The Impact of the Rise of Christianity Throughout Europe

The spread of Christianity throughout Europe caused a standstill of European societal progress that would continue on for centuries to come. There is evidence of this in matters of culture, science and education. Over time the deteriorating effects of the spread of Christianity had on the progression of society in Europe are plainly visible in the religion’s beginnings.

Looking at the transformation of art in European culture, it begins with a strive to depict reality just as seen through human eyes. Art of the Roman Empire moved closer and closer to exhibiting the real human form. The Ancient Greeks, on the other hand, strived to create the more “perfect” or athletic human figure as evident in sculptures like The Scrapper by Lysippus circa 350-325 BCE where the figure’s legs are extraordinarily long and his muscles are not exactly what an average human could attain. The Romans depicted the human figure as realistically they could. They did not hesitate to depict a man’s wrinkles, or any imperfections for that matter, no matter his importance. This can be seen in the depiction of the eighth Emperor of the Roman Empire, Vitellius. Vitellius was a very pudgy man and the Romans did not hesitate to sculpt the double chins or the fat neck of their Emperor. They did not cut off pounds to make him look more of a leader. They did not fine-tune his body to give him a more perfect image. The aim of the Romans was not to idolize those in power, but to preserve their own true image.

With the introduction of Christianity, the importance of depicting reality in art vanished very quickly. In early Christian art, little attention is paid to the actual proportions of the human body. Reality is completely abandoned in for of symbols of the Christian faith. Looking at Emperor Justinian with Maximian, Clergy, Courtiers, and Soldiers a Byzantine mosaic circa 547 CE. Several symbols of the Christian faith are seen expressed in this mosaic. The Chi Rho is present on the shield of a soldier, a halo is depicted over the head of Justinian and a cross can be seen on the sash of the man to Justinian’s left. However, the people depicted in this mosaic are not realistic in the slightest. Everyone appears long, stretched out and lanky. Their feet are not designed as normal people would stand. The soldiers in the background are not given much individuality; they all look incredibly similar. This is not to say that the introduction of strong symbolism into European Art is a contributing factor to the halt of the progress of European society in fact, it is quite to the contrary. Christian symbolism added much to the culture of art. After all, the very early Christians did not have much of a choice in the matter of introducing symbolism as their religion was not exactly accepted. They had to find ways of expressing their faith without outright exposal, as they would surely be persecuted. It is the departure from the road to reality that causes a problem. When we have one advancement, it is rather counterproductive to couple it with an equal decline.

With the rise of Christianity in Europe came a great deal of resentment to anything no Christian. It became the prevailing notion that anything non-Christian was of the devil and had to be done any with. This is not immediately the case, however. Initial attempts by Christian leaders are evident, with the goal of bringing in pagans that were in the growing sphere of influence of Christianity by creating practices that would be a smooth transition from pagan to Christian. Very early Christianity was very compromising and considerate of the pagans they were attempting to convert. But that does not last forever. Christian leaders eventually grew tired of the reluctant pagans. The tolerance that was once abundant was now nowhere to be found. All out persecution by the Church’s Inquisition and anti-heretical councils began. Still practicing pagans, especially the powerful female members of the pagan society were seen as witches. They, along with everything associated with them, were portrayed as puppets of the devil. “Withes” were burned at the stake by the thousands in an effort to purge out anything non-Christian from their society. It should go without saying that mass, state sanctioned murder of those with whom you have religious disagreements is wrong. John Stuart Mills said in his book, On Liberty, that when a society gets rid of a viewpoint because it is opposite that of the society, they run the risk of eliminating what could very well be the truth. The way Mills puts it, the position of Christianity could very well be wrong no matter how much Europe believed it to be absolute truth, and the pagans could have had the truth the whole time. In purging the pagans from European society by systemically burning them all at the stake, Christian Europe could have very well been burning the real truth right along with them. Not to mention the Bible, the book the Church insisted be followed to the letter, states “Thou shall not kill.”

Beginning in 1210, the medieval University of Paris began a mass banning of teachings, labeling them as heresy, with a strong focus on the works of Aristotle. In 1270, the Condemnations went further. This round of bannings included anything that proclaimed any of the following ideas;

“That there is numerically one and the same intellect for all humans; That the soul separated [from the body] by death cannot suffer from bodily fire; That God cannot grant immortality and incorruption to a moral and corruptible thing; That God does not know singulars; That God does not know things other than himself; That human acts are not ruled by the providence of God; That the world is eternal; That there was never a first human.” (Rubenstein, 2004)

In 1277, another 219 works were added to the list of teachings banned for heresy, condemning a great number of “errors” that were being put in the public’s mind. When a society resorts to censorship in order to push its point of view or way of life on its people, that’s when it becomes evident that there is no desire to advance as a group. Society cannot advance if differing viewpoints are not allowed to come forth. That is how advancement takes place, when ideas that have never been thought of before come into light. However, Christian Europe was having no such thing and as such they stayed exactly where they were.

While the Arab and Asian worlds were busy making great strides toward scientific and technological advancement, Europe stood still in the idea that the Church knows all and is not to be questioned While the Arab world was busy creating the scientific method, Europe was calling scientists out as heretics. While the Asian world was busty creating printing technology centuries before Gutenberg, Europe was busy handwringing copies of the Bible because of the Church’s prohibition on advancement. Time after time the Church is seen to actively supper any attempt to develop scientific knowledge in Europe.

This is seen most evident in perhaps one of the most prevalent examples of scientific suppression form the Church; that of Galileo Galilei. The story of Galileo is well known. In 1609, Galileo began observing the stars. Among his several other discoveries, Galileo published in his 1610 findings, The Starry Messenger, that his observations lead him to the conclusion that the universe does not orbit around the earth, rather the earth, along with the rest of the universe, orbits the sun. This was a notion unheard of at the time, and the Church wanted nothing to do with it. Several places in the Bible, including 1 Chronicles 16:30, Psalm 93:1, 96:10, 104:5 and Ecclesiastes 1:5, mention to some effect the world being stable and that it shall not move. The Church took this literally, teaching that as god said the world shall not move, then the rest of the heavenly bodies must orbit the earth. With this thinking, the Church found that Galileo’s findings were in direct contradiction with the word of god and the teachings of the Bible. By 1633, Galileo had been through three separate trials, several of his works had been banned by the Inquisition and he had been formally charged with heresy. He was interrogated and forced to “abjure, curse and detest” his heretic views and was placed under house arrest until his death in 1642.

It is evident that Christianity had several deteriorating effects on the history of Europe throughout time. The culture of Europe took countless steps backwards the farther Christianity’s sphere of influence grew throughout the continent. Scientific advancement was at a standstill all because the Church failed to see that new ideas and new innovations added to a society and without them, you are not pleasing your god, but hooding your society back as every other people in the world flourish and move forward. The Arabs were moving forward. Scientific advancement saw no backlash form the religious institutions of the Muslim faith. In Asia, technology continued to see innovations that were simply not seen in Europe. And along with that, they continued to keep the culture that made their societies so rich. They never once abandoned the things that were making them great. As Europe sat still because of Christianity, the rest of the world did not hesitate to leave them behind.