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Western Christianity is one of two subdivisions ofChristianity (Eastern Christianity being the other). Western Christianity is composed of theLatin Church andWestern Protestantism, together with their offshoots such as theOld Catholic Church,Independent Catholicism andRestorationism.
The large majority of the world's 2.3 billion Christians are Western Christians (about 2 billion: 1.2 billion Latin Catholic and 1.17 billion Protestant).[3][4] One major component, the Latin Church, developed under thebishop of Rome. Out of the Latin Church emerged a wide variety of independentProtestant denominations, includingLutheranism andAnglicanism, starting from theProtestant Reformation in the 16th century, as did Independent Catholicism in the 19th century. Thus, the term "Western Christianity" does not describe a singlecommunion orreligious denomination but is applied to distinguish all these denominations collectively from Eastern Christianity.
The establishment of the distinct Latin Church, aparticular churchsui iuris of theCatholic Church, coincided with the consolidation of theHoly See inRome, which claimedprimacy since Antiquity. The Latin Church is distinct from theEastern Catholic Churches, also infull communion with thePope inRome, and from theEastern Orthodox Church andOriental Orthodox Churches, which are not in communion with Rome. These other churches are part ofEastern Christianity. The terms "Western" and "Eastern" in this regard originated with geographical divisions mirroring the cultural divide between theHellenistic East and Latin West and the political divide between theWestern andEastern Roman empires. During theMiddle Ages, adherents of the Latin Church, irrespective of ethnicity, commonly referred to themselves as "Latins" to distinguish themselves fromEastern Christians ("Greeks").[5]
Western Christianity hasplayed a prominent role in the shaping ofWestern civilization.[6][7][8][9] With the expansion ofEuropean colonialism from theEarly Modern era, the Latin Church, in time along with its Protestant secessions, spread throughout theAmericas, much of thePhilippines,Southern Africa, pockets ofWest Africa, and throughoutAustralia andNew Zealand. Thus, when used for historical periods after the 16th century, the term "Western Christianity" does not refer to a particular geographical area but is used as a collective term for all these.
Today, the geographical distinction between Western and Eastern Christianity is not nearly as absolute as in Antiquity or the Middle Ages, due to the spread ofChristian missionaries,migrations, andglobalisation. As such, the adjectives "Western Christianity" and "Eastern Christianity" are typically used to refer to historical origins and differences intheology andliturgy rather than present geographical locations.[citation needed]
While the Latin Church maintains the use of theLatin liturgical rites, Protestant denominations and Independent Catholicism use various liturgical practices.
The earliest concept of Europe as a cultural sphere (instead of simply a geographic term) appeared during theCarolingian Renaissance of the 9th century, which included territories that practiced Western Christianity at the time.[10]
For much of its history, the Christian church has beenculturally divided between the Latin-speaking West, whose centre wasRome, and the Greek-speaking East, whose centre wasConstantinople. Cultural differences and political rivalry created tensions between the two churches, leading to disagreement overdoctrine andecclesiology and ultimately toschism.[11]
LikeEastern Christianity, Western Christianity traces its roots directly to theapostles and other early preachers of the religion. In Western Christianity's original area,Latin was the principal language. Christian writers in Latin had more influence there than those who wrote inGreek,Syriac, or other languages. Although the first Christians in the West used Greek (such asClement of Rome), by thefourth century Latin had superseded it even in the cosmopolitan city ofRome, as well as insouthern Gaul and theRoman province of Africa.[12] There is evidence of a Latin translation of theBible as early as the 2nd century (see alsoVetus Latina).
With thedecline of the Roman Empire, distinctions appeared also in organization, since the bishops in the West were not dependent on theEmperor in Constantinople and did not come under the influence of theCaesaropapism in the Eastern Church. While thesee of Constantinople became dominant throughout the Emperor's lands, the West looked exclusively to thesee of Rome, which in the East was seen as that of one of the fivepatriarchs of thePentarchy, "the proposed government of universalChristendom by fivepatriarchal sees under the auspices of a single universal empire. Formulated in the legislation of the emperorJustinian I (527–565), especially in hisNovella 131, the theory received formal ecclesiastical sanction at theCouncil in Trullo (692), which ranked the five sees as Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem."[13]
Over the centuries, disagreements separated Western Christianity from the various forms of Eastern Christianity: first fromEast Syriac Christianity after theCouncil of Ephesus (431), then from that ofOriental Orthodoxy after theCouncil of Chalcedon (451), and then fromEastern Orthodoxy with theEast-West Schism of 1054. With the last-named form of Eastern Christianity, reunion agreements were signed at theSecond Council of Lyon (1274) and theCouncil of Florence (1439), but these proved ineffective.
