers to worship God, act without violence or prejudice and care for the sick, hungry and poor. Such teachings are the foundation of Catholic Church involvement in social justice, hospitals and health care.

Today the Roman Catholic Church is the largest non-government provider of health care services in the world. It has around 18,000 clinics, 16,000 homes for the elderly and those with special needs, and 5,500 hospitals, with 65 percent of them located in developing countries. In 2010, the Church's Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Health Care Workers said that the Church manages 26% of the world's health care facilities. The Church's involvement in health care has ancient origins.

Fourth century

Historians record that, prior to Christianity, the ancient world left little trace of any organized charitable effort. Christian charity and the practice of feeding and clothing the poor, visiting prisoners, supporting widows and orphan children has had sweeping impact.

Albert Jonsen, University of Washington historian of medicine, says "the second great sweep of medical history begins at the end of the fourth century, with the founding of the first Christian hospital at Caesarea in Cappadocia, and concludes at the end of the fourteenth century, with medicine well ensconced in the universities and in the public life of the emerging nations of Europe." After the death of Eusebios in 370 and the election of Basil as bishop of Caesarea, Basil established the first formal soup kitchen, hospital, homeless shelter, hospice, poorhouse, orphanage, reform center for thieves, women's center for those leaving prostitution and many other ministries. Basil was personally involved and invested in the projects and process giving all of his personal wealth to fund the ministries. Basil himself would put on an apron and work in the soup kitchen. These ministries were given freely regardless of religious affiliation. Basil refused to make any discrimination when it came to people who needed help saying that "the digestive systems of the Jew and the Christian are indistinguishable." "...there is a striking resemblance between [Basil's] ideals and those of modern times. ...certainly he was the most modern among the pioneers of monasticism, and for this reason, if for none other, his work has a permanent interest..."

Panorama of Siena's Santa Maria della Scala Hospital, one of Europe's oldest hospitals.

Charity has now become a universal practice. Christianity played a key role in the building and maintaining of hospitals in the Byzantine Empire. Many hospitals were built and maintained by bishops in their respective prefectures. Hospitals were usually built near or around churches, and great importance was laid on the idea of healing through salvation. When medicine failed, doctors would ask their patients to pray. This often involved icons of Cosmas and Damian, patron saints of medicine and doctors. Christianity also played a key role in propagating the idea of charity. Medicine was made, according to Oregon State University historian, Gary Ferngren (professor of ancient Greek and Rome history with a speciality in ancient medicine) "accessible to all and... simple". In the actual practice of medicine there is evidence of Christian influence. John Zacharias Aktouarios recommends the use of Holy Water mixed with a pellitory plant to act as a way to cure epilepsy.

Medieval period

The Catholic Church established a hospital system in Medieval Europe that was different from the merely reciprocal hospitality of the Greeks and family-based obligations of the Romans. These hospitals were established to cater to "particular social groups marginalized by poverty, sickness, and age", according to historian of hospitals, Guenter Risse.

The Fugger Family from Augsburg, Germany who were bankers, 500 years ago founded one of the first social housing projects in the world, which exists till today.

Industrial Revolution

Further information: Liberation theology

"After the Battle of Gravelotte. The French Sisters of Mercy of St. Borromeo arriving on the battle field to succor the wounded." Unsigned lithograph, 1870 or 1871.

In 1891 Pope Leo XIII issued Rerum novarum in which the Church defined the dignity and rights of industrial workers.

The Industrial Revolution brought many concerns about the deteriorating working and living conditions of urban workers. Influenced by the German Bishop Wilhelm Emmanuel Freiherr von Ketteler, in 1891 Pope Leo XIII published the encyclical Rerum novarum, which set in context Catholic social teaching in terms that rejected socialism but advocated the regulation of working conditions. Rerum Novarum argued for the establishment of a living wage and the right of workers to form trade unions.

