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Role of Christianity in civilization

Disputation of the Holy Sacrament by Italian Renaissance artist Raphael, 1509–1510
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Christianity has been intricately intertwined with the history and formation of Western society. Throughout its long history, the Church has been a major source of social services like schooling and medical care; an inspiration for art, culture and philosophy; and an influential player in politics and religion. In various ways it has sought to affect Western attitudes towards vice and virtue in diverse fields. Festivals like Easter and Christmas are marked as public holidays; the Gregorian Calendar has been adopted internationally as the civil calendar; and the calendar itself is measured from an estimation of the date of Jesus's birth.

The cultural influence of the Church has been vast. Church scholars preserved literacy in Western Europe following the Fall of the Western Roman Empire.[1] During the Middle Ages, the Church rose to replace the Roman Empire as the unifying force in Europe. The medieval cathedrals remain among the most iconic architectural feats produced by Western civilization. Many of Europe's universities were also founded by the church at that time. Many historians state that universities and cathedral schools were a continuation of the interest in learning promoted by monasteries.[2] The university is generally regarded[3][4] as an institution that has its origin in the Medieval Christian setting, born from Cathedral schools.[5] Many scholars and historians attribute Christianity to having contributed to the rise of the Scientific Revolution.[6][7]

The Reformation brought an end to religious unity in the West, but the Renaissance masterpieces produced by Catholic artists like Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael remain among the most celebrated works of art ever produced. Similarly, Christian sacred music by composers like Pachelbel, Vivaldi, Bach, Handel, Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Liszt, and Verdi is among the most admired classical music in the Western canon.

The Bible and Christian theology have also strongly influenced Western philosophers and political activists.[8] The teachings of Jesus, such as the Parable of the Good Samaritan, are argued by some to be among the most important sources of modern notions of "human rights" and the welfare commonly provided by governments in the West. Long-held Christian teachings on sexuality, marriage, and family life have also been influential and controversial in recent times.[9]: 309  Christianity in general affected the status of women by condemning marital infidelity, divorce, incest, polygamy, birth control, infanticide (female infants were more likely to be killed), and abortion.[10]: 104  While official Catholic Church teaching[11]: 61  considers women and men to be complementary (equal and different), some modern "advocates of ordination of women and other feminists" argue that teachings attributed to St. Paul and those of the Fathers of the Church and Scholastic theologians advanced the notion of a divinely ordained female inferiority.[12] Nevertheless, women have played prominent roles in Western history through and as part of the church, particularly in education and healthcare, but also as influential theologians and mystics.

Christians have made a myriad of contributions to human progress in a broad and diverse range of fields, both historically and in modern times, including science and technology,[13][14][15][16][17] medicine,[18] fine arts and architecture,[19][20][21] politics, literatures,[21] music,[21] philanthropy, philosophy,[22][23][24]: 15  ethics,[25] humanism,[26][27][28] theatre and business.[29][30][20][31] According to 100 Years of Nobel Prizes a review of Nobel prizes award between 1901 and 2000 reveals that (65.4%) of Nobel Prizes Laureates, have identified Christianity in its various forms as their religious preference.[32] Eastern Christians (particularly Nestorian Christians) have also contributed to the Arab Islamic Civilization during the Ummayad and the Abbasid periods by translating works of Greek philosophers to Syriac and afterwards to Arabic.[33][34][35] They also excelled in philosophy, science, theology and medicine.[36][37]

Rodney Stark writes that medieval Europe's advances in production methods, navigation, and war technology "can be traced to the unique Christian conviction that progress was a God-given obligation, entailed in the gift of reason. That new technologies and techniques would always be forthcoming was a fundamental article of Christian faith. Hence, no bishops or theologians denounced clocks or sailing ships—although both were condemned on religious grounds in various non-Western societies."[38][example needed]

Christianity contributed greatly to the development of European cultural identity,[39] although some progress originated elsewhere, Romanticism began with the curiosity and passion of the pagan world of old.[40][41] Outside the Western world, Christianity has had an influence and contributed to various cultures, such as in Africa, Central Asia, the Near East, Middle East, East Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Indian subcontinent.[42][43] Scholars and intellectuals have noted Christians have made significant contributions to Arab and Islamic civilization since the introduction of Islam.[44]

