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Christian culture generally includes all thecultural practices which have developed around the religion ofChristianity. There are variations in the application of Christian beliefs in different cultures and traditions.
Christian culture has influenced andassimilated much from theMiddle Eastern,[1][2]Greco-Roman,Byzantine,Western culture,[3]Slavic andCaucasian culture. During the earlyRoman Empire,Christendom has been divided in the pre-existingGreek East and Latin West. Consequently, different versions of the Christian cultures arose with their ownrites and practices, Christianity remains culturally diverse in itsWestern andEastern branches.
Christianity playeda prominent role in thedevelopment ofWestern civilization, in particular, theCatholic Church andProtestantism.[4][5] Western culture, throughout most of its history, has been nearly equivalent to Christian culture.[6] Outside the Western world, Christianity has had an influence on various cultures, such as in Latin America, Africa and Asia.[7][8][9]
Christians have made a noted contributions tohuman progress in a broad and diverse range of fields, both historically and in modern times, includingscience and technology,[10][11][12][13][14]medicine,[15]fine arts and architecture,[16][17][18] politics,literatures,[18]music,[18]philanthropy,philosophy,[19][20][21]: 15 ethics,[22]humanism,[23][24][25]theatre and business.[17][26][27][28] According to100 Years of Nobel Prizes a review of Nobel prizes award between 1901 and 2000 reveals that (65.4%) ofNobel Prizes Laureates, have identifiedChristianity in its various forms as their religious preference.[29]
TheBible has had a profound influence on Western civilization and on cultures around the globe; it has contributed to the formation ofWestern law,art,texts, and education.[31][32][33] With a literary tradition spanning two millennia, the Bible is one of the most influential works ever written. From practices ofpersonal hygiene to philosophy and ethics, the Bible has directly and indirectly influenced politics and law, war and peace, sexual morals, marriage and family life,toilet etiquette, letters and learning, the arts, economics, social justice, medical care and more.[33] TheGutenberg Bible was the first book printed in Europe usingmovable type.[30]
Since the spread of Christianity from theLevant toAsia Minor,Mesopotamia,Europe,North Africa andHorn of Africa during the earlyRoman Empire,Christendom has been divided in the pre-existingGreek East and Latin West. Consequently, different versions of the Christian cultures arose with their ownrites and practices, centered around the cities such asRome (Western Christianity) andCarthage, whose communities was called Western or LatinChristendom,[34] andConstantinople (Eastern Christianity),Antioch (Syriac Christianity),Kerala (Indian Christianity) andAlexandria, among others, whose communities were called Eastern or Oriental Christendom.[35][36][37] TheByzantine Empire was one of the peaks inChristian history andChristian civilization.[37] From the 11th to 13th centuries,Latin Christendom rose to the central role of theWestern world andWestern culture.[38]
Outside the Western world, Christianity has had an influence on various cultures, such as in Africa, the Near East, Middle East, Central Asia, East Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Indian subcontinent.[8][9] Scholars and intellectuals agreeChristians in the Middle East have made significant contributions to Arab and Islamic civilization since the introduction ofIslam, and they have had a significant impact contributing the culture of theMashriq,Turkey, andIran.[39][8]Eastern Christian scientists and scholars of the medieval Islamic world (particularlyJacobite andNestorian Christians) contributed to the ArabIslamic civilization during the reign of theUmayyad and theAbbasid, by translating works ofGreek philosophers toSyriac and afterwards, toArabic.[40][41][42] They also excelled in philosophy, science, theology, and medicine.[43][44]
Historian Paul Legutko of Stanford University said theCatholic Church is "at the center of the development of the values, ideas, science, laws, and institutions which constitute what we call Western civilization."[45] TheEastern Orthodox Church has played a prominent role in the history and culture ofEastern andSoutheastern Europe, theCaucasus, and theNear East.[46] TheOriental Orthodox Churches have played a prominent role in the history and culture ofArmenia,Egypt,Turkey,Eritrea,Ethiopia,Sudan and parts of theMiddle East andIndia.[47][48] Protestants have extensively developed aunique culture that has made major contributions in education, thehumanities and sciences, the political and social order, theeconomy and the arts, and many other fields.[49][50]
Christianity playeda prominent role in thedevelopment ofWestern civilization, in particular, theCatholic Church andProtestantism.[51][52] Western culture, throughout most of its history, has been nearly equivalent to Christian culture, and much of the population of the Western hemisphere could broadly be described ascultural Christians. The notion ofEurope and theWestern world has been intimately connected with the concept ofChristianity and Christendom, many even consider Christianity to be the link that created a unifiedEuropean identity,[6] although some progress originated elsewhere:Renaissance andRomanticism began with the curiosity and passion of thepagan world of old.[53][54][55]
Although Western culture contained several polytheistic religions during its early years under theGreek andRoman Empires, as the centralized Roman power waned, the dominance of theCatholic Church was the only consistent force in Western Europe.[56] Until theAge of Enlightenment,[57] Christian culture guided the course of philosophy, literature, art, music, and science.[56][58] Christian disciplines of the respective arts have subsequently developed intoChristian philosophy,Christian art,Christian music,Christian literature, etc. Art and literature, law, education, and politics were preserved in the teachings of the Church, in an environment that, otherwise, would have probably seen their loss. The Church founded manycathedrals,universities,monasteries andseminaries, some of which continue to exist today.Medieval Christianity created the first modern universities.[59][60] The Catholic Church established a hospital system in medieval Europe that vastly improved upon the Romanvaletudinaria.[61] These hospitals were established to cater to "particular social groups marginalized by poverty, sickness, and age", according to historian of hospitals, Guenter Risse.[62] Christianity also had a strong impact on all other aspects of life: marriage and family, education, the humanities and sciences, the political and social order, the economy, and the arts.[63]
Christianity had a significant impact on education and science and medicine as the church created the basis of theWestern system of education,[64] and was the sponsor of foundinguniversities in the Western world as the university is generally regarded as an institution that has its origin in theMedieval Christian setting.[65][66] Manyclerics throughout history have made significant contributions to science andJesuits in particular have made numerous significant contributions to thedevelopment of science.[67][68][69][70][71][72] Some scholars state that Christianity contributed to the rise of theScientific Revolution.[73] Protestantism also has had an important influence on science. According to theMerton Thesis, there was a positive correlation between the rise of EnglishPuritanism and GermanPietism on the one hand, and early experimental science on the other.[74][75][76]
The cultural influence of Christianity includessocial welfare,[77] foundinghospitals,[78] economics (as theProtestant work ethic),[79][80]natural law (which would later influence the creation ofinternational law),[81] politics,[82] architecture,[83] literature,[84]personal hygiene (ablution),[85][86][87][88] and family life.[89][90] Historically,extended families were the basic family unit in the Christian culture andcountries.[91]
Christianity played a role in ending practices common among pagan societies, such as human sacrifice, slavery,[92] infanticide and polygamy.[93] Scientists such as Newton and Galileo believed that God would be better understood if God's creation was better understood.[94]
The architecture of cathedrals, basilicas and abbey churches is characterised by the buildings' large scale and follows one of several branching traditions of form, function and style that all ultimately derive from theEarly Christian architectural traditions established in theConstantinian period.
Cathedrals in particular, as well as manyabbey churches andbasilicas, have certain complex structural forms that are found less often inparish churches. They also tend to display a higher level of contemporary architectural style and the work of accomplished craftsmen, and occupy a status both ecclesiastical and social that an ordinary parish church does not have. Such a cathedral or great church is generally one of the finest buildings within its region and is a focus of local pride. Many cathedrals and basilicas, and a number of abbey churches are among the world's most renowned works of architecture. These includeSt. Peter's Basilica,Notre Dame de Paris,Cologne Cathedral,Salisbury Cathedral,Prague Cathedral,Lincoln Cathedral, theBasilica of St Denis, the Basilica ofSanta Maria Maggiore, theBasilica of San Vitale,St Mark's Basilica,Westminster Abbey,Saint Basil's Cathedral,Washington National Cathedral,Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception,Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis, Gaudí's incompleteSagrada Familia and the ancient church ofHagia Sophia, now a museum.Hagia Sophia has been described as architectural andcultural icon ofByzantine andEastern Orthodox civilization.[95]
The earliest large churches date fromLate Antiquity. As Christianity and the construction of churches and cathedrals spread throughout the world, their manner of building was dependent upon local materials and local techniques. Differentstyles of architecture developed and their fashion spread, carried by the establishment of monastic orders, by the posting of bishops from one region to another and by the travelling of masterstonemasons who served as architects.[96] The styles of the great church buildings are successively known asEarly Christian,Byzantine,Romanesque,Gothic,Renaissance,Baroque, variousRevival styles of the late 18th to early 20th centuries andModern.[83] Overlaid on each of the academic styles are the regional characteristics. Some of these characteristics are so typical of a particular country or region that they appear, regardless of style, in the architecture of churches designed many centuries apart.[83]
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Christian art issacred art which uses themes and imagery from Christianity. Most Christian groups use or have used art to some extent, although some have had strong objections to some forms of religious image, and there have been major periods oficonoclasm within Christianity.
Images ofJesus and narrative scenes from theLife of Christ are the most common subjects, and scenes from theOld Testament play a part in the art of most denominations. Images of theVirgin Mary and saints are much rarer in Protestant art than that ofRoman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy.
Christianity makes far wider use of images than related religions, in which figurative representations are forbidden, such asIslam andJudaism. However, there is also a considerable history ofaniconism in Christianity from various periods.
Anilluminated manuscript is amanuscript in which thetext is supplemented by the addition of decoration. The earliest surviving substantive illuminated manuscripts are from the period AD 400 to 600, primarily produced in Ireland,Constantinople and Italy. The majority of surviving manuscripts are from theMiddle Ages, although many illuminated manuscripts survive from the 15th-centuryRenaissance, along with a very limited number fromLate Antiquity.
Most illuminated manuscripts were created ascodices, which had superseded scrolls; some isolated single sheets survive. A very few illuminated manuscript fragments survive onpapyrus. Most medieval manuscripts, illuminated or not, were written onparchment (most commonly ofcalf, sheep, or goat skin), but most manuscripts important enough to illuminate were written on the best quality of parchment, calledvellum, traditionally made of unsplitcalfskin, although high quality parchment from other skins was also calledparchment.
