CIM Briefing Papers

C.I.M. Outline #17

          THE INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIANITY ON CIVILIZATION

I.   Introduction

     A.   Specifically Western Civilization

     B.   Our society is (has been) in the process of abandoning
          its Judeo-Christian roots.  There is no longer a
          Christian consensus.

     C.   Question:  Can a person really be an educated person
          and be ignorant of Christianity's contribution to the
          culture of the West?

II.  The Negative Charge:  Christianity has been a repressive
     force toward the advancement of civilization.

     A.   To Marx, Christianity, (and all religion) was an
          opiate, a tool used to exploit the masses.

     B.   To Freud, Christianity was an illusion, a crutch, a
          source of untold guilt and psychological problems.

     C.   Bertrand Russell, British philosopher, said:  "I say
          quite deliberately that the Christian religion, as
          organized in its churches, has been and still is the
          principle enemy of moral progress in the world."  (from
          WHY I AM NOT A CHRISTIAN, p.21.).

     D.   Arnold Toynbee, historian, says, "When the Greco-Roman
          world was converted to Christianity, the divinity was
          drained out of nature and concentrated in a single,
          transcendent God.  Man's greedy impulse to exploit
          nature used to be held in check by his awe, his pious
          worship of nature.  Now monotheism, as enumerated in
          Genesis, has removed the age old restraint."  (HORIZON,
          1973.)

     E.   B. F. Skinner, psychologist, said Christianity impedes
          the utopia he believes can be brought about through his
          behavioristic techniques.

     F.   Lynn White, historian, says, "Christianity in absolute
          contrast to ancient paganism and Asia's religions, not
          only established a dualism of man and nature, but also
          insisted that it is God's will that man exploit nature
          for his proper ends." (SCIENCE MAGAZINE, 1967).

     G.   Gloria Steinam, leading feminist, says "Human potential
          must replace God by the year 2000."

     H.   Summary:  According to the above and others,
          Christianity is:

          1.   A crutch.
          2.   It impedes science.
          3.   It leads to bigotry.
          4.   It has been the cause of wars.
          5.   Its worldview is the cause of pollution.
          6.   It is blamed for the population explosion.
          7.   It is blamed for the oppression of women.
          
III.  Analysis of the Charge

      A.   Unfortunately for the name of Christ, some of the
           above charges are true.

           1.   The Church as an institution has not always been
                a positive influence for social change.  When it
                has failed, it has usually been because it has
                erred in two extremes.

                a.   Two major errors:

                     (1) Platonism:  The world of the spiritual
                         is the real world.  Matter is evil; the
                         body is the prison of the soul.  This
                         made Christianity a "pie in the sky"
                         religion.  When infected with this
                         belief, the church was not concerned
                         with social reform.

                     (2) Humanism and liberal theology:  It
                         viewed the physical and social needs of
                         mankind as the only importance.

                b.   Jesus was concerned for the total man.  God
                     not only wants to redeem man's soul.  He
                     wants to redeem his body as well as all of
                     life, i.e. his institutions.  (IICor. 10:5)

           2.   When the church was assimilated by the culture
                in which it found itself, it lost its cutting
                edge.  Example:  Under Constantine in the 4th
                century much paganism was incorporated into the
                church.  One historian said: "The Church became
                a little worldly and the world became a little
                churchy."  K.S. Latourette.

           3.   The church as an institution should be viewed
                apart from Christianity as set forth by its
                founders.  Christianity should be credited when
                she has lived up to the ideals and practices of
                her founder and has had a modifying influence on
                society.  When professing Christians have not,
                they are to blame and not Christianity.
                     
      B.   Jesus predicted that tares would be sown among the
           wheat.

IV.  Areas Where Christianity has been a Positive Influence

     A.   Social Change

          1.   Means of social change

               a.   Reform:  moderately effective, but slow. 
                    Results are not always good.

               b.   Revolution:  generally more rapid but usually
                    bloody.  Like an airplane with no instrument
                    panel.

               c.   Regeneration:  Changes the person who then
                    changes society.  Revival of the heart should
                    lead to reform in thought and actions which
                    in turn leads to reform in society.

               d.   Summary:  The first two have to do with
                    manipulating man's environment.  Regeneration
                    changes man and his view of himself.

          2.   Examples of social change
                    
               (Changes brought about by men who had experienced
               an inner change)

               a.   The Early Church

                    (1) Opposed infanticide
                    (2) Status of women and children
                    (3) opposed Roman gladiatorial combats.
                    (4) Opposed Cannibalism.

               b.   The Church in the Middle Ages-- Monks helped
                    preserve valuable manuscripts.

               c.   England in the 18th Century

                    (1) John Wesley:  of 358,852 signatures on a
                        petition to end the slave trade, 227,426
                        were Methodists.
                    (2) Bishop Wilburforce:  helped end slave
                        ownership.
                    (3) John Howard:  worked for prison reform.
                    (4) Anthony Ashley Cooper: worked to abolish
                        inhumane working conditions, child labor
                        laws.
                    (5) Lord Shaftsbury:  worked for reform for
                        the mentally ill.

               d.   19th and 20th Centuries 
                          
                    (1) The foreign mission's movement brought
                        many humane services to primitive
                        cultures.
                    (2) Hospitals were started by churches, the
                        Red Cross, Salvation Army, Universities,
                        the British Labor Party (yes it was
                        originally Christian), YMCA, etc.

     B.   The Rise of Modern Science

          1.   Modern science rose in the West, not in the East
               because of it Christian worldview.

          2.   A. Whitehead and Oppenheimer both insisted that
               modern science could not have been born except in
               a Christian milieu.  Why?  Christian concepts
               conducive to scientific inquiry:

               a.   It had a positive attitude toward the world. 
                    God, the Creator had pronounced it "good". 
                    The East views matter as evil and illusory.

               b.   Conviction of order.  The universe is a
                    rational place.

               c.   Man was seen as a superintendent of nature
                    and created in God's image.

               d.   The idea of progress.  Christians had a
                    teleological view of history.  History had
                    purpose because God had decreed it.  The east
                    had a cyclical view of history, i.e
                    reincarnation.

          3.   Many pioneering scientists were Christians: 
               Newton, Pasteur, Kepler, Fleming, Jonathan
               Edwards.  To name just a few.

     C.   Christianity and Higher Education

          1.   The university movement was begun by the church.

          2.   The Puritans were 90 % literate.

          3.   All early American universities were christian.


     D.   Christianity and the social order.

          Both the Declaration of Independence and our
          Constitution were based on the Christian Worldview. 
          The West has enjoyed the greatest amount of freedom of
          any civilization because of its Christian roots.  Laws
          were seen as based in the character of God and revealed
          by Him.

     E.   Christianity and the Arts.  It is impossible to
          estimate the influence of Christian thought on the
          arts.  Think of the influence of the King James Version
          of the Bible just for starters!

IV.  Conclusion

     "It is impossible to exaggerate the importance of the coming
     of Christianity.  It brought with it, for one thing, an
     altogether new sense of human life.  For the Greeks had
     shown man his mind; but the Christians showed him his soul. 
     They taught that in the sight of God all souls were equal,
     that every human life was sacrosanct and inviolate.  Where
     the Greeks had identified the beautiful and the good, had
     thought ugliness to be bad, had shrunk from disease and
     imperfection and from  everything mishappen, horrible and
     repulsive.  The Christian sought out the diseased, the
     crippled, the mutilated, to give them help.  Love for the
     ancient Greek was never quite distinguished from Venus.  For
     the Christians who held that God was love, it took on deep
     over-tones of sacrifice and compassion."  R.R. Palmer,
     historian.  
 
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