THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION
_Important Factors in the Foundation of Western Civilization_.--When
the European world entered the period of the Middle Ages, there were a
few factors more important than others that influenced civilization.[1]
(1) The Oriental cultures, not inspiring as a whole, left by-products
from Mesopotamia, Palestine, and Egypt. These were widely spread
through the influence of world wars and world empires. (2) The Greek
cultures in the form of art, architecture, philosophy, and literature,
and newer forms of political and social organization were widely
diffused. (3) The Romans had established agriculture, universal
centralized government and citizenship, and developed a magnificent
body of law; moreover, they had formed a standing army which was used
in the support of monarchy, added some new features to architecture and
industrial structures, and developed the Latin language, which was to
be the carrier of thought for many centuries. (4) The Christian
religion with a new philosophy of life was to penetrate and modify all
society, all thought, government, law, art, and, in fact, all phases of
human conduct. (5) The barbarian invasion carried with it the Teutonic
idea of individual liberty and established a new practice of human
relationships. It was vigor of life against tradition and convention.
With these contributions, the European world was to start out with the
venture of mediaeval civilization, after the decline of the Roman
Empire.
_The Social Contacts of the Christian Religion_.--Of the factors
enumerated above, none was more powerful than the teaching of the
Christians. For it came in direct contrast and opposition to
established opinions and old systems. It was also constructive, for it
furnished a definite plan of social order different from all existing
ones, which it opposed. The {269} religions of the Orient centred
society around the temple. Among all the Semitic races, Babylonian,
Assyrian, and Hebrew, temple worship was an expression of religious and
national unity. National gods, national worship, and a priesthood were
the rule. Egypt was similar in many respects, and the Greeks used the
temple worship in a limited degree, though no less real in its
influences.
The Romans, though they had national gods, yet during the empire had
liberalized the right of nations to worship whom they pleased, provided
nothing was done to militate against the Roman government, which was
committed to the worship of certain gods, in which the worship of the
emperor became a more or less distinctive feature. The Christian
teaching recognized no national gods, no national religion, but a world
god who was a father of all men. Furthermore, it recognized that all
men, of whatsoever race and country, were brethren. So this doctrine
of love crossed boundaries of all nations and races, penetrated systems
of religion and philosophy, and established the idea of international
and universal brotherhood.
_Social Conditions at the Beginning of the Christian Era_.--The
philosophy of the Greeks and Romans had reached a state of degeneracy
at the time of the coming of Christ. Thought had become weak and
illogical. Trusting to the influence of the senses, which were at
first believed to be infallible, scepticism of the worst nature
influenced all classes of the people. Epicureanism, not very bad in
the beginning, had come to a stage of decrepitude. To seek immediate
pleasure regardless of consequences was far different from avoiding
extravagance and intemperance, in order to make a higher happiness.
Licentiousness, debauchery, the demoralized condition of the home and
family ties, made all society corrupt. Stoicism had been taken up by
the Romans; it agreed with their nature, and, coupled with
Epicureanism, led to the extinction of faith. There was no clear
vision of life; no hope, no high and worthy aspirations, no inspiration
for a noble life.
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The character of worship of the Romans of their various gods led to a
non-religious attitude of mind. Religion, like everything else, had
become a commercial matter, to be used temporarily for the benefit of
all parties who indulged. While each separate nationality had its own
shrine in the temple, and while the emperor was deified, all worship
was carried on in a selfish manner. There was no reverence, no devout
attitude of worship, and consequently no real benefit derived from the
religious life. The Roman merchant went to the temple to offer
petitions for the safety of his ship on the seas, laden with
merchandise. After its safe entrance, the affair troubled him no more;
his religious emotion was satisfied. Moral degeneration could be the
only outcome of following a broken-down philosophy and an empty
religion. Men had no faith in one another, and consequently felt no
obligation to moral actions. Dishonesty in all business transactions
was the rule. Injustice in the administration of the law was worked by
the influence of factions and cliques. The Roman world was politically
corrupt. Men were struggling for office regardless of the effect of
their methods on the social welfare. The marriage relation became
indefinite and unholy. The home life lost its hallowed influence as a
support to general, social, and political life.