Christian art began, about two centuries after Christ, by borrowing motifs from Roman Imperial imagery, classical Greek and Roman religion and popular art.Religious images are used to some extent by theAbrahamic Christian faith, and often contain highly complex iconography, which reflects centuries of accumulated tradition. In theLate Antique period iconography began to be standardised, and to relate more closely tobiblical texts, although many gaps in thecanonical Gospel narratives were plugged with matter from theapocryphal gospels. Eventually the Church would succeed in weeding most of these out, but some remain, like the ox and ass in theNativity of Christ.
Anicon is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, fromOrthodox Christianity. Christianity has usedsymbolism from its very beginnings.[97] In both East and West, numerous iconic types of Christ,Mary and saints and other subjects were developed; the number of named types of icons of Mary, with or without the infant Christ, was especially large in the East, whereasChrist Pantocrator was much the commonest image of Christ.
Christian symbolism invests objects or actions with an inner meaning expressing Christian ideas. Christianity has borrowed from the common stock of significant symbols known to most periods and to all regions of the world.Religious symbolism is effective when it appeals to both the intellect and the emotions. Especially important depictions of Mary include theHodegetria andPanagia types. Traditional models evolved for narrative paintings, including large cycles covering the events of the Life of Christ, theLife of the Virgin, parts of the Old Testament, and, increasingly, the lives of popularsaints. Especially in the West, a system ofattributes developed foridentifying individual figures of saints by a standard appearance and symbolic objects held by them; in the East they were more likely to identified by text labels.
Eachsaint has a story and a reason why he or she led an exemplary life. Symbols have been used to tell these stories throughout the history of the Church. A number of Christiansaints are traditionally represented by a symbol oriconic motif associated with their life, termed an attribute oremblem, in order to identify them. The study of these forms part oficonography inArt history.
The dedication ofConstantinople as capital in 330 AD created a great new Christian artistic centre for theEastern Roman Empire, which soon became a separate political unit. Major Constantinopolitan churches built under Constantine and his son,Constantius II, included the original foundations ofHagia Sophia and theChurch of the Holy Apostles.[98] As theWestern Roman Empire disintegrated and was taken over by "barbarian" peoples, the art of the Byzantine Empire reached levels of sophistication, power and artistry not previously seen in Christian art, and set the standards for those parts of the West still in touch with Constantinople.
This achievement was checked by the controversy over the use ofgraven images, and the proper interpretation of the Second Commandment, which led to the crisis ofIconoclasm or destruction of religious images, which racked the Empire between 726 and 843. The restoration of Orthodoxy resulted in a strict standardization of religious imagery within theEastern Church. Byzantine art became increasingly conservative, as the form of images themselves, many accordeddivine origin or thought to have been be painted bySaint Luke or other figures, was held to have a status not far off that of a scriptural text. They could be copied, but not improved upon. As a concession to Iconoclast sentiment, monumental religious sculpture was effectively banned. Neither of these attitudes were held in Western Europe, but Byzantine art nonetheless had great influence there until theHigh Middle Ages, and remained very popular long after that, with vast numbers of icons of theCretan School exported to Europe as late as theRenaissance. Where possible, Byzantine artists were borrowed for projects such as mosaics inVenice andPalermo. The enigmatic frescoes atCastelseprio may be an example of work by a Greek artist working in Italy.
The art ofEastern Catholicism has always been rather closer to the Orthodox art of Greece and Russia, and in countries near the Orthodox world, notably Poland, Catholic art has many Orthodox influences. TheBlack Madonna of Częstochowa may well have been of Byzantine origin – it has been repainted and this is hard to tell. Other images that are certainly of Greek origin, like theSalus Populi Romani andOur Lady of Perpetual Help, both icons in Rome, have been subjects of specific veneration for centuries.
Although the influence has often been resisted, especially in Russia, Catholic art has also affected Orthodox depictions in many respects, especially in countries like Romania, and in the post-ByzantineCretan School, which ledGreek Orthodox art under Venetian rule in the 15th and 16th centuries.El Greco left Crete when relatively young, butMichael Damaskinos returned after a brief period in Venice, and was able to switch between Italian and Greek styles. Even the traditionalistTheophanes the Cretan, working mainly onMount Athos, nevertheless shows unmistakable Western influence.
Many Eastern Orthodox states in Eastern Europe, as well as to some degree theMuslim states of the easternMediterranean, preserved many aspects of the empire's culture and art for centuries afterward. A number of states contemporary with theByzantine Empire were culturally influenced by it, without actually being part of it (the "Byzantine commonwealth"). These included Bulgaria,Serbia, andKievan Rus', as well as some non-Orthodox states like theRepublic of Venice and theKingdom 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 theOttoman 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.
Roman Catholic art consists of all visual works produced in an attempt to illustrate, supplement and portray in tangible form the teachings of theCatholic Church. This includes sculpture, painting, mosaics, metalwork, embroidery and even architecture. Catholic art has played a leading role in the history and development of Western art since at least the 4th century. The principal subject matter of Catholic art has been the life and times ofJesus Christ, along with those of his disciples, the saints, and the events of the JewishOld Testament.
The earliest surviving art works are the painted frescoes on the walls of thecatacombs and meeting houses of the persecuted Christians of the Roman Empire. The Christian Church in Rome was influenced by the Roman style of art and the religious Christian artists of the time. The stonesarcophagi of Roman Christians exhibit the earliest surviving carved statuary of Jesus, Mary and other biblical figures. The legalisation of Christianity transformed Catholic art, which adopted richer forms such asmosaics and illuminated manuscripts. Theiconoclasm controversy briefly divided the eastern and western churches, after which artistic development progressed in separate directions.Romanesque andGothic art flowered in the Western Church as the style of painting and statuary moved in an increasingly naturalistic direction. The Protestant Reformation produced new waves of image-destruction, to which the Church responded with the dramatic and emotiveBaroque andRococo styles. In the 19th century the leadership in western art moved away from the Catholic Church which, after embracing historical revivalism was increasingly affected by the modernist movement, a movement that in its "rebellion" against nature, counters the Church's emphasis on nature as a good creation of God.
Renaissance artists such asRaphael,Michelangelo,Leonardo da Vinci,Bernini,Botticelli,Fra Angelico,Tintoretto,Caravaggio, andTitian, were among a multitude of innovative virtuosos sponsored by the Church.[99]
British art historianKenneth Clark wrote that Western Europe's first "great age of civilisation" 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 one of the greatest epochs of art and providing stark contrast to the monotonous and cramped conditions of ordinary living during the period.Abbot Suger of theAbbey of St. Denis is considered an influential early patron of Gothic architecture and 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".[100]
Later, duringThe Renaissance andCounter-Reformation, Catholic artists produced many of the unsurpassed masterpieces ofWestern art – often inspired by biblical themes: from Michelangelo'sMoses andDavid andPietà sculptures, to Da Vinci'sLast Supper and Raphael's variousMadonna paintings. Referring to a "great outburst of creative energy such as took place in Rome between 1620 and 1660", Kenneth Clarke wrote:[100]
[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 theSpiritual Exercises ofSaint Ignatius;Rubens attended Mass every morning before beginning work. The exception wasCaravaggio, 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.
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TheProtestant Reformation during the 16th century in Europe almost entirely rejected the existing tradition of Catholic art, and very often destroyed as much of it as it could reach. A new artistic tradition developed, producing far smaller quantities of art that followedProtestant agendas and diverged drastically from the southern European tradition and thehumanist art produced during theHigh Renaissance. In turn, the CatholicCounter-Reformation both reacted against and responded to Protestant criticisms ofart in Roman Catholicism to produce a more stringent style of Catholic art. Protestant religious art both embraced Protestant values and assisted in the proliferation of Protestantism, but the amount of religious art produced in Protestant countries was hugely reduced. Artists in Protestant countries diversified into secular forms of art likehistory painting,landscape painting,portrait painting andstill life.
Prominent painters with Protestant background were, for example,Albrecht Dürer,Hans Holbein the Younger,Lucas Cranach,Rembrandt, andVincent van Gogh. World literature was enriched by the works ofEdmund 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.
The university is generally regarded as an institution that has its origin in theMedieval Christian setting.[66][65][101] Prior to the establishment of universities, European higher education took place for hundreds of years in Christiancathedral schools ormonastic schools (Scholae monasticae), in whichmonks andnuns taught classes; evidence of these immediate forerunners of the later university at many places dates back to the 6th century AD.[102]
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.[103][104] Many of Western Civilization's most influential universities were founded by the Catholic Church.
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.[105] Universities began springing up in Italian towns likeSalerno, which became a leading medical school, translating the work of Greek and Arabic physicians into Latin.Bologna University became the most influential of the early universities, which first specialised incanon law andcivil law.Paris University, specialising in such topics as theology, came to rival Bologna under the supervision ofNotre Dame Cathedral.Oxford University in England later came rival Paris in Theology andSalamanca University was founded in Spain in 1243. According to the historianGeoffrey Blainey, the universities benefitted 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".[105] 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, includingRobert Grosseteste of theUniversity of Oxford, an early expositor of a systematic method of scientific experimentation;[106] and SaintAlbert the Great, a pioneer of biological field research[107] The Catholic church has always been involved in education, since the founding of the first universities of Europe. It runs and sponsors thousands of primary and secondary schools, colleges and universities throughout the world.[108][109]
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, thePuritans who establishedMassachusetts Bay Colony in 1628 foundedHarvard College only eight years later. About a dozen other colleges followed in the 18th century, includingYale University (1701).Pennsylvania also became a centre of learning.[110][111] WhilePrinceton University was aPresbyterian foundation. Protestantism also initiated translations of the Bible into national languages and hereby supported the development of national literatures.
A large number ofmainline 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.[112] TheIvy League universities have strongWhite Anglo-Saxon Protestant historical ties, and their influence continues today. Until about World War II, Ivy League universities were composed largely of WASP students.
Some of the first colleges and universities in America, includingHarvard,[113]Yale,[114]Princeton,[115]Columbia,[116]Dartmouth,Williams,Bowdoin,Middlebury, andAmherst, all were founded by theMainline Protestantism, as were laterCarleton,Duke,[117]Oberlin,Beloit,Pomona,[118]Rollins andColorado College.
According toPew Center study there is correlation between education and income, about (59%) of AmericanAnglican have agraduate and post-graduate degree, and about (56%) ofEpiscopalians and (47%) ofPresbyterians and (46%)United Church of Christ,[119] have agraduate and post-graduate degree.