Quadragesimo anno was issued by Pope Pius XI, on 15 May 1931, 40 years after Rerum novarum. Unlike Leo, who addressed mainly the condition of workers, Pius XI concentrated on the ethical implications of the social and economic order. He called for the reconstruction of the social order based on the principle of solidarity and subsidiarity. He noted major dangers for human freedom and dignity, arising from unrestrained capitalism and totalitarian communism.

The social teachings of Pope Pius XII repeat these teachings, and apply them in greater detail not only to workers and owners of capital, but also to other professions such as politicians, educators, house-wives, farmers bookkeepers, international organizations, and all aspects of life including the military. Going beyond Pius XI, he also defined social teachings in the areas of medicine, psychology, sport, TV, science, law and education. Pius XII was called "the Pope of Technology" for his willingness and ability to examine the social implications of technological advances. The dominant concern was the continued rights and dignity of the individual. With the beginning of the space age at the end of his pontificate, Pius XII explored the social implications of space exploration and satellites on the social fabric of humanity asking for a new sense of community and solidarity in light of existing papal teachings on subsidiarity.

The Methodist Church, among other Christian denominations, was responsible for the establishment of hospitals, universities, orphanages, soup kitchens, and schools to follow Jesus's command to spread the Good News and serve all people. In Western nations, governments have increasingly taken up funding and organisation of health services for the poor but the Church still maintains a massive network of health care providers across the world. In the West, these institutions are increasingly run by lay-people after centuries of being run by priests, nuns and brothers, In 2009, Catholic hospitals in the US received approximately one of every six patients, according to the Catholic Health Association. Catholic Health Australia is the largest non-government provider grouping of health, community and aged care services, representing about 10% of the health sector. In 1968, nuns or priests were the chief executives of 770 of America's 796 Catholic hospitals. By 2011, they presided over 8 of 636 hospitals.

As with schooling, women have played a vital role in running and staffing Christian care institutions – in Methodist hospitals, deaconesses who trained as nurses staffed the hospitals, and in Catholic hospitals, through religious institutes like the Sisters of Mercy, Little Sisters of the Poor and Sisters of St. Mary – and teaching and nursing have been seen as "women's vocations". Seeking to define the role played by religious in hospitals through American history, the New York Times noted that nuns were trained to "see Jesus in the face of every patient" and that:

Although their influence is often described as intangible, the nuns kept their hospitals focused on serving the needy and brought a spiritual reassurance that healing would prevail over profit, authorities on Catholic health care say.

Asia

See also: Medical missions in China

Portrait of Peter Parker; an American physician and a missionary who introduced Western medical techniques into Qing dynasty China.

Protestant and Catholic physicians and surgeons of the 19th and early 20th centuries laid many foundations for modern medicine in China. Western medical missionaries established the first modern clinics and hospitals, provided the first training for nurses, and opened the first medical schools in China. Work was also done in opposition to the abuse of opium. Medical treatment and care came to many Chinese who were addicted, and eventually public and official opinion was influenced in favor of bringing an end to the destructive trade. By 1901, China was the most popular destination for medical missionaries. The 150 foreign physicians operated 128 hospitals and 245 dispensaries, treating 1.7 million patients. In 1894, male medical missionaries comprised 14 percent of all missionaries; women doctors were four percent. Modern medical education in China started in the early 20th century at hospitals run by international missionaries.

Missionaries from other Christian denominations came to British India; Lutheran missionaries, for example, arrived in Calcutta in 1836 and by "the year 1880 there were over 31,200 Lutheran Christians spread out in 1,052 villages". Methodists began arriving in India in 1783 and established missions with a focus on "education, health ministry, and evangelism". In the 1790s, Christians from the London Missionary Society and Baptist Missionary Society, began doing missionary work in the Indian Empire. In Neyoor, the London Missionary Society Hospital "pioneered improvements in the public health system for the treatment of diseases even before organised attempts were made by the colonial Madras Presidency, reducing the death rate substantially".