The result of a superficial religion, an empty philosophy, and a low
grade of morality, was to drive men to scepticism, to a doubt in all
things, or to a stoic indifference to all things, or perhaps in a
minority of cases to a search for light. To nearly all there was
nothing in the world to give permanent satisfaction to the sensual
nature, or nothing to call out the higher qualities of the soul. Men
turned with loathing from their own revels and immoral practices and
recognized nothing worthy of their thoughts in life. Those who held to
a moral plane at all found no inspiration in living, had no enthusiasm
for anything or any person. It were as well that man did not exist;
that there was no earth, no starry firmament, no heaven, no hell, no
present, no future. The few who sought for the {271} light did so from
their inner consciousness or through reflection. Desiring a better
life, they advocated higher aspirations of the soul and an elevated,
moral life, and sought consolation in the wisdom of the sages. Their
life bordered on the monastic.
_The Contact of Christianity with Social Life_.--The most striking
contrast to be observed in comparing the state of the world with
Christianity is the novelty of its teachings. No doctrine like the
fatherhood of God had hitherto been taught in the European world.
Plato reached, in his philosophy, a conception of a universal creator
and father of all, but his doctrine was influenced by dualism. There
was no conception of the fatherly care which Christians supposed God to
exercise over all of his creatures. It also taught the brotherhood of
man, that all people of every nation are brethren, with a common
father, a doctrine that had never been forcibly advanced before. The
Jehovah of the Jews watched over their especial affairs and was
considered in no sense the God of the Gentiles. For how could Jehovah
favor Jews and also their enemies at the same time? So, too, for the
Greek and the barbarian, the Roman and the Teuton, the jurisdiction of
deities was limited by national boundaries, or, in case of family
worship, by the tribe, for the household god belonged only to a limited
number of worshippers. A common brotherhood of all men on a basis of
religious equality of right and privilege was decidedly new.
Christianity taught of the nature and punishment of sin. This, too,
was unknown to the degenerate days of the Roman life. To sin against
the Creator and Father was new in their conception, and to consider
such as worthy of punishment was also beyond their philosophy.
Christianity clearly pointed out what sin is, and asserted boldly that
there is a just retribution to all lawbreakers. It taught of
righteousness and justice, and that acts were to be performed because
they were right. Individuals were to be treated justly by their
fellows, regardless of birth or position. And finally, making marriage
a {272} divine institution, Christianity introduced a pure moral code
in the home.
While a few philosophers, following after Plato, conjectured respecting
the immortality of the soul, Christianity was the first religious
system to teach eternal life as a fundamental doctrine. Coupled with
this was the doctrine of the future judgment, at which man should give
an account of his actions on this side of the grave. This was a new
doctrine to the people of the world.
The Christians introduced a new phase of social life by making their
practice agree with their profession. It had been the fault of the
moral sentiments of the ancient sages that they were never carried out
in practice. Many fine precepts respecting right conduct had been
uttered, but these were not realized by the great mass of humanity, and
were put in practice by very few people. They had seldom been
vitalized by humanizing use. Hence Christianity appeared in strong
relief in the presence of the artificial system with which it came in
contact. It had a faith and genuineness which were vigorous and
refreshing.
The Christians practised true benevolence, which was a great point in
these latter days of selfishness and indifference. They systematically
looked after their own poor and cared for the stranger at the gates.
Later the church built hospitals and refuges and prepared for the care
of all the oppressed. Thousands who were careworn, oppressed, or
disgusted with the ways of the world turned instinctively to
Christianity for relief, and were not disappointed. The Greeks and the
Romans had never practised systematic charity until taught by the
Christians. The Romans gave away large sums for political reasons, to
appease the populace, but with no spirit of charity.
But one of the most important of the teachings of the early church was
to dignify labor. There was a new dignity lent to service. Prior to
the dominion of the church, labor had become degrading, for slavery had
supplanted free labor to such an extent that all labor appeared
dishonorable. Another {273} potent cause of the demoralization of
labor was the entrance of a large amount of products from the conquered
nations. The introduction of these supplies, won by conquest,
paralyzed home industries and developed a spirit of pauperism. The
actions of the nobility intensified the evils. They spent their time
in politics, and purchased the favor of the populace for the right of
manipulating the wealth and power of the community. The Christians
taught that labor was honorable, and they labored with their own hands,
built monasteries, developed agriculture, and in many other ways taught
that it is noble to labor.