  1. ^ Brooke, John H.; Numbers, Ronald L., eds. (2011). Science and Religion Around the World. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 71. ISBN 978-0-195-32819-6.
  2. ^ Johnson, P. (2000). The Renaissance: a short history. Modern Library chronicles (Modern Library ed.). New York: Modern Library, p. 9.
  3. ^ Rüegg, Walter: "Foreword. The University as a European Institution", in: A History of the University in Europe. Vol. 1: Universities in the Middle Ages, Cambridge University Press, 1992, ISBN 0-521-36105-2, pp. XIX–XX
  4. ^ Verger, Jacques (13 July 2009). "Parisian Scholars in the Early Fourteenth Century". European Review. 8 (2). Cambridge Core: 268–269. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  5. ^ Haskins, Charles H. (1898). "The Life of Medieval Students as Illustrated by their Letters". The American Historical Review. 3 (2): 203–229. doi:10.2307/1832500. JSTOR 1832500.
  6. ^ Lindberg, David C.; Numbers, Ronald L. (1986), "Introduction", God & Nature: Historical Essays on the Encounter Between Christianity and Science, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, pp. 5, 12, ISBN 978-0-520-05538-4, It would be indefensible to maintain, with Hooykaas and Jaki, that Christianity was fundamentally responsible for the successes of seventeenth-century science. It would be a mistake of equal magnitude, however, to overlook the intricate interlocking of scientific and religious concerns throughout the century.
  7. ^ Harrison, Peter (8 May 2012). "Christianity and the rise of western science". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 28 August 2014.
  8. ^ Riches, John (2000). The Bible: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Ch. 1. ISBN 978-0192853431.
  9. ^ Hastings, Adrian (1996). The Church in Africa, 1450–1950 (Oxford History of the Christian Church). Clarendon Press. ISBN 978-0198263999.
  10. ^ Stark, Rodney (2020). The Rise of Christianity A Sociologist Reconsiders History. Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691214290.
  11. ^ Kreeft, Peter (21 February 2011). Catholic Christianity A Complete Catechism of Catholic Beliefs Based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Ignatius Press. ISBN 9781681490700.
  12. ^ Bokenkotter, Thomas (2007). A Concise History of the Catholic Church (Revised ed.). Crown Publishing Group. p. 465. ISBN 9780307423481.
  13. ^ Gilley, Sheridan (2006). The Cambridge History of Christianity: Volume 8, World Christianities c. 1815 – c. 1914. Brian Stanley. Cambridge University Press. p. 164. ISBN 0521814561. ... Many of the scientists who contributed to these developments were Christians...
  14. ^ Steane, Andrew (2014). Faithful to Science: The Role of Science in Religion. OUP Oxford. p. 179. ISBN 978-0191025136. ... 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 ...
  15. ^ L. Johnson, Eric (2009). Foundations for Soul Care: A Christian Psychology Proposal. InterVarsity Press. p. 63. ISBN 978-0830875276. ... . Many of the early leaders of the scientific revolution were Christians, including Roger Bacon, Copernicus, Kepler, Francis Bacon, Galileo, Newton, Boyle, Pascal, Descartes, Ray, Linnaeus, and Gassendi...
  16. ^ "100 Scientists Who Shaped World History". Archived from the original on 19 November 2005. Retrieved 29 April 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  17. ^ "50 Nobel Laureates and Other Great Scientists Who Believe in God". Archived from the original on 24 May 2007. Retrieved 29 April 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  18. ^ S. Kroger, William (2016). Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis in Medicine, Dentistry and Psychology. Pickle Partners Publishing. ISBN 978-1787203044. Many prominent Catholic physicians and psychologists have made significant contributions to hypnosis in medicine, dentistry, and psychology.
  19. ^ "Religious Affiliation of the World's Greatest Artists". Archived from the original on 11 December 2005. Retrieved 29 April 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  20. ^ a b "Wealthy 100 and the 100 Most Influential in Business". Archived from the original on 19 November 2005. Retrieved 29 April 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  21. ^ a b c E. McGrath, Alister (2006). Christianity: An Introduction. John Wiley & Sons. p. 336. ISBN 1405108991. Virtually every major European composer contributed to the development of church music. Monteverdi, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Rossini, and Verdi are examples of composers who made significant contributions in this sphere. The Catholic Church was one of the most important patrons of musical developments, and a crucial stimulus to the development of the western musical tradition.