Education

See also: Christian school, Catholic school, Cathedral school, Catholic university, and Medieval university

The number of Catholic institutions as of 2000

Institutions	#
Parishes and missions	408,637
Primary and secondary schools	125,016
Universities	1,046
Hospitals	5,853
Orphanages	8,695
Homes for the elderly and handicapped	13,933
Dispensaries, leprosaries, nurseries and other institutions	74,936

Missionary activity for the Catholic Church has always incorporated education of evangelized peoples as part of its social ministry. History shows that in evangelized lands, the first people to operate schools were Roman Catholics. In some countries, the Church is the main provider of education or significantly supplements government forms of education. Presently, the Church operates the world's largest non-governmental school system. Many of Western Civilization's most influential universities were founded by the Catholic Church.

A Pew Center study about religion and education around the world in 2016, found that Christians ranked as the second most educated religious group around in the world after Jews with an average of 9.3 years of schooling, and the highest of years of schooling among Christians found in Germany (13.6), New Zealand (13.5) and Estonia (13.1). Christians were also found to have the second highest number of graduate and post-graduate degrees per capita while in absolute numbers ranked in the first place (220 million). Between the various Christian communities, Singapore outranks other nations in terms of Christians who obtain a university degree in institutions of higher education (67%), followed by the Christians of Israel (63%), and the Christians of Georgia (57%). According to the study, Christians in North America, Europe, Middle East, North Africa and Asia-Pacific regions are highly educated since many of the world universities were built by the historic Christian Churches, in addition to the historical evidence that "Christian monks built libraries and, in the days before printing presses, preserved important earlier writings produced in Latin, Greek and Arabic". According to the same study, Christians have a significant amount of gender equality in educational attainment, and the study suggests that one of the reasons is the encouragement of the Protestant Reformers in promoting the education of women, which led to the eradication of illiteracy among females in Protestant communities. According to the same study "there is a large and pervasive gap in educational attainment between Muslims and Christians in sub-Saharan Africa" as Muslim adults in this region are far less educated than their Christian counterparts, with scholars suggesting that this gap is due to the educational facilities that were created by Christian missionaries during the colonial era for fellow believers.

Europe

Pythagoras on one of the archivolts at Chartres Cathedral. From Medieval Europe's Cathedral Schools grew many of Europe's modern universities.

The coat of arms of the University of Oxford, bearing the Latin motto The Lord is my Light. Europe's universities were essentially a Catholic invention.

The Catholic Church founded the West's first universities, which were preceded by the schools attached to monasteries and cathedrals, and generally staffed by monks and friars.

In 530, Saint Benedict wrote his monastic Rule, which became a blueprint for the organization of monasteries throughout Europe. The new monasteries preserved classical craft and artistic skills while maintaining intellectual culture within their schools, scriptoria and libraries. As well as providing a focus for spiritual life, they functioned as agricultural, economic and production centers, particularly in remote regions, becoming major conduits of civilization.

The Cluniac reform of monasteries that had begun in 910 sparked widespread monastic growth and renewal. Monasteries introduced new technologies and crops, fostered the creation and preservation of literature and promoted economic growth. Monasteries, convents and cathedrals still operated virtually all schools and libraries.

Cathedral schools began in the Early Middle Ages as centers of advanced education, some of them ultimately evolving into medieval universities. During the High Middle Ages, Chartres Cathedral operated the famous and influential Chartres Cathedral School.

Universities began springing up in Italian towns like Salerno, whose Schola Medica Salernitana, established in the 9th Century, became a leading medical school and translated the work of Greek and Arabic physicians into Latin. Bologna University founded in 1088 became the most influential of the early universities, which first specialised in canon law and civil law. Paris University founded in 1150 but formed from a pre–existing cathedral school, specialising in such topics as theology, came to rival Bologna under the supervision of Notre Dame Cathedral. Oxford University founded in 1096, later came to rival Paris in Theology, while Salamanca University was founded in Spain in 1243. According to the historian Geoffrey Blainey, the universities benefited from the use of Latin, the common language of the Church, and its internationalist reach, and their role was to "teach, argue and reason within a Christian framework". The medieval universities of Western Christendom were well-integrated across all of Western Europe, encouraged freedom of enquiry and produced a great variety of fine scholars and natural philosophers, including Robert Grosseteste of the University of Oxford, an early expositor of a systematic method of scientific experimentation; and Saint Albert the Great, a pioneer of biological field research