_Christianity Influenced the Legislation of the Times_.--At first
Christians were a weak and despised group of individuals. Later they
obtained sufficient force to become partners with the empire and in a
measure dictate some of the laws of the community. The most
significant of these were to abolish the inhuman treatment of
criminals, who were considered not so well as the beasts of the field.
Organized Christianity secured human treatment of prisoners while they
were in confinement, and the abolition of punishment by crucifixion.
Gladiatorial shows were suppressed, and laws permitting the freer
manumission of slaves were passed. The exposure of children, common to
both Greeks and Romans, was finally forbidden by law. The laws of
marriage were modified so that the sanctity of the home was secured;
and, finally, a law was passed securing Sunday as a day of rest to be
observed by the whole nation. This all came about gradually as the
church came into power. This early influence of the Christian religion
on the legislation of the Roman government presaged a time when, in the
decline of the empire, the church would exercise the greatest power of
any organization, political or religious, in western Europe.
_Christians Come Into Conflict with Civil Authority_.--It was
impossible that a movement so antagonistic to the usual condition of
affairs as Christianity should not come into conflict with the civil
authority. Its insignificant beginning, although {274} it excited the
hatred and the contempt of the jealous and the discontented, gave no
promise of a formidable power sufficient to contend with the imperial
authority. But as it gained power it excited the alarm of rulers, as
they beheld it opposing cherished institutions. Nearly all of the
persecutions came about through the attitude of the church toward the
temporal rulers. The Roman religion was a part of the civil system,
and he who would not subscribe to it was in opposition to the state.
The Christians would not worship the emperor, nor indeed would they, in
common with other nations, set up an image or shrine in the temple at
Rome and worship according to the privilege granted. They recognized
One higher in power than the emperor. The Romans in their practical
view of life could not discriminate between spiritual and temporal
affairs, and a recognition of a higher spiritual being as giving
authority was in their sight the acknowledgment of allegiance to a
foreign power. The fact that the Christians met in secret excited the
suspicions of many, and it became customary to accuse them on account
of any mishap or evil that came upon the people. Thus it happened at
the burning of Rome that the Christians were accused of setting it on
fire, and many suffered persecution on account of these suspicions.
Christians also despised civic virtues, or made light of their
importance. In this they were greatly mistaken in their practical
service, for they could have wielded more power had they given more
attention to civic life. Like many good people of modern times, they
observed the corruption of government, and held themselves aloof from
it rather than to enter in and attempt to make it better. The result
of this indifference of the Christians was to make the Romans believe
that they were antagonistic to the best interests of the community.
The persecution of the Christians continued at intervals with greater
or less intensity for more than two centuries; the Christians were
early persecuted by the Jews, later by the Romans. In the first
century they were persecuted under Nero and Domitian, through personal
spite or selfish interests. After {275} this their persecution was
political; there was a desire to suppress a religion that was held to
be contrary to law. The persecution under Hadrian arose on account of
the supposition that the Christians were the cause of plagues and
troubles on account of their impiety. Among later emperors it became
customary to attribute to them any unusual occurrence or strange
phenomenon which was destructive of life or property.
Organized Christianity grew so strong that it came in direct contact
with the empire, and the latter had need of real apprehension, for the
conflict brought about by the divergence of belief suddenly
precipitated a great struggle within the empire. The strong and
growing power of the Christians was observed everywhere. It was no
insignificant opponent, and it attacked the imperial system at all
points.
Finally Constantine, who was a wise ruler as well as an astute
politician, saw that it would be good policy to recognize the church as
an important body in the empire and to turn this growing social force
to his own account. From this time on the church may be said to have
become a part of the imperial system, which greatly influenced its
subsequent history. While in a measure it brought an element of
strength into the social and political world, it rapidly undermined the
system of government, and was a potent force in the decline of the
empire by rendering obsolete many phases of the Roman government.
