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Christianity & the Birth of the West



While growing up in the United States during the Cold War, I had certain fanciful, even romantic ideas when it came to the continent of Europe:

    A castle on every hill;

    A cathedral on every street corner;

    Art museums in every suburb;

    Horse-drawn carriages travelling on cobbled streets to the sound of classical music;

    A semi-aristocratic lifestyle, where people elegantly sip fine coffee and eat cake, while never being in a hurry;

    A highly-intelligent population who can speak 3-5 languages each.

There is some truth to this idealised picture, but it is also true that this resembles a past glory. To understand this great continent, we need to go back into history. What makes Europe, ‘Europe.’ After all, it is part of the same land mass as Asia and even Africa (via the Suez Canal and Straits of Gibraltar). In theory, you could drive from Oslo to Singapore or Cape Town to Helsinki.

So what set Europe apart from the other continents and made it a world leader in its heyday?

Europe is the birthplace of western civilisation. From its soil was spawned the Renaissance, the Reformation, the Enlightenment, industrial and scientific revolutions, and the concept of liberal democracy, individual freedom, and human rights. These things have reached out and blessed the world.

However, they did not come in a vacuum. For the foundations of western civilisation rest on two pillars:

1.       Greco-Roman philosophy, culture, and heritage (also known as Hellenism);

2.       Judeo - Christian theology, ethics, and morality.

These two pillars are what make Europe, and the western world, what they are. In this article, we will look at Christianity and Europe. Indeed, we argue that without Christianity, Europe would not have the identity that it enjoys today.

The Gospel Comes to Europe

The spread of the Christian gospel occurred very rapidly. From its birthplace in Jerusalem, the good news of Christ went eastward towards India (doubting Thomas was reputed to have ministered in Chennai), southwards to Africa thanks to Mark, who gave us the second gospel. It went westward to Spain, perhaps by the Apostle Paul himself. Then northward and westward into Europe. So within time North Africa, the Middle East, and the southern part of Europe became Christian.

The Jewish people in Biblical times were agrarian in nature and had little experience or interest in maritime activities. Which means they had little to do with the Mediterranean world, especially the northern shore which is Europe. With Rome as their imperial masters, they only dealt with Europe when they had to. Paradoxically, it was in the very direction that the Jews avoided which became the most fertile and resilient ground for spread of Christianity, especially after North Africa and the Middle East came under Islamic rule in the 7th Century AD.

Paul the apostle is given much credit for bringing the gospel to Europe. Indeed, his efforts are worthy of celebration, but he was not the only one. For example, neither Paul nor Peter founded the church of Rome. In fact, when Paul wrote the Epistle to Romans, he had not yet visited the church or city. In the catalogue of nations present at the Day of Pentecost, only the ‘strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes’ were from Europe. The churches Paul planted on European soil included Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, Athens, and Corinth. All of these are in modern Greece. As mentioned, there was a church (or series of house churches) in the imperial capital of Rome, and the good news spread elsewhere. Aristobulous was sent by the church in Tyre, Phoenicia, to Britain in around AD 37 and within half a millennium there were over 100 bishops. Armenia was the first nation to adopt Christianity as its religion in 301 AD and the gospel continued to spread elsewhere.

From Illegal to Legal

For the first three centuries, the Christian church was considered to be a ‘religio illicita,’ in contrast to the Jewish religion which was deemed ‘religio licita.’ The Jews were given relative tolerance and autonomy, and Christianity, when it was still considered a Jewish sect, from under its covering. Yet, when the separation and divorce between Judaism and Christianity finally occurred, the Church was subject to periodic bouts of severe persecution. Even the Roman Emperor Nero used the the fire of Rome in AD 64 as a pretext for punishing Christians, who he blamed for the flames.

Then something amazing happened. First, the church grew miraculously, despite the persecution. Estimates say that 10% of the population of the empire was Christian. Second, the emperor of the Roman Empire converted to the very faith that his predecessors sought to destroy. Constantine saw a cross in the sky and heard the words ‘By this sign you will have victory.’ He went on to win the Battle of Milvian Bridge in 312 AD. He then issued the ‘Edict of Milan,’ granting official tolerance to the Christian Church. Next, he personally convened the Council at Nicaea in 325 AD, where the Arians were condemned. This council brought civil recognition to Christianity. By the end of the fourth century, Christianity had been ‘legalised’ and ‘imperialised.’ The legalisation was symbolised by the destruction of the pagan temple in Alexandria in AD 391. Christianity became the state religion of the Roman Empire..

An interesting note: Constantine sent his mother Helena to Palestine to discover places associated with the life of Jesus. As a result of her visit, two churches were established that are still with us to this day: the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, commemorating Christ’s birth, and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, on the traditional sites of Calvary and the tomb.

The fall of Rome in the fifth century AD left a vacuum filled by the Bishop of Rome, popularly called ‘the Pope.’Charlemagne was crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 800 AD.  The Christianisation of Europe continued. The Vikings were Christianised in 911 AD. King Charles the Simple of France invited them to settle, on the condition that they convert to Christianity. These Vikings became known as the Normans, who went on to conquer England.

The Russian ruler wanted to be associated with Europe. He listen to a Jew, Catholic, and Orthodox explained their religions. So in 950 AD Olga converted Russia into Eastern Orthodox Christianity.

Massive changes occurred since then, with the Middle Ages (which spawned the great universities), the launch of the Crusades, the Reformation, Thirty Years War (1618-1648), and the like. There were also the Muslim invasions, either by the Arabs in the eighth century, or the Ottoman Turks from the sixteenth & seventeenth century. Yet in all these things, looking at the universities, cathedrals, place names, legal system, all prove that Christianity and European identity have been greatly tied together.

TO BE CONTINUED


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