In the 13th century, mendicant orders were founded by Francis of Assisi and Dominic de Guzmán which brought consecrated religious life into urban settings. These orders also played a large role in the development of cathedral schools into universities, the direct ancestors of the modern Western institutions. Notable scholastic theologians such as the Dominican Thomas Aquinas worked at these universities, his Summa Theologica was a key intellectual achievement in its synthesis of Aristotelian thought and Christianity.

The university reached central Europe by the 14th century, with the foundation of institutions like Prague University and Cracow University.

The Spaniard St Ignatius Loyola founded the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) in 1540. Initially a missionary order, the Jesuits took Western learning and the Catholic faith to India, Japan, China, Canada, Central and South America and Australia. The order became increasingly involved in education, founding schools, colleges and universities across the globe and educating such notable Western scholars, intellectuals, artists and statesmen as René Descartes, Matteo Ricci, Voltaire, Pierre de Coubertin, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, James Joyce, Alfred Hitchcock, Bing Crosby, Robert Hughes and Bill Clinton.

According to the historian Geoffrey Blainey, the university became a hallmark of Christian Civilisation, though, he writes, "in the most recent century perhaps no institution has done more to promote an alternative or secular view of the world".

Latin America

National University of Córdoba in Córdoba, Argentina; founded in 1613 by the Jesuit.

Education in Latin American began under the direction of missionaries who were sponsored by the Spanish crown. Royal policy stipulated that the Amerindians had to accept missionaries but they did not have to convert. Indians who agreed to listen to the missionaries were not subjected to work for encomenderos some of whom were notorious for brutal conditions.

A key role in the development of the university system in Latin America was played by the Catholic orders, especially by the Jesuits, but also the Dominicans and Augustinians. The founding and operation of most universities resulted from the – usually local – initiative of one of these orders, which sometimes quarreled openly over the control of the campus and the curriculum. The (temporary) dissolution of the Jesuit order in the late 18th century proved to be a major setback for the university landscape in Latin America, several of the suppressed Jesuit universities were reopened only decades later.

North America

Students studying outside Wolfington Hall Jesuit Residence, Georgetown University, US

A number of Catholic universities, schools and colleges have been formed in the United States. The religious tolerance established by the American Revolution enabled the Catholic clergy of Maryland to found Georgetown University, America's oldest Catholic university, in 1789 and it became a Jesuit institution in 1805. Saint Katharine Drexel inherited a fortune and established the Sisters of the Blessed Sacramentfor Indians and Colored People (now known as the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament), founded schools across America and started Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans in 1925 for the education of African Americans.

Australasia

Saint Mary MacKillop, Australia's first saint. Through many centuries, Catholic women have founded religious institutes dedicated to the education of the poor.

From 19th-century foundations, the Catholic education system in Australia has grown to be the second biggest sector after government schools with around 21 per cent of all secondary school enrolments. The Church has established primary, secondary and tertiary educational institutions. St Mary MacKillop was a 19th-century Australian nun who founded an educational religious institute, the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart, and in 2010 became the first Australian to be canonised as a saint. Catholic education is also significant in neighbouring South Pacific nations: 11% of New Zealand students attend Catholic schools

Africa

Ethiopian forces, assisted by St. George (top), win the battle against Italian invaders. Painted 1965–75.

By the close of the 19th century, European powers had managed to gain control of most of the African interior. The new rulers introduced cash-based economies which created an enormous demand for literacy and a western education—a demand which for most Africans could only be satisfied by Christian missionaries.Catholic missionaries followed colonial governments into Africa, and built schools, hospitals, monasteries and churches.