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APew Center study aboutreligion and education around the world in 2016, found that Christians ranked as the second most educated religious group around in the world afterJews with an average of 9.3 years of schooling,[120] and the highest of years of schooling among Christians found in Germany (13.6),[120] New Zealand (13.5)[120] and Estonia (13.1).[120] Christians were also found to have the second highest number ofgraduate and post-graduate degrees per capita while in absolute numbers ranked in the first place (220 million).[120] Between the variousChristian communities, Singapore outranks other nations in terms of Christians who obtain a university degree in institutions of higher education (67%),[120] followed by theChristians of Israel (63%),[121] and theChristians of Georgia (57%).[120]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 historicChristian Churches,[120] 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".[120] According to the same study, Christians have a significant amount ofgender equality in educational attainment,[120] and the study suggests that one of the reasons is the encouragement of theProtestant Reformers in promoting theeducation of women, which led to the eradication of illiteracy among females in Protestant communities.[120]According to the same study "there is a large and pervasive gap in educational attainment between Muslims and Christians in sub-Saharan Africa" asMuslim adults in this region are far less educated than their Christian counterparts,[120] with scholars suggesting that this gap is due to the educational facilities that were created byChristian missionaries during the colonial era for fellow believers.[120]
Christian literature is writing that deals with Christian themes and incorporates theChristian 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 provideallegory.
While falling within the strict definition of literature, the Bible is not generally considered literature. However, the Bible has been treated and appreciated as literature; theBible is a corner stone of Western civilization.[123] TheKing James Version in particular has long been considered a masterpiece of English prose, whatever may be thought of its religious significance. The Authorized Version has been called "the most influential version of the most influential book in the world, in what is now its most influential language", "the most important book in English religion and culture", and "the most celebrated book in theEnglish-speaking world".David Crystal has estimated that it is responsible for 257 idioms in English, examples includefeet of clay andreap the whirlwind. Furthermore, prominentatheist figures such as the lateChristopher Hitchens andRichard Dawkins have praised the King James Version as being "a giant step in the maturing of English literature" and "a great work of literature", respectively, with Dawkins then adding, "A native speaker of English who has never read a word of the King James Bible is verging on the barbarian".[124][125] Several retellings of the Bible, or parts of the Bible, have also been made with the aim of emphasising its literary qualities. With estimated sales of over 5 billion copies, the Bible is widely considered to be the best-selling book of all time.[126][127] It sells approximately 100 million copies annually,[128][129] and has been a major influence on literature and history, especially inthe West, where theGutenberg Bible was the first book printed usingmovable type.
InByzantine literature, four different cultural elements are recognised: theGreek, the Christian, theRoman, and the Oriental. Byzantine literature is often classified in five groups: historians and annalists, encyclopaedists (Patriarch Photios,Michael Psellus, andMichael Choniates are regarded as the greatest encyclopaedists of Byzantium) and essayists, and writers of secular poetry. The only genuine heroic epic of the Byzantines is theDigenis Acritas. The remaining two groups include the new literary species: ecclesiastical and theological literature, and popular poetry.[130] And it was inAlexandria that Graeco-Oriental Christianity had its birth. There theSeptuagint translation had been made; there that that fusion of Greek philosophy and Jewish religion took place which culminated inPhilo; there flourished the mystic speculativeNeoplatonism associated withPlotinus andPorphyry. At Alexandria the great Greek ecclesiastical writers worked alongside pagan rhetoricians and philosophers; several were born here, e.g.Origen,Athanasius, and his opponentArius, alsoCyril andSynesius. On Egyptian soilmonasticism began and thrived. After Alexandria,Antioch held great prestige, where a school of Christian commentators flourished underSt. John Chrysostom and where later arose the Christian universal chronicles. In surrounding Syria, we find the germs of Greek ecclesiastical poetry, while from neighboringPalestine cameSt. John of Damascus, one of theGreek Fathers.
The list of Catholic authors and literary works is vast. With a literary tradition spanning two millennia, the Bible andPapal 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 bookConfessions, which outlines his sinful youth and conversion to Christianity, is widely considered to be the first autobiography of ever written in the canon ofWestern Literature. Augustine profoundly influenced the coming medieval worldview. TheSumma Theologica, written 1265–1274, is the best-known work ofThomas 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."[131] It is intended as a manual for beginners in theology and a compendium of all of the maintheological teachings of the Church. It presents the reasoning for almost all points of Christian theology in the West. The epic poetry of the ItalianDante and hisDivine Comedy of the lateMiddle Ages is also considered immensely influential. The English statesman and philosopher,Thomas More, wrote the seminal workUtopia in 1516.St Ignatius Loyola, a key figure in the Catholic counter-reformation, is the author of an influential book of meditations known as theSpiritual Exercises.
Catholics have also given greater value to the world through literary works byDante Alighieri,Geoffrey Chaucer,John Dryden,Walker Percy,Jack Kerouac,Evelyn Waugh,Alexander Pope,Honoré de Balzac,Oscar Wilde,Thomas Merton,Toni Morrison,Ernest Hemingway,J.R.R. Tolkien,G. K. Chesterton,Claude McKay,Paul Verlaine,Graham Greene,Sigrid Undset,Tennessee Williams,Francois Mauriac,Flannery O'Connor,Gerard Manley Hopkins,Paul Claudel,F. Scott Fitzgerald,Michel de Montaigne,Siegfried Sassoon,John Henry Newman,Hugo von Hofmannsthal,Arthur Rimbaud,Joseph Conrad,Miguel de Cervantes,Czeslaw Milosz,Hilaire Belloc,John of the Cross,Luis Vaz De Camoes,Edith Sitwell,Thomas More, among others.
The administration of the Eastern and Western Roman Empires split and thedemise of the Western Empire by the 6th century was accompanied by a series of violent invasions and precipitated the collapse of cities and civic institutions of learning, along with their links to the learning of classical Greece and Rome. For the next thousand years, medical knowledge would change very little.[132] A scholarly medical tradition maintained itself in the more stable East, but in the West, scholarship virtually disappeared outside of the Church, where monks were aware of a dwindling range of medical texts.[133]Hospitality was considered an obligation ofChristian charity and bishops' houses and the valetudinaria of wealthier Christians were used to tend the sick. And the legacy of this early period was, in the words of Porter, that "Christianity planted the hospital: the well-endowed establishments of the Levant and the scattered houses of the West shared a common religious ethos of charity."
TheByzantine Empire was one of the first empires to have flourishing medical establishments. Prior to the Byzantine Empire the Roman Empire hadhospitals specifically for soldiers and slaves. However, none of these establishments were for the public. The hospitals in Byzantium were originally started by the church to act as a place for the poor to have access to basic amenities. Hospitals were usually separated between men and women. Although the remains of these hospitals have not been discovered by archaeologists, recordings of hospitals from the Byzantine Empire describe large buildings that had the core feature of an open hearth.[134] The establishments of the Byzantine Empire resembled the beginning of what we now know as modern hospitals. The first hospital was erected by Leontius of Antioch between the years 344 to 358 and was a place for strangers and migrants to find refuge. Around the same time, a deacon named Marathonius was in charge of hospitals and monasteries in Constantinople. His main objective was to improve urban aesthetics, illustrating hospitals as a main part of Byzantine cities. These early hospitals were designed for the poor. In fact, most hospitals throughout the Byzantine Empire were almost exclusively utilized by the poor. This may be due to descriptions of hospitals similar to "Gregory Nazianzen who called the hospital a stairway to heaven, implying that it aimed only to ease death for the chronically or terminally ill rather than promote recovery".[134] There is debate between scholars as to why these institutions were started by the church. Many scholars believe that the church founded hospitals in order to receive additional donations. Whatever the case for these hospitals, they began to diffuse across the empire. Soon after,St. Basil of Caesarea developed a place for the sick in which provided refuge for the sick and homeless.[135]
Geoffrey Blainey likened the Catholic Church in its activities during the Middle Ages to an early version of a welfare state: "It conducted hospitals for the old and orphanages for the young; hospices for the sick of all ages; places for the lepers; and hostels or inns where pilgrims could buy a cheap bed and meal". It supplied food to the population during famine and distributed food to the poor. This welfare system the church funded through collecting taxes on a large scale and possessing large farmlands and estates.[136] It was common for monks and clerics to practice medicine and medical students in northern European universities often took minor Holy orders. Mediaeval hospitals had a strongly Christian ethos, and were, in the words of historian of medicineRoy Porter, "religious foundations through and through", and Ecclesiastical regulations were passed to govern medicine, partly to prevent clergymen profiting from medicine.[137] During Europe'sAge of Discovery, Catholic missionaries, notably the Jesuits, introduced the modern sciences to India, China and Japan. While persecutions continue to limit the spread of Catholic institutions to some Middle Eastern Muslim nations, and such places as the People's Republic of China and North Korea, elsewhere in Asia the church is a major provider of health care services - especially in Catholic Nations like thePhilippines.
Today theRoman Catholic Church is the largest non-government provider ofhealth care services in the world.[138] 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.[139] In 2010, the Church'sPontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Health Care Workers said that the Church manages 26% of the world's health care facilities.[140] The Church's involvement in health care has ancient origins.
Christian music is music that has been written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christian life and faith. Common themes of Christian music includepraise,worship,penitence, andlament, and its forms vary widely across the world.
Like other forms of music the creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of Christian music varies according to culture and social context. Christian music is composed and performed for many purposes, ranging from aesthetic pleasure, religious or ceremonial purposes, or as an entertainment product for the marketplace.
In music, Catholic monks developed the first forms of modern Western musical notation in order to standardize liturgy throughout the worldwide Church,[141] 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. TheBaroque 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.[142]
The list of Catholic composers and Catholic sacred music which have a prominent place in Western culture is extensive, but includesWolfgang Amadeus Mozart'sAve verum corpus;Franz Schubert'sAve Maria,César Franck'sPanis angelicus, andAntonio Vivaldi'sGloria.