_The Wealth of the Church Accumulates_.--As Rome declined and new
governments arose, the church grew rapidly in the accumulation of
wealth, particularly in church edifices and lands. It is always a sign
of growing power when large ownership of property is obtained. The
favors of Constantine, the gifts of Pepin and Charlemagne, and the
large number of private gifts of property brought the church into the
Middle Ages with large feudal possessions. This gave it prestige and
power, which it could not otherwise have held, and hastened the
development of a system of government which was powerful in many ways.
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_Development of the Hierarchy_.--The clergy finally assumed powers of
control of the church separate from the laity. Consequently there was
a gradual decline in the power of lay members to have a voice in the
affairs of the church. While the early church appeared as a simple
democratic association, the organization had developed into a formal
system or hierarchy, which extended from pope to simple lay members.
The power of control falling into the hands of high officials, there
soon became a distinction between the ordinary membership and the
machinery of government. Moreover, the clergy were exempt from
taxation and any control or discipline similar to that imposed on
ordinary lay members.
These conditions soon led to the exercise of undue authority of the
hierarchy over the lay membership. This dominating principle became
dogmatic, until the members of the church became slaves to an arbitrary
government. The only saving quality in this was the fact that the
members of the clergy were chosen from the laity, which kept up the
connection between the higher and lower members of the church. The
separation of the governors from the governed proceeded slowly but
surely until the higher officers were appointed from the central
authority of the church, and all, even to the clergy, were directly
under the imperial control of the papacy. Moreover, the clergy assumed
legal powers and attempted to regulate the conduct of the laymen.
There finally grew up a great body of canon law, according to which the
clergy ruled the entire church and, to a certain extent, civil life.
But the church, under the canon law, must add a penalty to its
enforcement and must assume the punishment of offenders within its own
jurisdiction. This led to the assumption that all crime is sin, and as
its particular function was to punish sin, the church claimed
jurisdiction over all sinners and the right to apprehend and sentence
criminals; but the actual punishment of the more grievous offenses was
usually given over to the civil authority.
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_Attempt to Dominate the Temporal Powers_.--Having developed a strong
hierarchy which completely dominated the laity, from which it had
separated, having amassed wealth and gained power, and having invaded
the temporal power in the apprehension and punishment of crime, the
church was prepared to go a step farther and set its authority above
kings and princes in the management of all temporal affairs. In this
it almost succeeded, for its power of excommunication was so great as
to make the civil authorities tremble and bow down before it. The
struggle of church and empire in the Middle Ages, and, indeed, into the
so-called modern era, represents one of the important phases of
history. The idea of a world empire had long dominated the minds of
the people, who looked to the Roman imperialism as the final solution
of all government. But as this gradually declined and was replaced by
the Christian church, the idea of a world religion finally became
prevalent. Hence the ideas of a world religion and a world empire were
joined in the Holy Roman Empire, begun by Charlemagne and established
by Otto the Great. In this combination the church assumed first place
as representing the eternal God, as the head of all things temporal and
spiritual.
In this respect the church easily overreached itself in the employment
of force to carry out its plans. Assuming to control by love, it had
entered the lists to contend with force and intrigue, and it became
subject to all forms of degradation arising from political corruption.
In this respect its high object became degraded to the mere attempt to
dominate. The greed for power and force was very great, and this again
and again led the church into error and lessened its influence in the
actual regeneration of man and society.
_Dogmatism_.--The progress of the imperial power of the church finally
settled into the condition of absolute authority over the thoughts and
minds of the people. The church assumed to be absolutely correct in
its theory of authority, and assumed to be infallible in regard to
matters of right and wrong. It went farther, and prescribed what men
should {278} believe, and insisted that they should accept that dictum
without question, on the authority of the church. This monopoly of
religious belief assumed by the church had a tendency to stifle free
inquiry and to retard progress. It more than once led to
irregularities of practice on the part of the church in order to
maintain its position, and on the part of the members to avoid the
harsh treatment of the church. Religious progress, except in
government-building, was not rapid, spirituality declined, and the
fervent zeal for the right and for justice passed into fanaticism for
purity.