With a high number of adult baptisms, the Church is growing faster in Africa than anywhere else. It also operates a greater number of Catholic schools per parish here (3:1) than in other areas of the world.

According to Heather Sharkey, the real impact of the activities of the missionaries is still a topic open to debate in academia today. Sharkey asserted that "the missionaries played manifold roles in colonial Africa and stimulated forms of cultural, political and religious change." "Historians still debate the nature of their impact and question their relation to the system of European colonialism in the continent." She noted that the missionaries did great good in Africa, providing crucial social services such as modern education and health care that would have otherwise not been available. Sharkey said that, in societies that were traditionally male-dominated, female missionaries provided women in Africa with health care knowledge and basic education. A Pew Center study about religion and education around the world in 2016, found that "there is a large and pervasive gap in educational attainment between Muslims and Christians in sub-Saharan Africa" as Muslim adults in this region are far less educated than their Christian counterparts, with scholars suggesting that this gap is due to the educational facilities that were created by Christian missionaries during the colonial era for fellow believers.

Asia

The Catholic St. Xavier's College in Mumbai, is one of the most prestigious liberal arts colleges in India.

Christ Church College (1866) and St. Stephen's College (1881) are two examples of prominent church-affiliated educational institutions founded during the British Raj. Within educational institutions established during the British Raj, Christian texts, especially the Bible, were a part of the curricula. During the British Raj, Christian missionaries developed writing systems for Indian languages that previously did not have one. Christian missionaries in India also worked to increase literacy and also engaged in social activism, such as fighting against prostitution, championing the right of widowed women to remarry, and trying to stop early marriages for women.

In India, over 25,000 schools and colleges are operated by the Church. The Jesuits' educational institutions have left a prestigious impact through their education institutions. Education has become the major priority for the Church in India in recent years with nearly 60% of the Catholic schools situated in rural areas. Even in the early part of the 19th century, Catholic schools had emphasised relief for the poor and their welfare.

Protestant role in education

Harvard College, historically one of several favored undergraduate schools for the Protestant elite. Seen here is the 1836 Harvard alumni procession.

As the Reformers wanted all members of the church to be able to read the Bible, education on all levels got a strong boost. Compulsory education for both boys and girls was introduced. For example, the Puritans who established Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1628 founded Harvard College only eight years later. Seven of the first nine of what are called colonial colleges were founded by Christians, including Columbia University, Brown University, Rutgers University and Yale University (1701); a nineteenth-century book on "Colleges in America" says, "Eighty three percent of the colleges in [the U.S.] were founded by Christian philanthropy." Pennsylvania also became a centre of learning as one of the colleges not specifically Christian. Princeton University was a Presbyterian foundation.

A large number of mainline Protestants have played leadership roles in many aspects of American life, including politics, business, science, the arts, and education. They founded most of the country's leading institutes of higher education.

The private schools and colleges established by the mainline Protestant denominations, as a rule, still want to be known as places that foster values, but few will go so far as to identify those values as Christian.... Overall, the distinctiveness of mainline Protestant identity has largely dissolved since the 1960s.

Protestantism also initiated translations of the Bible into national languages and thereby supported the development of national literatures. Episcopalians and Presbyterians tend to be considerably wealthier and better educated than most other religious groups.

Cleanliness

Main articles: Ablution in Christianity, Hygiene in Christianity, and Cantharus (Christianity)

Bishop Sebouh Chouldjian of the Armenian Apostolic Church washing the feet of children.

The Bible has many rituals of purification relating to menstruation, childbirth, sexual relations, nocturnal emission, unusual bodily fluids, skin disease, death, and animal sacrifices. The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church prescribes several kinds of hand washing for example after leaving the latrine, lavatory or bathhouse, or before prayer, or after eating a meal. The women in the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church are prohibited from entering the church temple during menses; and the men do not enter a church the day after they have had intercourse with their wives.