Martin Luther,Paul Gerhardt,George Wither,Isaac Watts,Charles Wesley,William Cowper, and many other authors and composers created well-known church hymns. Musicians likeHeinrich Schütz,Johann Sebastian Bach,George Frederick Handel,Henry Purcell,Johannes Brahms, andFelix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy composed great works of music.
| Josquin des Prez (1450/1455 – 1521) | Claudio Monteverdi (1567–1643) | Antonio Vivaldi (1678–1741) | Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) | Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791) | Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827) | Franz Schubert (1797–1828) | Franz Liszt (1811–1886) | Anton Bruckner (1824–1896) |
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Christian philosophy is a term to describe the fusion of various fields of philosophy with thetheological doctrines of Christianity.Scholasticism, which means "that [which] belongs to the school", and was a method of learning taught by theacademics (orschool people) of medieval universities c. 1100–1500. Scholasticism originally started to reconcile the philosophy of the ancient classical philosophers with medieval Christian theology. Scholasticism is not a philosophy or theology in itself but a tool and method for learning which places emphasis ondialectical reasoning.
Medieval philosophy is the philosophy of Western Europe and the Middle East during theMiddle Ages, roughly extending from the Christianization of theRoman Empire until the Renaissance.[143] Medieval philosophy is defined partly by the rediscovery and further development of classicalGreek andHellenistic philosophy, and partly by the need to address theological problems and to integrate the then widespread sacred doctrines ofAbrahamic religion (Islam,Judaism, and Christianity) withsecular learning.
The history of western European medieval philosophy is traditionally divided into two main periods: the period in theLatin West following theEarly Middle Ages until the 12th century, when the works ofAristotle andPlato were preserved and cultivated; and the "golden age" of the 12th, 13th and 14th centuries in the Latin West, which witnessed the culmination of the recovery of ancient philosophy, and significant developments in the field ofphilosophy of religion,logic andmetaphysics.
The medieval era was disparagingly treated by the Renaissance humanists, who saw it as a barbaric "middle" period between the classical age of Greek and Roman culture, and the "rebirth" orrenaissance of classical culture. Yet this period of nearly a thousand years was the longest period of philosophical development in Europe, and possibly the richest.Jorge Gracia has argued that "in intensity, sophistication, and achievement, the philosophical flowering in the thirteenth century could be rightly said to rival the golden age of Greek philosophy in the fourth century B.C."[144]
Some problems discussed throughout this period are the relation offaith toreason, the existence and unity of God, the object of theology andmetaphysics, the problems of knowledge, of universals, and of individuation.
Philosophers from the Middle Ages include the Christian philosophersAugustine of Hippo,Boethius,Anselm,Gilbert of Poitiers,Peter Abelard,Roger Bacon,Bonaventure,Thomas Aquinas,Duns Scotus,William of Ockham andJean Buridan; the Jewish philosophersMaimonides andGersonides; and theMuslim philosophersAlkindus,Alfarabi,Alhazen,Avicenna,Algazel,Avempace,Abubacer,Ibn Khaldūn, andAverroes. The medieval tradition ofScholasticism continued to flourish as late as the 17th century, in figures such asFrancisco Suarez andJohn of St. Thomas.
Aquinas, father ofThomism, was immensely influential in Catholic Europe, placed a great emphasis on reason and argumentation, and was one of the first to use the new translation of Aristotle's metaphysical and epistemological writing. His work was a significant departure from theNeoplatonic and Augustinian thinking that had dominated much of early Scholasticism.
The Renaissance ("rebirth") was a period of transition between the Middle Ages and modern thought,[145] in which the recovery of classical texts helped shift philosophical interests away from technical studies in logic, metaphysics, and theology towards eclectic inquiries into morality, philology, and mysticism.[146] The study of the classics and the humane arts generally, such as history and literature, enjoyed a scholarly interest hitherto unknown in Christendom, a tendency referred to ashumanism.[147] Displacing the medieval interest in metaphysics and logic, the humanists followedPetrarch in making man and his virtues the focus of philosophy.[148]
These new movements in philosophy developed contemporaneously with larger religious and political transformations in Europe: theReformation and the decline offeudalism. Though the theologians of the Protestant Reformation showed little direct interest in philosophy, their destruction of the traditional foundations of theological and intellectual authority harmonized with a revival offideism and skepticism in thinkers such asErasmus,Montaigne, andFrancisco Sanches.[149] Meanwhile, the gradual centralization of political power in nation-states was echoed by the emergence of secular political philosophies, as in the works ofNiccolò Machiavelli (often described as the first modern political thinker, or a key turning point towards modern political thinking),Thomas More,Erasmus,Justus Lipsius,Jean Bodin, andHugo Grotius.[150][151]
| Tertullian (c. 155 – c. 240 AD) | Clement of Alexandria (c. 150 – c. 215) | Athanasius of Alexandria (c. 296–298 – 373) | Augustine of Hippo (354–430) | Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) | William of Ockham (c. 1287 – 1347) | Hugo Grotius (1583–1645) | Blaise Pascal (1623–1662) |
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Earlier attempts at reconciliation of Christianity withNewtonian mechanics appear quite different from later attempts at reconciliation with the newer scientific ideas ofevolution orrelativity.[152] Many early interpretations of evolution polarized themselves around astruggle for existence. These ideas were significantly countered by later findings of universalpatterns of biological cooperation. According toJohn Habgood, all man really knows here is that theuniverse seems to be a mix ofgood and evil, beauty andpain, and thatsuffering may somehow be part of the process of creation. Habgood holds that Christians should not be surprised that suffering may be used creatively by God, given their faith in the symbol of theCross.[152]Robert John Russell has examined consonance and dissonance between modern physics, evolutionary biology, and Christian theology.[153][154]
Christian philosophersAugustine of Hippo (354–430) and Thomas Aquinas[155] held that scriptures can have multiple interpretations on certain areas where the matters were far beyond their reach, therefore one should leave room for future findings to shed light on the meanings. The "Handmaiden" tradition, which saw secular studies of the universe as a very important and helpful part of arriving at a better understanding of scripture, was adopted throughout Christian history from early on.[156] Also the sense that God created the world as a self operating system is what motivated many Christians throughout the Middle Ages to investigate nature.[157]
Modern historians of science such asJ.L. Heilbron,[158]Alistair Cameron Crombie,David Lindberg,[159]Edward Grant,Thomas Goldstein,[160] and Ted Davis have reviewed the popular notion that medieval Christianity was a negative influence in the development of civilization and science. In their views, not only did the monks save and cultivate the remnants of ancient civilization during the barbarian invasions, but the medieval 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, St. Thomas Aquinas, the Church's "model theologian", not only argued that reason is in harmony with faith, he even recognized that reason can contribute to understanding revelation, and so encouraged intellectual development. He was not unlike other medieval theologians who sought out reason in the effort to defend his faith.[161] Some of today's scholars, such asStanley Jaki, have claimed that Christianity with its particularworldview, was a crucial factor for the emergence of modern science.[162] Some scholars and historians attributesChristianity to having contributed to the rise of theScientific Revolution.[163][164][73][165]
ProfessorNoah 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..."[166] Virtually all modern scholars and historians agree that Christianity moved many early-modern intellectuals to study nature systematically.[167]
Christian Scholars and Scientists have made noted contributions to science and technology fields,[10][11][12] as well asMedicine,[15] Many well-known historical figures who influenced Western science considered themselves Christian such asNicolaus Copernicus,[168]Galileo Galilei,[169]Johannes Kepler,[170]Isaac Newton[171]Robert Boyle,[172]Francis Bacon,[173]Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz,[174]Carl Friedrich Gauss,[175][176]Emanuel Swedenborg,[177]Alessandro Volta,[178]Antoine Lavoisier,[179]André-Marie Ampère,John Dalton,[180]James Clerk Maxwell,[181][182]William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin,[183]Louis Pasteur,[184]Michael Faraday,[185] andJ. J. Thomson.[186][187]
Isaac Newton, for example, believed thatgravity caused theplanets to revolve about theSun, and credited God with thedesign. In the concluding General Scholium to thePhilosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica, he wrote: "This most beautiful System of the Sun, Planets and Comets, could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and powerful being." Other famous founders of science who adhered to Christian beliefs include Galileo, Johannes Kepler, and Blaise Pascal.[188][189]
Prominent modern scientists advocating Christian belief include Nobel Prize–winning physicistsCharles Townes (United Church of Christ member) andWilliam Daniel Phillips (United Methodist Church member), evangelical Christian and past head of theHuman Genome ProjectFrancis Collins, and climatologistJohn T. Houghton.[190]
According to100 Years of Nobel Prizes a review of Nobel prizes award between 1901 and 2000 reveals that (65.4%) ofNobel Prizes Laureates, have identified Christianity in its various forms as their religious preference.[191] Overall, Christians have won a total of 72.5% inChemistry between 1901 and 2000,[192] 65.3% inPhysics,[192] 62% inMedicine,[192] 54% inEconomics.[192]
Byzantine science was essentially classical science,[193] and played an important and crucial role in thetransmission of classical knowledge to theIslamic world and toRenaissance Italy.[194][195] Many of the most distinguished classical scholars held high office in theEastern Orthodox Church.[196] Therefore, Byzantine science was in every period closely connected withancient-pagan philosophy, andmetaphysics. Despite some opposition to pagan learning, many of the most distinguished classical scholars held high office in the Church.[197] The writings of antiquity never ceased to be cultivated in theByzantine empire due to the impetus given toclassical studies by theAcademy of Athens in the 4th and 5th centuries, the vigor of the philosophical academy ofAlexandria, and to the services of theUniversity of Constantinople, which concerned itself entirely with secular subjects, to the exclusion oftheology,[198] which was taught in thePatriarchical Academy. Even the latter offered instruction in the ancient classics, and included literary, philosophical, and scientific texts in its curriculum. The monastic schools concentrated upon theBible, theology, andliturgy. Therefore, the monasticscriptoria expended most of their efforts upon the transcription of ecclesiastical manuscripts, while ancient-pagan literature was transcribed, summarized, excerpted, and annotated by laymen or clergy likePhotios,Arethas of Caesarea,Eustathius of Thessalonica, andBasilius Bessarion.[199] Byzantine scientists preserved and continued the legacy of the greatAncient Greek mathematicians and put mathematics in practice. In earlyByzantium (5th to 7th century) the architects and mathematiciansIsidore of Miletus andAnthemius of Tralles used complex mathematical formulas to construct the greatHagia Sophia church, a technological breakthrough for its time and for centuries afterwards due to its striking geometry, bold design and height. In late Byzantium (9th to 12th century) mathematicians likeMichael Psellos considered mathematics as a way to interpret the world.
