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. Christian Information Ministries is a non-profit ministry and is dependent on gifts from God's people in order to operate. If you receive a benefit from our materials would you consider giving a tax-deductible gift to CIM. We suggest $25. a year minimum. 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