Christianity has always placed a strong emphasis on hygiene, Despite the denunciation of the mixed bathing style of Roman pools by early Christian clergy, as well as the pagan custom of women naked bathing in front of men, this did not stop the Church from urging its followers to go to public baths for bathing, which contributed to hygiene and good health according to the Church Father, Clement of Alexandria. The Church also built public bathing facilities that were separate for both sexes near monasteries and pilgrimage sites; also, the popes situated baths within church basilicas and monasteries since the early Middle Ages. Pope Gregory the Great urged his followers on value of bathing as a bodily need.

Bagno del Papa in Viterbo.

Agkistro Byzantine bath.

Great bathhouses were built in Byzantine centers such as Constantinople and Antioch, and the popes allocated to the Romans bathing through diaconia, or private Lateran baths, or even a myriad of monastic bath houses functioning in eighth and ninth centuries. The Popes maintained their baths in their residences, and bath houses including hot baths incorporated into Christian Church buildings or those of monasteries, which known as "charity baths" because they served both the clerics and needy poor people. Public bathing was common in medieval Christendom in larger towns and cities such as Paris, Regensburg and Naples. Catholic religious orders of the Augustinians' and Benedictines' rules contained ritual purification, and inspired by Benedict of Nursia encouragement for the practice of therapeutic bathing; Benedictine monks played a role in the development and promotion of spas. Protestant Christianity also played a prominent role in the development of the British spas.

Contrary to popular belief bathing and sanitation were not lost in Europe with the collapse of the Roman Empire. Soapmaking first became an established trade during the so-called "Dark Ages". The Romans used scented oils (mostly from Egypt), among other alternatives. By the 15th century, the manufacture of soap in the Christendom had become virtually industrialized, with sources in Antwerp, Castile, Marseille, Naples and Venice. By the mid-19th century, the English urbanised middle classes had formed an ideology of cleanliness that ranked alongside typical Victorian concepts, such as Christianity, respectability and social progress. The Salvation Army has adopted the deployment of personal hygiene, and by providing personal hygiene products, such as a toothbrush, toothpaste, and soap.

The use of water in many Christian countries is due in part to the Biblical toilet etiquette which encourages washing after all instances of defecation. The bidet is common in predominantly Catholic countries where water is considered essential for anal cleansing, and in some traditionally Orthodox and Protestant countries such as Greece and Finland respectively, where bidet showers are common.

Christian influences on the Islamic world

Main article: Christian influences on the Islamic world

Christian influences in Islam could be traced back to the Eastern Christianity, which surrounded the origins of Islam. Islam, emerging in the context of the Middle East that was largely Christian, was first seen as a Christological heresy known as the "heresy of the Ishmaelites", described as such in Concerning Heresy by Saint John of Damascus, a Syriac scholar. Eastern Christian scientists and scholars of the medieval Islamic world (particularly Nestorian Christians) contributed to the Arab Islamic civilization during the Umayyad and the Abbasid periods by translating works of Greek philosophers to Syriac and afterwards to Arabic. During the 4th through the 7th centuries, scholarly work in the Syriac and Greek languages was either newly initiated, or carried on from the Hellenistic period. Centers of learning and of transmission of classical wisdom included colleges such as the School of Nisibis, and later the School of Edessa, and the renowned hospital and medical academy of Jundishapur; libraries included the Library of Alexandria and the Imperial Library of Constantinople; other centers of translation and learning functioned at Merv, Salonika, Nishapur and Ctesiphon, situated just south of what later became Baghdad. The House of Wisdom was a library, translation institute, and academy established in Abbasid-era Baghdad, Iraq. Nestorians played a prominent role in the formation of Arab culture, with the Jundishapur school being prominent in the late Sassanid, Umayyad and early Abbasid periods. Notably, eight generations of the Nestorian Bukhtishu family served as private doctors to caliphs and sultans between the 8th and 11th centuries. Scholars and intellectuals agree Christians in the Middle East have made significant contributions to Arab and Islamic civilization since the introduction of Islam, and they have had a significant impact contributing the culture of the Mashriq, Turkey, and Iran.