Middle Eastern Christians especially the adherents of theChurch of the East (Nestorians), contributed to the Arab Islamic Civilization during theUmayyad and theAbbasid periods by translating works ofGreek philosophers toSyriac and afterwards toArabic.[40][41][42] 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 theSchool of Nisibis, and later theSchool of Edessa, and the hospital and medicalacademy of Jundishapur; libraries included theLibrary of Alexandria and theImperial Library of Constantinople; other centers of translation and learning functioned atMerv,Salonika,Nishapur andCtesiphon, situated just south of what later became Baghdad.[200][201]
Many scholars of theHouse of Wisdom were of Christian background;[202]theHouse of Wisdom was a library, translation institute, and academy established inAbbasid-eraBaghdad, Iraq.[203][204] Nestorians played a prominent role in the formation of Arab culture,[44] with theJundishapur school being prominent in the lateSassanid, Umayyad and early Abbasid periods.[205] Notably, eight generations of the NestorianBukhtishu family served as private doctors to caliphs and sultans between the 8th and 11th centuries.[206][207]
The migration waves ofByzantine scholars and émigrés in the period following theCrusadersacking of Constantinople in 1204 and theend of the Byzantine Empire in 1453, is considered by many scholars key to the revival ofGreek andRoman studies that led to the development of theRenaissance humanism,[208] andscience. These émigrés brought to Western Europe the relatively well-preserved remnants and accumulated knowledge of their own (Greek) civilization, which had mostly not survived the Early Middle Ages in the West. According to theEncyclopædia Britannica: "Many modern scholars also agree that the exodus of Greeks to Italy as a result of this event marked the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the Renaissance".[209]
While refined and clarified over the centuries, theRoman Catholic position on the relationship between science and religion is one of harmony, and has maintained the teaching ofnatural law as set forth byThomas Aquinas. For example, regarding scientific study such as that of evolution, the church's unofficial position is an example oftheistic 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 bothmonogenism and thespiritual component of human origins. Catholic schools have included all manners of scientific study in their curriculum for many centuries.[210]
Galileo once stated "The intention of theHoly Spirit is to teach us how to go to heaven, not how the heavens go."[211] In 1981John Paul II, then pope of theRoman Catholic Church, spoke of the relationship this way: "The Bible itself speaks to us of the origin of the universe and its make-up, not in order to provide us with a scientific treatise, but in order to state the correct relationships of man with God and with the universe. Sacred Scripture wishes simply to declare that the world was created by God, and in order to teach this truth it expresses itself in the terms of the cosmology in use at the time of the writer".[212]
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.
The CatholicCistercian order used its ownnumbering system, which could express numbers from 0 to 9999 in a single sign.[213][214] 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.[215] Until theIndustrial Revolution, most of the technological advances in Europe were made in the monasteries.[215] 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."[216] 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.[217] The English science historianJames Burke examines the impact of Cistercian waterpower, derived from Roman watermill technology such as that ofBarbegal aqueduct and mill nearArles in the fourth of his ten-partConnections TV series, called "Faith in Numbers". TheCistercians made major contributions to culture and technology in medieval Europe:Cistercian architecture is considered one of the most beautiful styles ofmedieval architecture;[218] and the Cistercians were the main force of technological diffusion in fields such as agriculture andhydraulic engineering.[218]
One view, first propounded byEnlightenment 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 ofCopernicus,Galileo Galilei andJohannes Kepler.
The Church's priest-scientists, many of whom wereJesuits, have been among the leading lights inastronomy,genetics,geomagnetism,meteorology,seismology, andsolar physics, becoming some of the "fathers" of these sciences. Examples include important churchmen such as theAugustinian abbotGregor Mendel (pioneer in the study of genetics),Roger Bacon (aFranciscan friar who was one of the early advocates of thescientific method), and Belgian priestGeorges Lemaître (the first to propose theBig Bang theory). Other notable priest scientists have includedAlbertus Magnus,Robert Grosseteste,Nicholas Steno,Francesco Grimaldi,Giambattista Riccioli,Roger Boscovich, andAthanasius Kircher. Even more numerous are Catholic laity involved in science:Henri Becquerel who discoveredradioactivity;Galvani,Volta,Ampere,Marconi, pioneers in electricity andtelecommunications;Lavoisier, "father of modernchemistry";Vesalius, founder of modernhuman anatomy; andCauchy, one of the mathematicians who laid the rigorous foundations ofcalculus.
Throughout history many of theRoman Catholic clerics have made contributions to science, mostly during periods of Church domination of public life. These cleric-scientists includeNicolaus Copernicus,Gregor Mendel,Georges Lemaître,Albertus Magnus,Roger Bacon,Pierre Gassendi,Roger Joseph Boscovich,Marin Mersenne,Bernard Bolzano,Francesco Maria Grimaldi,Nicole Oresme,Jean Buridan,Robert Grosseteste,Christopher Clavius,Nicolas Steno,Athanasius Kircher,Giovanni Battista Riccioli,William of Ockham, and others. The Catholic Church has also produced manylay scientists and mathematicians, including 20th-century Nobel laureates like chemistMario J. Molina, chemistJohn Polanyi, physicistRiccardo Giacconi, among many others.
| Robert Grosseteste (1175–1253) | Albertus Magnus (1200–1280) | Nicolaus Copernicus (1473–1543) | Marin Mersenne (1588–1648) | Christopher Clavius (1538–1612) | Nicolas Steno (1638–1686) | Athanasius Kircher (1602–1680) | Gregor Mendel (1822–1884) |
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The Jesuits have made numerous significant contributions to the development of science. For example, the Jesuits have dedicated significant study to earthquakes, andseismology has been described as "the Jesuit science".[219] The Jesuits have been described as "the single most important contributor to experimental physics in the seventeenth century".[220] According toJonathan Wright in his bookGod's Soldiers, by the 18th century the Jesuits had "contributed to the development of pendulum clocks, pantographs, barometers, reflecting telescopes and microscopes, to scientific fields as various as magnetism, optics and electricity. They observed, in some cases before anyone else, the colored bands onJupiter's surface, the Andromeda nebula and Saturn's rings. They theorized about the circulation of the blood (independently ofHarvey), the theoretical possibility of flight, the way the moon affected the tides, and the wave-like nature of light."[221]
Protestantism had an important influence on science. According to theMerton Thesis there was a positivecorrelation between the rise ofPuritanism andProtestantPietism on the one hand and earlyexperimental science on the other.[222] 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 andmethodology; secondly, it puts forward the argument that the popularity of science in 17th-century England and the religiousdemography of theRoyal Society (English scientists of that time were predominantly Puritans or other Protestants) can be explained by acorrelation between Protestantism and the scientific values.[223] In his theory,Robert K. Merton focused on English Puritanism andGerman Pietism as having been responsible for the development of theScientific Revolution of the 17th and 18th centuries. Merton explained that the connection betweenreligious affiliation and interest in science was the result of a significant synergy between theascetic Protestant values and those of modern science.[224] 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.[222]
According ofScientific Elite: Nobel Laureates in the United States byHarriet Zuckerman, a review of American Nobel prizes winners awarded between 1901 and 1972, 72% of AmericanNobel Prize laureates, have identified fromProtestant background.[225] Overall, Protestant have won a total of 84.2% of all the American Nobel Prizes inChemistry,[225] 60% inMedicine,[225] 58.6% inPhysics,[225] between 1901 and 1972.
The notion of "Christian finance" refers to banking and financial activities which came into existence several centuries ago. Whether the activities of theKnights Templar (12th century),Mounts of Piety (appeared in 1462) or theApostolic Chamber attached directly to the Vatican, a number of operations of a banking nature (money loan, guarantee, etc.) or a financial nature (issuance of securities, investments) is proved, despite the prohibition ofusury and the Church distrust against exchange activities (opposed to production activities).[226]
Francisco de Vitoria, a disciple ofThomas 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.[227]Joseph Schumpeter, an economist of the 20th century, referring to theScholastics, wrote, "it is they who come nearer than does any other group to having been the 'founders' of scientific economics."[228] Other economists and historians, such as Raymond de Roover, Marjorie Grice-Hutchinson, and Alejandro Chafuen, have also made similar statements.
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 thehumanities and thesciences.[229] 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.[230][231] In particular,John 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.[232][233][234][235] TheProtestant work ethic was an important force behind the unplanned and uncoordinatedmass action that influenced the development of capitalism and theIndustrial Revolution. This idea is also known as the"Protestant ethic thesis".[236] In the bookThe Central Liberal Truth: How Politics Can Change a Culture and Save It from Itself Lawrence E. Harrison argues that Protestantism along with Confucianism, and Judaism have been more successful in promoting progress, culture and society. Due to the Protestant virtues of education, achievement, work ethic, merit, frugality, and honesty.
Some mainline Protestant denominations such asEpiscopalians andPresbyterians andcongregationalist tend to be considerably wealthier[237] and better educated (having high proportion ofgraduate and post-graduate degrees per capita) than most other religious groups inAmerica,[238] and are disproportionately represented in the upper reaches of American business,[239] law and politics, especially theRepublican Party.[240] Large numbers of the mostwealthy and affluent American families as theVanderbilts, theAstors,Rockefeller,Du Pont,Roosevelt,Forbes,Whitneys,Mellons, theMorgans and Harrimans areMainline Protestant families.[237][241] TheBoston Brahmins, who were regarded as the nation's social and cultural elites, were often associated with theAmerican upper class,Harvard University;[242] and the Episcopal Church.[243][244] TheOld Philadelphianss were often associated with theAmerican upper class and the Episcopal Church andQuakerism.[245] These families were influential in the development and leadership of arts, culture, science, medicine, law, politics, industry and trade in the United States.
The rise ofProtestantism in the 16th contributed to the development ofbanking 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), Germany (Schroders,Berenbergs)[246] 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 attributesCalvinism with setting the stage for the later development of capitalism in northern Europe.[247] TheMorgan family is an AmericanEpiscopal Church family andbanking dynasty, which became prominent in the U.S. and throughout the world in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.[237] Catholicbanking families includesHouse of Medici,[248]Welser family,Fugger family,[249] andSimonetti family.
Some academics have theorized thatLutheranism, the dominant traditional religion of the Nordic countries, had an effect on the development ofsocial democracy there and theNordic 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.[250][251][252] 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.[253] Pauli Kettunen presents theNordic 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";[254] 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.[255]
Roman Catholics,Anglicans,Eastern Christians, and traditionalProtestant communities frame worship around theliturgical year. The liturgical cycle divides the year into a series of seasons, each with their theological emphases, and modes of prayer, which can be signified by different ways of decorating churches, colours ofparaments andvestments for clergy,[257] scriptural readings, themes for preaching and even different traditions and practices often observed personally or in the home.
