Expert: Irulan Serena - 1/7/2006

Question
i've been working on a paper for three weeks now & i still can't figure out the answer to one of the points i have to prove. you'd be an absolute life saver.
I'm a first year university student (world history to the 16th century), my paper is on the contribution of christianity to different ancient civilizations.
the only thing i can't prove, is how the spread of christianity contributed to the continuity between the Roman Empire and Medieval Europe.

i'd be forever indebted if you could explain this to me, or even just give me a few pointers? anything.. i've been awake for two days straight, i think i may became very mentally unstable soon. haha.

thanks for any help you can give me.

evelyn.

Answer
Hello Evelyn,



Let me preface my answer with the following disclaimer.  Although I am a spiritual person who believes in the existence of a Creator /Creatress I do not adhere nor believe in  any prescribed religious denomination such as Catholicism, Protestantism, etc.    My views on religion are similar to those of Bertrand Arthur William Russell (b.1872 - d.1970)   a British philosopher, logician, essayist, and social critic, best known for his work in mathematical logic and analytic philosophy.  Here is a link to what Rusself  [and I] feel about established religions.

http://www.positiveatheism.org/hist/russell2.htm

Nor do I believe that the bible is the ultimate word of God for if one studies the history of the origin of the bible one sees that it was a political tool at the hands of emperor Constantine and the Christian clerics of the times….during the split of the Roman empire in  325 AD. See  FIRST COUNCIL OF NICAEA - 325 AD    

http://chi.gospelcom.net/GLIMPSEF/Glimpses/glmps012.shtml

http://www.piar.hu/councils/ecum01.htm

Regardless of my own personal views on religion, I do recognize that Christianity has made contributions to a variety of societies, however not all contributions were positive – some were very negative and detrimental to different societies ….. so the contributions were a mixed  nature – some good, some not so good.

EXAMPLES:

Inquisition  – http://www.askwhy.co.uk/christianity/0815Inquisition.html

Obstruction of scientific truths and discoveries which delayed development of science for two centuries, but ultimately science did develop

http://www.bede.org.uk/sciencehistory.htm#history

http://chronicle.com/temp/reprint.php?id=tqm4xd5mqkk5px43d968m19qmf4w3g5y

Attitude towards Jewish civilization which contributed to extreme negative feelings and actions against Jews

- http://www.sullivan-county.com/news/mine/guilt.htm


Attitude against unbelievers like the Muslims  which resulted in the Crusades – an act which is still reverberating in the modern world today – this was a mixed bag of effects = some good some not so good = and some extremely bad

http://www.loyno.edu/~seduffy/crusades.html

Changes in the philosophy towards infanticide:   

http://www.christiancadre.org/member_contrib/cp_infanticide.html


Pagans in the Roman Empire had a very different view about the value of human life than we do today. Infanticide was legal and encouraged in ancient Greece and Rome. Other pagan societies, such as the Carthaginians, went so far as to kill their children as religious sacrifices to their gods. According to Plutarch, the Carthaginians "offered up their own children, and those who had no children would buy little ones from poor people and cut their throats as if they were so many lambs of young birds; meanwhile the mothers stood by without a tear or moan." Moralia 2.17. However, because Carthage had only a minimal direct impact on Western Civilization, I will focus on ancient Greece and especially ancient Rome.

The following are sites that will help you in your search:

http://www.leaderu.com/orgs/probe/docs/threat.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity
http://www.ad2000.com.au/articles/2003/may2003p16_1334.html
http://www.acton.org/publicat/randl/article.php?id=66
http://www.firstthings.com/ftissues/ft9412/pannen.html


Hope this has helped,

Regards,

Irulan