Historian Paul Legutko ofStanford University said theCatholic Church is "at the center of the development of the values, ideas, science, laws, and institutions which constitute what we callWestern civilization".[14] The rise ofProtestantism led to major divisions within Western Christianity, which still persist, and wars—for example, theAnglo-Spanish War of 1585–1604 had religious as well as economic causes.
In and after theAge of Discovery,Europeans spread Western Christianity to theNew World and elsewhere. Roman Catholicism came to the Americas (especially South America), Africa, Asia, Australia and the Pacific. Protestantism, including Anglicanism, came to North America, Australia-Pacific and some African locales.
Today, the geographical distinction between Western and Eastern Christianity is much less absolute, due to the great migrations of Europeans across the globe, as well as the work ofmissionaries worldwide over the past five centuries.
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Original sin, also calledancestral sin,[15][16][17][18] is aChristian belief in astate of sin in which humanity has existed since thefall of man, stemming fromAdam and Eve's rebellion in theGarden of Eden, namely the sin of disobedience in consuming theforbidden fruit from thetree of the knowledge of good and evil.[19] Theologians have characterized this condition in many ways, seeing it as ranging from something as insignificant as a slight deficiency, or a tendency toward sin yet withoutcollective guilt, referred to as a "sin nature", to something as drastic astotal depravity or automatic guilt of all humans through collective guilt.[20]
Most Western Christians use a version of theNicene Creed that states that theHoly Spirit "proceeds from the Father and the Son", where the original text as adopted by theFirst Council of Constantinople had "proceeds from the Father" without the addition of either "and the Son" or "alone". This Western version also has the additional phrase "God from God" (Latin:Deum de Deo), which was in the Creed as adopted by theFirst Council of Nicaea, but which was dropped by the First Council of Constantinople.
Thedate of Easter usually differs between Eastern and Western Christianity, because the calculations are based on theJulian calendar andGregorian calendar respectively. However, before the Council of Nicea, various dates including Jewish Passover were observed. Nicea "Romanized" the date for Easter and anathematized a "Judaized" (i.e. Passover date for) Easter. The date of observance of Easter has only differed in modern times since the promulgation of the Gregorian calendar in 1582; and further, the Western Church did not universally adopt the Gregorian calendar at once, so that for some time the dates of Easter differed between the Eastern Church and the Roman Catholic Church, but not necessarily as between the Eastern Church and the Western Protestant churches. For example, the Church of England continued to observe Easter on the same date as the Eastern Church until 1753.
Even the dates of other Christian holidays often differ between Eastern and Western Christianity.
Eastern Christianity, and particularly the Eastern Orthodox Church, has traditionally held a distinction between God's essence, or that which He is, with God's energies, or that which He does. They hold that while God is unknowable in His essence, He can be known (i.e. experienced) in His energies. This is an extension of Eastern Christianity'sapophatic theology, while Western Christians tend to prefer a view ofdivine simplicity, and claim that God's essence can be known by its attributes.
Today, Western Christianity makes up close to 90% ofChristians worldwide with the Catholic Church accounting for over half and various Protestant denominations making up another 40%.
Hussite movements of 15th centuryBohemia preceded the main Protestant uprising by 100 years and evolved into several small Protestant churches, such as theMoravian Church.Waldensians survived also, but blended into theReformed tradition.
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Protestants: 625,606,000; Independents: 421,689,000; Unaffiliated Christians: 123,508,000
Roman Catholicism, Christian church that has been the decisive spiritual force in the history of Western civilization.
That certain distinctive features of our Western civilization—the civilization of western Europe and America—have been shaped chiefly by Judaeo – Graeco – Christianity, Catholic, and Protestant.
Cultural sphere ofChristian traditions that developed in theLatin Church in theWestern Roman Empire, further diversified starting from theProtestant Reformation in the 16th century | ||||||||||||||
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