Western Christian liturgical calendars are based on the cycle of theRoman Rite of the Catholic Church,[257] andEastern Christians use analogous calendars based on the cycle of their respectiverites. Calendars set aside holy days, such assolemnities which commemorate an event in the life of Jesus or Mary, thesaints, periods offasting such asLent, and other pious events such asmemoria or lesser festivals commemorating saints. Christian groups that do not follow a liturgical tradition often retain certain celebrations, such asChristmas,Easter andPentecost: these are the celebrations ofChrist's birth,resurrection and the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Church, respectively. A few denominations make no use of a liturgical calendar.[258]
Christmas (orFeast of the Nativity) is an annual festival commemoratingthe birth ofJesus Christ, observed as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of peoplearound the world.[259][260] Christmas Day is a publicholiday inmany of the world's nations,[261][262][263] is celebrated religiously by a majority of Christians,[264] as well asculturally by many non-Christians,[265] and forms an integral part of theholiday season centered around it. Popular modern customs of the holiday includegift giving; completing anAdvent calendar orAdvent wreath;Christmas music andcaroling; viewing aNativity play; an exchange ofChristmas cards;church services; aspecial meal; and the display of variousChristmas decorations, includingChristmas trees,Christmas lights,nativity scenes,garlands,wreaths,mistletoe, andholly. In addition, several closely related and often interchangeable figures, known asSanta Claus,Father Christmas,Saint Nicholas, andChristkind, are associated with bringing gifts to children during the Christmas season and have their own body oftraditions and lore.[266]
Easter orResurrection Sunday,[267][268] is afestival andholiday commemorating theresurrection ofJesus from the dead, described in theNew Testament as having occurred on the third day after hisburial followinghis crucifixion by theRomans atCalvaryc. 30 AD.[269][270]Easter customs vary across theChristian world, and includesunrise services, exclaiming thePaschal greeting,clipping the church,[271] and decoratingEaster eggs (symbols of theempty tomb).[272][273][274] TheEaster lily, a symbol of the resurrection,[275][276] traditionally decorates thechancel area ofchurches on this day and for the rest of Eastertide.[277] Additional customs that have become associated with Easter and are observed by both Christians and some non-Christians includeegg hunting, theEaster Bunny, andEaster parades.[278][279][280] There are also various traditionalEaster foods that vary regionally.
Roman Catholic theology enumerates seven sacraments:[281]Baptism (Christening),Confirmation (Chrismation),Eucharist (Communion),Penance (Reconciliation),Anointing of the Sick (before theSecond Vatican Council generally called Extreme Unction),Matrimony
In Christian belief and practice, asacrament is arite, instituted by Christ, that mediatesgrace, constituting asacred mystery. The term is derived from theLatin wordsacramentum, which was used to translate the Greek word formystery. Views concerning both what rites are sacramental, and what it means for an act to be a sacrament vary among Christian denominations and traditions.[282]
The most conventional functional definition of a sacrament is that it is an outward sign, instituted by Christ, that conveys an inward, spiritual grace through Christ. The two most widely accepted sacraments areBaptism and theEucharist (or Holy Communion), however, the majority of Christians also recognize five additional sacraments:Confirmation (Chrismation in the Orthodox tradition),Holy orders (ordination),Penance (orConfession),Anointing of the Sick, andMatrimony (seeChristian views on marriage).[282]
Taken together, these are theSeven Sacraments as recognized by churches in theHigh Church tradition—notablyRoman Catholic,Eastern Orthodox,Oriental Orthodox,Independent Catholic,Old Catholic, manyAnglicans, and someLutherans. Most other denominations and traditions typically affirm only Baptism and Eucharist as sacraments, while some Protestant groups, such as the Quakers, reject sacramental theology.[282]Christian denominations, such asBaptists, which believe these rites do not communicate grace, prefer to call Baptism and Holy Communionordinances rather than sacraments.
Today, mostChristian denominations are neutral aboutreligious male circumcision, neither requiring it nor forbidding it. The practice is customary among theCoptic,Ethiopian, andEritrean Orthodox Churches, and also some other African churches, as they require that their male members undergo circumcision.[283][284][285] Even though most Christian denominations does not require malecircumcision,[286] malecircumcision is widely in many predominantlyChristian countries and many Christian communities.[287][288][289][290]Christian communities inAfrica,[291][292] theAnglosphere countries, the Philippines, the Middle East,[293][294] South Korea andOceania have high circumcision rates,[295][296] While Christian communities in Europe and South America have low circumcision rates. The United States and the Philippines are the largestmajority Christian countries in the world to extensively practice circumcision. Scholar Heather L. Armstrong writes that, as of 2021, about half of Christian males worldwide are circumcised, with most of them being located in Africa, Anglosphere countries, and the Philippines.[297]
Worship can be varied for special events likebaptisms or weddings in the service or significantfeast days. In theearly church, Christians and those yet to complete initiation would separate for the Eucharistic part of the worship. In many churches today, adults and children will separate for all or some of the service to receive age-appropriate teaching. Such children's worship is often calledSunday school orSabbath school (Sunday schools are often held before rather than during services).
Christian culture puts notable emphasis on thefamily,[298] and according to the work of scholarsMax Weber,Alan Macfarlane,Steven Ozment,Jack Goody andPeter Laslett, the huge transformation that led to modern marriage in Western democracies was "fueled by the religio-cultural value system provided by elements ofJudaism, earlyChristianity,Roman Catholic canon law and theProtestant Reformation".[299] Historically,extended families were the basic family unit in theCatholic culture andcountries.[300]
MostChristian denominations practiceinfant baptism[301] to enter children into the faith. Some form ofconfirmation ritual occurs when the child has reached theage of reason and voluntarily accepts the religion. Ritualcircumcision is used to markCoptic Christian[302] andEthiopian Orthodox Christian[303] infant males as belonging to the faith. During the early period ofcapitalism, the rise of a large, commercial middle class, mainly in theProtestant countries of theNetherlands andEngland, 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. ThePoor Relief Acts in Elizabethan England put responsibility on eachParish to care for all the poor children in the area.[304] And prior to the 20th century, three major branches of Christianity—Catholicism,Orthodoxy andProtestantism[305]—as well as leading Protestant reformersMartin Luther andJohn Calvin generally held a critical perspective ofbirth control.[306]
TheChurch of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints puts notable emphasis on thefamily, and the distinctive concept of a united family which lives and progresses forever is at the core of Latter-day Saint doctrine.[307] 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. Allhomosexual activity is considered sinful andsame-sex marriages are not performed or supported by the LDS Church. Latter-day Saint fathers who hold thepriesthood typicallyname 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,[308] reflective of their belief that families can besealed together beyond death. Mormons also have a strictlaw of chastity, requiring abstention from sexual relations outside heterosexual marriage and fidelity within marriage.
APew 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 withextended 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 insingle parent households.[309] Christians inAsia andPacific,Latin America and theCaribbean,Middle East andNorth Africa, and inSub-Saharan Africa, overwhelmingly live in extended or two parent families with minor children.[309] While more Christians in Europe and North America live alone or as couples without other family members.[309]
In mainstreamNicene Christianity, there is no restriction on kinds of animals that can be eaten.[310][311] This practice stems fromPeter's vision of a sheet with animals, in whichSaint Peter "sees a sheet containing animals of every description lowered from the sky."[312] Nonetheless, theNew Testament does give a few guidelines about the consumption of meat, practiced by theChristian Church today; one of these is not consuming food knowingly offered to paganidols,[313] a conviction that theearlyChurch Fathers, such asClement of Alexandria andOrigen preached.[314] In addition, Christians traditionally bless any food before eating it with amealtime prayer (grace), as a sign of thankingGod for the meal they have.[315]
Slaughtering animals for food is often done without thetrinitarian formula,[316][317] although theArmenian Apostolic Church, among otherOrthodox Christians, have rituals that "display obvious links withshechitah, Jewish kosher slaughter."[318] The Bible, states Norman Geisler, stipulates one to "abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from meat of strangled animals".[319] In the New Testament,Paul of Tarsus notes that some devout Christians may wish toabstain from consuming meat if it causes "my brother to stumble" in his faith with God.[320] As such, someChristian monks, such as theTrappists, have adopted a policy ofChristian vegetarianism.[321] In addition, Christians of theSeventh-day Adventist tradition generally "avoid eating meat and highly spiced food".[322] Christians in theAnglican,Catholic,Lutheran,Methodist, andOrthodox denominations traditionally observe ameat-free day, andmeat free seasons especially during theliturgical season ofLent.[323][324][325][326]
SomeChristian denominations condone the moderate drinking of alcohol (moderationism), such as Anglicans, Catholics, Lutherans, and the Orthodox,[327] although others, such as Adventists,Baptists, Methodists, andPentecostals either abstain from or prohibit the consumption of alcohol (abstentionism andprohibitionism).[328] However, all Christian Churches, in view of thebiblical position on the issue, universally condemndrunkenness assinful.[329][330]
Christian cooking combines the food of many cultures in which Christian have lived. A specialChristmas family meal is traditionally an important part of the holiday's celebration, and the food that is served varies greatly from country to country. Some regions, such asSicily, have special meals for Christmas Eve, when 12 kinds of fish are served. In the United Kingdom and countries influenced by its traditions, a standard Christmas meal includes turkey, goose or other large bird, gravy, potatoes, vegetables, sometimes bread and cider. Special desserts are also prepared, such asChristmas pudding,mince pies,fruit cake andYule log.[331][332]
The Bible has many rituals of purification relating tomenstruation, childbirth,sexual relations,nocturnal emission,unusual bodily fluids,skin disease, death, andanimal sacrifices. TheEthiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church prescribes several kinds ofhand washing for example after leaving the latrine, lavatory or bathhouse, or before prayer, or after eating a meal.[333] The women in the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church are prohibited from entering the church temple duringmenses; and the men do not enter a church the day after they have had intercourse with their wives.[334]
Christianity has always placed a strongemphasis on hygiene,[335] Despite the denunciation of themixed bathing style of Roman pools byearly 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,[336] which contributed to hygiene and good health according to theChurch Fathers,Clement of Alexandria andTertullian. The Church also builtpublic bathing facilities that were separate for both sexes nearmonasteries and pilgrimage sites; also, thepopes situated baths within churchbasilicas and monasteries since the early Middle Ages.[337] PopeGregory the Great urged his followers on value ofbathing as a bodily need.[338]
Greatbath houses were built inByzantine centers such asConstantinople andAntioch,[339] and thepopes allocated to the Romans bathing throughdiaconia, or privateLateran baths, or even a myriad of monasticbath houses functioning in the 8th and 9th centuries.[338] Thepopes 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.[340]Public bathing were common in medievalChristendom larger towns and cities such asParis,Regensburg andNaples.[341][342] Catholic religious orders of theAugustinians' andBenedictines' rules containedritual purification,[343] and inspired byBenedict of Nursia encouragement for the practice of therapeutic bathing;Benedictine monks played a role in the development and promotion ofspas.[344]Protestant Christianity also played a prominent role in the development of the Britishspas.[344]
Contrary to popular belief[345]bathing andsanitation were not lost in Europe with the collapse of theRoman Empire.[346][347]Soapmaking first became an established trade during the so-called "Dark Ages". TheRomans usedscentedoils (mostly from Egypt), among other alternatives. By the 15th century, the manufacture of soap in theChristendom had become virtually industrialized, with sources inAntwerp,Castile,Marseille,Naples andVenice.[348] By the mid-19th century, the English urbanised middle classes had formed an ideology of cleanliness that ranked alongside typicalVictorian concepts, such as Christianity, respectability andsocial progress.[85]The Salvation Army has adopted movement of the deployment of thepersonal hygiene,[349] and by providingpersonal hygiene products.[86][350]
Theuse of water in manyChristian countries is due in part to thebiblical toilet etiquette which encourages washing after all instances of defecation.[351] Thebidet is common in predominantlyCatholic countries where water is considered essential foranal cleansing,[352][353] and in some traditionallyOrthodox andProtestant countries such asGreece andFinland respectively, wherebidet showers are common.[354]
Christian pop culture (or Christian popular culture), is thevernacular Christianculture that prevails in any givensociety. The content of popular culture is determined by the daily interactions, needs and desires, and cultural 'movements' that make up everyday lives ofChristians. It can include any number of practices, including those pertaining to cooking, clothing, mass media and the many facets ofentertainment such assports andliterature.