This caused the church to fail to utilize the means of progress. It
might have advanced its own interest more rapidly by encouraging free
inquiry and developing a struggle for the truth. By exercising
liberality it could have ingratiated itself into the government of all
nations as a helpful adviser, and thus have conserved morality and
justice; but by its illiberality it retarded the progress of the mind
and the development of spirituality. While it lowered the conception
of religion, on the one hand, it lowered the estimate of knowledge, on
the other, and in all suppressed truth through dogmatic belief. This
course not only affected the character and quality of the clergy, and
created discontent in the laymen, but finally lessened respect for the
church, and consequently for the gospel, in the minds of men.
_The Church Becomes the Conservator of Knowledge_.--Very early in the
days of the decline of the Roman Empire, when the inroads of the
barbarian had destroyed reverence for knowledge, and, indeed, when
within the tottering empire all philosophy and learning had fallen into
contempt, the church possessed the learning of the times. Through its
monasteries and its schools all the learning of the period was found.
It sought in a measure to preserve, by copying, the manuscripts of many
of the ancient and those of later times. Thus the church preserved the
knowledge which otherwise must have passed away through Roman
degeneration and barbarian influences.
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_Service of Christianity_.[2]--The service of Christianity to European
civilization consists chiefly in: (1) the respect paid to woman; (2)
the establishment of the home and the enthronement of the home
relation; (3) the advancement of the idea of humanity; (4) the
development of morality; (5) the conservation of spiritual power; (6)
the conservation of knowledge during the Dark Ages; (7) the development
of faith; (8) the introduction of a new social order founded on
brotherhood, which manifested itself in many ways in the development of
community life.
If the church fell into evil habits it was on account of the conditions
under which it existed. Its struggle with Oriental despotism, as well
as with Oriental mysticism, a degenerate philosophy, corrupt social and
political conditions, could not leave it unscathed. If evil at times,
it was better than the temporal government. If its rulers were
dogmatic, arbitrary, and inconsistent, they were better, nevertheless,
than the ruling temporal princes. The church represented the only
light there was in the Dark Ages. It was far superior in morality and
justice to all other institutions. If it assumed too much power it
must be remembered that it came naturally to this assumption by
attending specifically to its apparent duty in exercising the power
that the civil authority failed to exercise. The development of faith
in itself is a great factor in civilization. It must not be ignored,
although it is in great danger of passing into dogmatism. A world
burdened with dogmatism is a dead world; a world without faith is a
corrupt world leading on to death.
The Christian religion taught the value of the individual, but also
taught of the Kingdom of God, which involved a community spirit--the
universal citizenship of the Romans prepared the way, and the
individual liberty of the Germans strengthened it. Whenever the church
adhered to the teachings of the four gospels, it made for liberty of
thought, freedom of life, progress in knowledge and in the arts of
right living. {280} Whenever it ceased to follow these and put
institutionalism first, it retarded progress, in learning, science, and
philosophy, and likewise in justice and righteousness.
To the church organization as an institution are due the preservation,
perpetuation, and propagation of the teachings of Jesus, which
otherwise might have been lost or passed into legend. All the way
through the development of the Christian doctrine in Europe, under the
direction of the church there are two conflicting forces--the rule by
dogma and the freedom of individual belief. The former comes from the
Greeks and Latins, the latter from the Nordic idea of personal liberty.
Both have been essential to the development of the Christian religion
and the political life alike. The dominant force in the religious
dogma of the church was necessary to a people untutored in spiritual
development. Its error was to insist that the individual had no right
to personal belief. Yet the former established rules of faith and
prevented the dissipation of the treasured teachings of Jesus.
SUBJECTS FOR FURTHER STUDY
1. In what ways was the Christian religion antagonistic to other
religions?
2. What new elements did it add to human progress?
3. How did the fall of Rome contribute to the power of the church?
4. What particular service did the church contribute to social order
during the decline of the Roman Empire?
5. How did the church conserve learning and at the same time suppress
freedom of thought?
6. How do you discriminate between Christianity as a religious culture
and the church as an institution?
[1] Adams, _Civilization During the Middle Ages_.
[2] Adams, _Civilization During the Middle Ages_, chap. I.
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