Role of Christianity in science in the medieval Islamic world

See also: List of Christian scientists and scholars of the medieval Islamic world

Christians especially Nestorian contributed to the Arab Islamic Civilization during the Umayyads and the Abbasids by translating works of Greek philosophers to Syriac and afterwards to Arabic. They also excelled in philosophy, science (such as Hunayn ibn Ishaq, Qusta ibn Luqa, Masawaiyh, Patriarch Eutychius, Jabril ibn Bukhtishu etc.) and theology (such as Tatian, Bar Daisan, Babai the Great, Nestorius, Toma bar Yacoub etc.) and the personal physicians of the Abbasid Caliphs were often Assyrian Christians such as the long serving Bukhtishu dynasty.

Role of Christianity in medicine in the medieval Islamic world

Ibn Bakhtishu's Manafi' al-Hayawan (منافع الحيوان ), dated 12th century. Captions appear in Persian language.

A hospital and medical training center existed at Gundeshapur. The city of Gundeshapur was founded in 271 by the Sassanid king Shapur I. It was one of the major cities in Khuzestan province of the Persian empire in what is today Iran. A large percentage of the population were Syriacs, most of whom were Christians. Under the rule of Khosrau I, refuge was granted to Greek Nestorian Christian philosophers including the scholars of the Persian School of Edessa (Urfa) (also called the Academy of Athens), a Christian theological and medical university. These scholars made their way to Gundeshapur in 529 following the closing of the academy by Emperor Justinian. They were engaged in medical sciences and initiated the first translation projects of medical texts. The arrival of these medical practitioners from Edessa marks the beginning of the hospital and medical center at Gundeshapur. It included a medical school and hospital (bimaristan), a pharmacology laboratory, a translation house, a library and an observatory. Indian doctors also contributed to the school at Gundeshapur, most notably the medical researcher Mankah. Later after Islamic invasion, the writings of Mankah and of the Indian doctor Sustura were translated into Arabic at Baghdad. Daud al-Antaki was one of the last generation of influential Arab Christian writers.

Christian merchants and the silk trade

The Vank Cathedral. The Armenians moved into the Jolfa district of Isfahan and were free to build their prayer houses, eventually becoming an integral part of the society.

The one valuable item, sought for in Europe, which Iran possessed and which could bring in silver in sufficient quantities was silk, which was produced in the northern provinces, along the Caspian coastline. The trade of this product was done by Persians to begin with, but during the 17th century the Christian Armenians became increasingly vital in the trade of this merchandise, as middlemen.

Whereas domestic trade was largely in the hands of Persian and Jewish merchants, by the late 17th century, almost all foreign trade was controlled by the Armenians. They were even hired by wealthy Persian merchants to travel to Europe when they wanted to create commercial bases there, and the Armenians eventually established themselves in cities like Bursa, Aleppo, Venice, Livorno, Marseilles and Amsterdam. Realizing this, Shah Abbas resettled large numbers of Armenians from the Caucasus to his capital city and provided them with loans. And as the shah realized the importance of doing trade with the Europeans, he assured that the Safavid society was one with religious tolerance. The Christian Armenians thus became a commercial elite in the Safavid society and managed to survive in the tough atmosphere of business being fought over by the British, Dutch, French, Indians and Persians, by always having large capital readily available and by managing to strike harder bargains ensuring cheaper prices than what, for instance, their British rivals ever were able to.

Ottoman Empire

View of the Phanarion quarter, the historical centre of the Greek community of Constantinople in Ottoman times, ca. 1900

Immediately after the Conquest of Constantinople, Mehmet II released his portion of the city's captive Christian population with instructions to start the rebuilding of Constantinople which had been devastated by siege and war. Afterwards, he began to also repopulate the city bringing new inhabitants – both Christian and Muslim – from the whole empire and from the newly conquered territories. Phanar was then repopulated with Greeks deported from Mouchlion in the Peloponnese and, after 1461, with citizens of Trebizond.