In modern urban mass societies, Christian pop culture has been crucially shaped by the development of industrialmass production, the introduction of new technologies of sound and image broadcasting and recording, and the growth ofmass media industries—thefilm,broadcastradio andtelevision,radio,video game, and the book publishing industries, as well as the print and electronic news media.
Items of Christian pop culture most typically appeal to a broad spectrum of Christians. Some argue that broad-appeal items dominate Christian pop culture because profit-making Christian companies that produce and sell items of Christian pop culture attempt to maximize their profits by emphasizing broadly appealing items. And yet the situation is more complex. To take the example ofChristian pop music, it is not the case that the music industry can impose any product they wish. In fact, highly popular types of music have often first been elaborated in small, counter-cultural circles such asChristian punk rock orChristian rap.
Because the Christian pop industry is significantly smaller than the secular pop industry, a few organizations and companies dominate the market and have a strong influence over what is dominant within the industry.
Another source of Christian pop culture which makes it differ from pop culture is the influence frommega churches. Christian pop culture reflects the current popularity of megachurches, but also the uniting of smaller community churches. The culture has been led byHillsong Church in particular, which resides in many countries includingAustralia,France, and theUnited Kingdom.[355]
TheChristian film industry is anumbrella term for films containing aChristian themed message or moral, produced by Christian filmmakers to a Christian audience, and films produced by non-Christians with Christian audiences in mind. They are often interdenominational films, but can also be films targeting a specific denomination of Christianity. Popular mainstream studio productions of films with strong Christian messages or biblical stories, likeBen-Hur,The Ten Commandments,The Passion of the Christ,[356]The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,[357]The Book of Eli,[358]Machine Gun Preacher,The Star,[359]The Flying House,[360]Superbook andSilence, are not specifically part of the Christian film industry, being more agnostic about their audiences' religious beliefs. These films generally also have a much higher budget, production values and better known film stars, and are received more favourably with film critics.
The 2014 filmGod's Not Dead is one of the all-time most successful independent Christian films[361] and the 2015 filmWar Room became aBox Office number-one film.[362]
Televangelism (tele- "distance" and "evangelism", meaning "ministry", sometimes calledteleministry) is the use of media, specificallyradio andtelevision, to communicateChristianity.[363] Televangelists areministers, whether official or self-proclaimed, who devote a large portion of their ministry to televisionbroadcasting. Some televangelists are also regularpastors or ministers in their own places of worship (often amegachurch), but the majority of their followers come from TV and radio audiences. Others do not have a conventional congregation, and work primarily through television. The term is also used derisively by critics as an insinuation of aggrandizement by such ministers.[364]
Televangelism began as a uniquely American phenomenon, resulting from alargely deregulated media where access totelevision networks andcable TV is open to virtually anyone who can afford it, combined with alarge Christian population that is able to provide the necessary funding. It became especially popular amongEvangelical Protestant audiences, whether independent or organized around Christian denominations.[365][366] However, the increasing globalisation of broadcasting has enabled some American televangelists to reach a wider audience through international broadcast networks, including some that are specifically Christian in nature, such asTrinity Broadcasting Network (the world's largest religioustelevision network),[367]The God Channel,Christian Broadcasting Network,Australian Christian Channel,SAT-7 andEmmanuel TV. Domestically produced televangelism is increasingly present in some other nations such asBrazil. Christian television may include broadcast television or cable television channels whose entire broadcast programming schedule is television programs directly related to Christianity or shows includingcomedy, action, drama, reality, dramatizations and variety shows,movies, andmini-series; which are part of the overall programming of a general-interest television station.
Some countries have more regulated media with either general restrictions on access or specific rules regarding religious broadcasting. In such countries, religious programming is typically produced by TV companies (sometimes as a regulatory or public service requirement) rather than privateinterest groups.
A Christianophile is a person who expresses a strong interest in or appreciation for Christianity, Christian culture,Christian history,Christendom or theChristian people.[368][369] That affinity may include Christianity itself or its history,philosophy,theology,music,literature,art,architecture,festivals etc.[370][371][372] The term "Christianophile" can be contrasted withChristianophobe, someone who shows hatred or other forms of negative feelings towards all that is Christian.[373]
Christianity and Christian culture has a generally positive image in a number of non-Christian societies such asHong Kong,[374]Macau,[375]India,Japan,[376][377][378]Lebanon,[379]Singapore,[380][381]South Korea,[382][383] andTaiwan.[384][385] In number of traditional Christian societies in Europe, there has been a revival of what has been called by some scholars "Christianophile", and a sympathy for Christianity and its culture, with politicians increasingly speaking of the "Christian roots and heritage" of their countries; this includesAustria,[386][387]France,[388]Hungary,[389]Italy,[390]Poland,[391]Russia,[391]Serbia,[391]Slovakia,[391] and theUnited Kingdom.[392]
G. K. Chesterton has been called a Christianophile; he wrote in the early 20th century about the benefits of Christianity. Famous for his use of paradox, Chesterton explained that while Christianity had the most mysteries, it was the most practical religion.[393][394] He pointed to theadvance of Christian civilizations as proof of its practicality.[395]T. S. Eliot has shown a strong affinity to the Christian culture; according to him, the common tradition of Christianity and its culture which has made Europe what it is, and theculture of Europe been rooted in Christianity.[396]Winston Churchill has shown a strong affinity to Protestant culture because he felt it "a step nearer Reason".[397] HistorianGeoffrey Blainey on his bookA Short History of Christianity, discussed therole of Christianity in civilization, and the extent of Christian influence on the world.[398] Some scholars criticize the conceptEurocentrism as a "Christianophile myth" because it has favored the components (mainlyChristianity) of European civilization and allowed eurocentrists to brand diverging societies and cultures as "uncivilized".[399]
{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)Many of the scientists who contributed to these developments were Christians
the Christian contribution to science has been uniformly at the top level, but it has reached that level and it has been sufficiently strong overall
Many of the early leaders of the scientific revolution were Christians of various stripes, including Roger Bacon, Copernicus, Kepler, Francis Bacon, Galileo, Newton, Boyle, Pascal, Descartes, Ray, Linnaeus and Gassendi
Many prominent Catholic physicians and psychologists have made significant contributions to hypnosis in medicine, dentistry, and psychology.
Virtually every major European composer contributed to the development of church music. Monteverdi, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Rossini, and Verdi are all examples of composers to have made significant contributions in this sphere. The Catholic church was without question one of the most important patrons of musical developments, and a crucial stimulus to the development of the western musical tradition.
The insights of Christian philosophy 'would not have happened without the direct or indirect contribution of Christian faith' (FR 76). Typical Christian philosophers include St. Augustine, St. Bonaventure, and St. Thomas Aquinas. The benefits derived from Christian philosophy are twofold.
Catholic thinkers contributed extensively to philosophy during the Nineteenth Century. Besides pioneering the revivals of Augustinianism and Thomism, they also helped to initiate such philosophical movements as Romanticism, Traditionalism, Semi-Rationalism, Spiritualism, Ontologism, and Integralism
Christians has also contributed greatly to the abolition of slavery, or at least to the mitigation of the rigour of servitude.
In the centuries succeeding the Reformation the teaching of Protestantism was consistent on the nature of work. Some Protestant theologians also contributed to the study of economics, especially the nineteenth-century Scottish minister Thomas Chalmers.
The Bible is the most globally influential and widely read book ever written. ... it has been a major influence on the behavior, laws, customs, education, art, literature, and morality of Western civilization.
{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help){{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)... From Fleming's perspective, the transition to Christianity required a good dose of personal and public hygiene ...
... Thus bathing also was considered a part of good health practice. For example, Tertullian attended the baths and believed them hygienic. Clement of Alexandria, while condemning excesses, had given guidelines for Christians who wished to attend the baths ...
... but baths were normally considered therapeutic until the days of Gregory the Great, who understood virtuous bathing to be bathing "on account of the needs of body" ...
A major contribution of the Christian missionaries was better health care of the people through hygiene. Soap, tooth–powder and brushes came to be used increasingly in urban areas.
cleanliness and hygiene became an important marker of being identified as a Christian
...Christianity placed great emphasis on the family and on all members from children to the aged...