  22. ^ A. Spinello, Richard (2012). The Encyclicals of John Paul II: An Introduction and Commentary. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 147. ISBN 978-1442219427. ... 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 ...
  23. ^ Roy Vincelette, Alan (2009). Recent Catholic Philosophy: The Nineteenth Century. Marquette University Press. ISBN 978-0874627565. ... .Catholic thinkers contributed extensively to philosophy during the Nineteenth Century. Besides pioneering the revivals of Augustinianism and Thomism, they helped initiate such philosophical movements as Romanticism, Traditionalism, Semi-Rationalism, Spiritualism, Ontologism, and Integralism...
  24. ^ Hyman, J.; Walsh, J. J. (1967). Philosophy in the Middle Ages: The Christian, Islamic, and Jewish Traditions. New York: Harper & Row. OCLC 370638.
  25. ^ Brown, J. (24 July 2014). Encyclopaedia Perthensis, Or, Universal Dictionary of the Arts, Sciences, Literature, Etc. : Intended to Supersede the Use of Other Books of Reference, Volume 18. University of Minnesota. p. 179. ISBN 978-0191025136. ... Christians has also contributed greatly to the abolition of slavery, or at least to the mitigation of the rigour of servitude.
  26. ^ Pinn, Anthony B, ed. (9 September 2021). The Oxford Handbook of Humanism. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190921538.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-19-092154-5.
  27. ^ Davies, p. 477
  28. ^ Löffler, Klemens (1910). "Humanism". The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. VII. New York: Robert Appleton Company. pp. 538–542.
  29. ^ Hillerbrand, Hans J. (2016). Encyclopedia of Protestantism: 4-volume Set. Pickle Partners Publishing. p. 174. ISBN 978-1787203044. ... 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 ...
  30. ^ "Religion of History's 100 Most Influential People". Archived from the original on 28 November 1999. Retrieved 29 April 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  31. ^ "Religion of Great Philosophers". Archived from the original on 18 January 2000. Retrieved 29 April 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  32. ^ Baruch A. Shalev, 100 Years of Nobel Prizes (2003), Atlantic Publishers & Distributors, p. 57: between 1901 and 2000 reveals that 654 Laureates belong to 28 different religions. Most (65.4%) have identified Christianity in its various forms as their religious preference. ISBN 978-0935047370
  33. ^ Hill, Donald. Islamic Science and Engineering. 1993. Edinburgh Univ. Press. ISBN 0-7486-0455-3, p. 4
  34. ^ Brague, Rémi (15 April 2009). The Legend of the Middle Ages. University of Chicago Press. p. 164. ISBN 9780226070803. Retrieved 11 February 2014.
  35. ^ Ferguson, Kitty Pythagoras: His Lives and the Legacy of a Rational Universe Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2008, (page number not available – occurs toward end of Chapter 13, "The Wrap-up of Antiquity"). "It was in the Near and Middle East and North Africa that the old traditions of teaching and learning continued, and where Christian scholars were carefully preserving ancient texts and knowledge of the ancient Greek language."
  36. ^ Brague, Remi. "Assyrian Contributions to the Islamic Civilization". www.christiansofiraq.com. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
  37. ^ "Nestorianism | Definition, History, & Churches | Britannica". www.britannica.com. 18 April 2023. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
  38. ^ The Victory of Reason: How Christianity Led to Freedom, Capitalism, and Western Success. Random House Publishing. 26 September 2006. p. 48. ISBN 9780812972337.
  39. ^ "Europe: A History". Goodreads. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
  40. ^ Miller, Peter N. (2006). "History of Religion Becomes Ethnology: Some Evidence from Peiresc's Africa". Journal of the History of Ideas. 67 (4): 675–696. doi:10.1353/jhi.2006.0035. ISSN 1086-3222. S2CID 170111458.
  41. ^ Jack Zipes (2001). The great fairy tale tradition : from Straparola and Basile to the Brothers Grimm : texts, criticism. New York: W.W. Norton. ISBN 0-393-97636-X. OCLC 44133076.
  42. ^ Curtis, Michael (2017). Jews, Antisemitism, and the Middle East. Routledge. p. 173. ISBN 9781351510721.
  43. ^ D. Barr, Michael (2012). Cultural Politics and Asian Values. Routledge. p. 81. ISBN 9781136001666.
  44. ^ Curtis, Michael (2018). Secular Nationalism and Citizenship in Muslim Countries: Arab Christians in the Levant. Springer. p. 11. ISBN 9781351510721. Christian contributions to art, culture, and literature in the Arab-Islamic world; Christian contributions education and social advancement in the region.

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