The roots of Greek ascendancy can be traced to the need of the Ottomans for skilled and educated negotiators as the power of their empire declined and they were compelled to rely on treaties more than the force of arms. From the 17th century onwards the Ottomans began facing problems in the conduct of their foreign relations, and were having difficulties in dictating terms to their neighbours; the Porte was faced for the first time with the need of participating in diplomatic negotiations. From 1669 until the Greek War of Independence in 1821, Phanariots made up the majority of the dragomans to the Ottoman government (the Porte) and foreign embassies due to the Greeks' higher level of education than the general Ottoman population.

Given the Ottoman tradition of generally ignoring Western European languages and cultures, officials found themselves unable to handle such affairs. The Porte subsequently assigned those tasks to the Greeks who had a long mercantile and educational tradition and could provide the necessary skills. As a result, the so−called Phanariotes, Greek and Hellenized families mostly native to Constantinople, came to occupy high posts of secretaries and interpreters to Ottoman officials and officers. The roots of Greek success in the Ottoman Empire can be traced to the Greek tradition of education and commerce exemplified in the Phanariotes. It was the wealth of the extensive merchant class that provided the material basis for the intellectual revival that was the prominent feature of Greek life in the half century and more leading to the outbreak of the Greek War of Independence in 1821. Not coincidentally, on the eve of 1821, the three most important centres of Greek learning were situated in Chios, Smyrna and Aivali, all three major centres of Greek commerce. Greek success was also favoured by Greek domination in the leadership of the Eastern Orthodox church.

The Armenians in the Ottoman Empire was made up of three religious denominations: Armenian Catholic, Armenian Protestant, and Armenian Apostolic, the Church of the vast majority of Armenians. The wealthy, Constantinople-based Amira class, a social elite whose members included the Duzians (Directors of the Imperial Mint), the Balyans (Chief Imperial Architects) and the Dadians (Superintendent of the Gunpowder Mills and manager of industrial factories).

A 1920 photograph of four prominent members of The Pen League (from left to right): Nasib Arida, Kahlil Gibran, Abd al-Masih Haddad, and Mikhail Naimy.

Scholars and intellectuals including Palestinian-American Edward Said affirm that Christians in the Arab world have made significant contributions to the Arab civilization since the introduction of Islam. The top poets in history were Arab Christians, and many Arab Christians are physicians, philosophers, government officials and people of literature. Arab Christians traditionally formed the educated upper class and they have had a significant impact in the culture of the Mashriq. Some of the most influential Arab nationalists were Arab Christians, like George Habash, founder of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and Syrian intellectual Constantin Zureiq. Many Palestinian Christians were also active in the formation and governing of the Palestinian National Authority since 1992. The suicide bomber Jules Jammal, a Syrian military officer who blew himself up while ramming a French ship, was also an Arab Christian. While Lebanese Maronite Christian were among the Masters and Fathers of the Arabic Renaissance Al-Nahda.

Because Arab Christians formed the educated class, they had a significant impact on the politics and culture of the Arab World. Christian colleges like Saint Joseph University and American University of Beirut (Syrian Protestant College until 1920) thrived in Lebanon, Al-Hikma University in Baghdad amongst others played leading role in the development of civilization and Arab culture. Given this role in politics and culture, Ottoman ministers began to include them in their governments. In the economic sphere, a number of Christian families like Sursock became prominent. Thus, the Nahda led the Muslims and Christians to a cultural renaissance and national general despotism. This solidified Arab Christians as one of the pillars of the region and not a minority on the fringes.

Today Middle Eastern Christians are relatively wealthy, well educated, and politically moderate, as they have today an active role in various social, economical, sporting and political aspects in the Middle East. Arab Christians have significantly influenced and contributed to the Arabic culture in many fields both historically and in modern times, including literature, politics, business, philosophy, music, theatre and cinema, medicine, and science.

See also

• Christian culture
• Christian art
• Christendom
• Catholic culture