Duke University has historical, formal, on-going, and symbolic ties with Methodism, but is an independent and non-sectarian institution ... Duke would not be the institution it is today without its ties to the Methodist Church. However, the Methodist Church does not own or direct the University. Duke is and has developed as a private non-profit corporation which is owned and governed by an autonomous and self-perpetuating Board of Trustees.
The names of fashionable families who were already Episcopalian, like the Morgans, or those, like the Fricks, who now became so, goes on interminably: Aldrich, Astor, Biddle, Booth, Brown, Du Pont, Firestone, Ford, Gardner, Mellon, Morgan, Procter, the Vanderbilt, Whitney. Episcopalians branches of the Baptist Rockefellers and Jewish Guggenheims even appeared on these family trees.
By the late nineteenth century, one of the strongest bulwarks of Brahmin power was Harvard University. Statistics underscore the close relationship between Harvard and Boston's upper strata.
Easter Day, also known as Resurrection Sunday, marks the high point of the Christian year. It is the day that we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
Orthodox, Catholic, and all Reformed churches in the Middle East celebrate Easter according to the Eastern calendar, calling this holy day "Resurrection Sunday," not Easter.
Easter is the central celebration of the Christian liturgical year. It is the oldest and most important Christian feast, celebrating the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. The date of Easter determines the dates of all movable feasts except those of Advent.
Easter eggs are used as a Christian symbol to represent the empty tomb. The outside of the egg looks dead but inside there is new life, which is going to break out. The Easter egg is a reminder that Jesus will rise from His tomb and bring new life. Eastern Orthodox Christians dye boiled eggs red to represent the blood of Christ shed for the sins of the world.
Just so, on that first Easter morning, Jesus came to life and walked out of the tomb, and left it, as it were, an empty shell. Just so, too, when the Christian dies, the body is left in the grave, an empty shell, but the soul takes wings and flies away to be with God. Thus you see that though an egg seems to be as dead as a stone, yet it really has life in it; and also it is like Christ's dead body, which was raised to life again. This is the reason we use eggs on Easter. (In olden times they used to color the eggs red, so as to show the kind of death by which Christ died, – abloody death.)
Red eggs are given to Orthodox Christians after the Easter Liturgy. They crack their eggs against each other's. The cracking of the eggs symbolizes a wish to break away from the bonds of sin and misery and enter the new life issuing from Christ's resurrection.
The Easter Lily is symbolic of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Churches of all denominations, large and small, are filled with floral arrangements of these white flowers with their trumpet-like shape on Easter morning.
We associate the lily with Easter, as pre-eminently the symbol of the Resurrection.
In parts of Europe, the eggs were dyed red and were then cracked together when people exchanged Easter greetings. Many congregations today continue to have Easter egg hunts for the children after the services on Easter Day.
When the custom was carrierd over into Christian practice the Easter eggs were usually sent to the priests to be blessed and sprinked with holy water. In later times the coloring and decorating of eggs was introduced, and in a royal roll of the time of Edward I., which is preserved in the Tower of London, there is an entry of 18d. for 400 eggs, to be used for Easter gifts.
So what preparations do most Christians and non-Christians make? Shopping for new clothing often signifies the belief that Spring has arrived, and it is a time of renewal. Preparations for the Easter Egg Hunts and the Easter Ham for the Sunday dinner are high on the list too.
Uniformly practiced by Jews, Muslims, and the members of Coptic, Ethiopian, and Eritrean Orthodox Churches, male circumcision remains prevalent in many regions of the world, particularly Africa, South and East Asia, Oceania, and Anglosphere countries.
For most part, Christianity does not require circumcision of its followers. Yet, some Orthodox and African Christian groups do require circumcision. These circumcisions take place at any point between birth and puberty.
It is obligatory among Jews, Muslims, and Coptic Christians. Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant Christians do not require circumcision. Starting in the last half of the 19th century, however, circumcision also became common among Christians in Europe and especially in North America.
Christian theology generally interprets male circumcision to be an Old Testament rule that is no longer an obligation ... though in many countries (especially the United States and Sub-Saharan Africa, but not so much in Europe) it is widely practiced among Christians
Neonatal circumcision is the general practice among Jews, Christians, and many, but not all Muslims.
Although it is mostly common and required in male newborns with Moslem or Jewish backgrounds, certain Christian-dominant countries such as the United States also practice it commonly.
male circumcision is still observed among Ethiopian and Coptic Christians, and circumcision rates are also high today in the Philippines and the US.
Christians in Africa, for instance, often practise infant male circumcision.
This practice is old and widespread among African Christians with very close links to their beliefs. It can be executed traditionally or in hospital.
Although it is stated that circumcision is not a sacrament necessary for salvation, this rite is accepted for the Ethiopian Jacobites and other Middle Eastern Christians.
On the Coptic Christian practice of male circumcision in Egypt, and on its practice by other Christians in western Asia.
However, the practice is still common among Christians in the United States, Oceania, South Korea, the Philippines, the Middle East and Africa. Some Middle Eastern Christians actually view the procedure as a rite of passage.
For instance, the majority of South Koreans, Americans, and Filipinos, as well as African Christians, practice circumcision.
Christianity placed great emphasis on the family and on all members from children to the aged
in cultures with stronger 'extended family traditions', such as Asian and Catholic countries
Before Christianity, they could not eat certain things from certain animals (uumajuit), but after eating they can now do anything they want to.
The eating of animals is not forbidden. The Scriptures do not forbid the eating and partaking of animals. This does not mean that all animals are to be eaten (Mark 7:19; Acts 11:9; 1 Tim. 4:4). It is clear in the Scriptures that we are not supposed to eat animals that are alive or with blood (Gen. 9:2–4; Deut. 12:16, 23–24).
In the meantime, Peter in Joppa has a middday vision in which he sees a sheet containing animals of every description lowered from the sky. He hears a voice from heaven telling him to "kill and eat." Peter is naturally taken aback, because eating some of these animals would mean breaking the Jewish rules about kosher foods. But then he hears a voice that tells him, "What God has cleansed, you must not call common [unclean]" (that is, you do not need to refrain from eating nonkosher foods; 10: 15). The same sequence of events happens three times.
Christ came for the Gentiles as well as the Jews (the real meaning of that vision in Acts 10:9;16) but he also calls us to look out for each other and not do things that will cause our brothers and sisters to stumble. In Corinthians Paul urges the believers to consider not eating meat when with people who assume that meat must be offered to idols before consumption: 'Food will not bring us close to God,' he writes. 'We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block for the weak.' (1 Corinthians 8:8–9)
Clement of Alexandria and Origen also forbid eating meat dedicated to idolatry and partaking in meals with demons, which, by association, are the meals of fornicators and idolatrous adulterers. Marcianus Aristides merely testifies that Christians do not eat what has been sacrificed to idols; and Hippolytus only notes the interdiction against eating such food.
Later, laws were instituted that declared certain meats to be "clean" and others to be "unclean". The system provided a means of proving one's obedience to God and had some health benefits. After Jesus Christ came, God declared all meats to be clean. Current slaughterhouse practices comply with the dictate to remove the blood, so virtually all meat today is acceptable to eat according to God.
The Christians do "Basema ab wawald wamanfas qeeus ahadu amlak" [in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit one God] and then slaughter. The Jews say "Baruch yitharek amlak yisrael" [Blessed is the King (God) of Israel].
By contrast, the most common mode of slaughtering four-legged animals among Christians in the nineteenth century was through the deliverance of a stunning blow to the head, usually with a mallet or poleax.
The Armenian and other Orthodox rituals of slaughter display obvious links withshechitah, Jewish kosher slaughter.
Nevertheless, toward the end of the chapter, Paul suggests that even Christians with strong faith may want to abstain from eating meat offered to pagan deities if any chance that their example will tempt fellow Christians of weaker faith into inadvertent idolatry. He concludes by saying, "Therefore, if food causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause my brother to stumble." (1 Corinthians 8:13)
Traditional Hindus and Trappist monks adopt vegetarian diets as a practice of their faith.
Seventh-Day Adventists are also urged, but not required, to avoid eating meat and highly spiced food (Snowdon, 1988).
The main legally enforced prohibition in both Catholic and Anglican countries was that against meat. During Lent, the most prominent annual season of fasting in Catholic and Anglican churches, authorities enjoined abstinence from meat and sometimes 'white meats' (cheese, milk, and eggs); in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century England butchers and victuallers were bound by heavy recognizances not to slaughter or sell meat on the weekly 'fish days,' Friday and Saturday.
Of the Eating of Meat: One should abstain from the eating of meat on Fridays and Saturdays, also in fasts, and this should be observed as an external ordinance at the command of his Imperial Majesty.
In the Orthodox groups, on ordinary Wednesdays and Fridays no meat, olive oil, wine, or fish can be consumed.
Although the Jewish, Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Episcopal, and Lutheran traditions generally allow moderate drinking for those who can do so, it is simply incorrect to accuse them of condoning drunkenness.
Protestants who called themselves "fundamentalists" (they believed in the literal truth of the Bible--Baptists, Methodists, Pentecostals) were dry.
Drunkenness was biblically condemned, and all denominations disciplined drunken members.
For most of Christian history, as in the Bible, moderate drinking of alcohol was taken for granted while drunkenness was condemned.
From Fleming's perspective, the transition to Christianity required a good dose of personal and public hygiene
Thus bathing also was considered a part of good health practice. For example, Tertullian attended the baths and believed them hygienic. Clement of Alexandria, while condemning excesses, had given guidelines for Christian] who wished to attend the baths
Clement of Alexandria (d. c. 215 CE) allowed that bathing contributed to good health and hygiene ... Christian skeptics could not easily dissuade the baths' practical popularity, however; popes continued to build baths situated within church basilicas and monasteries throughout the early medieval period
but baths were normally considered therapeutic until the days of Gregory the Great, who understood virtuous bathing to be bathing 'on account of the needs of body'
Public baths were common in the larger towns and cities of Europe by the twelfth century.
The evidence of early medieval laws that enforced punishments for the destruction of bathing houses suggests that such buildings were not rare. That they ... took a bath every week. At places in southern Europe, Roman baths remained in use or were even restored ... The Paris city scribe Nicolas Boileau noted the existence of twenty-six public baths in Paris in 1272
Douching is commonly practiced in Catholic countries. The bidet ... is still commonly found in France and other Catholic countries.
He bought more television stations, then piled on cable channels and eventually satellites until he had built the world's largest Christian television system
Christian culture in general has a positive image.
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