The Personal Website of Mark W. Dawson

How Christianity Transformed the World

Wars, Destruction, Oppressions, Slavery, Injustices, Degradations, Thefts, Murders, Rapes, Disease, Poverty, and other harsh living conditions were the miserable lot of the common man throughout history. With the advent and establishment of Christianity, this all began to change. In no other part of the world, except Christendom, was there any hope of improvement for the common man.

The Individual Worth and Dignity of All People

Christian theology transformed the moral understanding of the individual worth and dignity of all people. Christianity established that human rights were a gift from God and could not be abrogated by any government, organization, or person. Nowhere else in the world was this recognized as integral to the individual human being. Christianity brought these truths to light and established them as a basic tenet for all persons. This tenet changes the world for the better. The journey took two millennia to reach where we are today, with several false starts, wrong turns, dead ends, and occasional retreats before much progress was made. While the Jewish religion had this basic tenet and provided a solid foundation for Christianity, the Jewish people were localized to a section of the Mideast or to enclaves within Europe, and they rarely spread their tenets to other peoples. Christianity, on the other hand, spread its tenets throughout the Mideast, Northern Africa, and Europe, converting other peoples of the world to its religion and its tenets.

Before the Reformation in the sixteenth century, Christendom was not overly concerned with the Liberties and Freedoms of the individual but focused on living a moral life to gain entrance into heaven in the afterlife. It was also an oligarchical society led by the Pope, Kings, and Princes, which restricted the Liberties and Freedoms of individuals, especially in thought and speech deemed blasphemous or dangerous to their rule. With the coming of the Protestant Reformation, these restrictions were loosened, and with the rise of the Scientific Revolution and the Age of Enlightenment, free thought and speech became acceptable, and Christianity entered a modern era. Much of this occurred in the 18th century, as I have written in my Article “The 18th century – a truly remarkable century in the history of mankind”. It was a century that impacted the lot of the common man in many spheres, such as Women’s Rights, the worth of Children, anti-Slavery, Charity, Education, Capitalism, Science, Medicine, Arts, Economics, and the justification and conduct of Wars. Much of this was brought forth by an understanding of the Natural Rights of the individual and Equal Justice for All, which came with the acceptance of the worth and dignity of the individual, as I have Chirped on “11/07/23 The Divine Sovereign Individual”. With this understanding came the expansion of Liberties and Freedoms of thought, speech, association, press, and the practice of religious faiths, as well as the concepts of “Freedoms, Liberties, Equalities, and Equal Justice for All”.

This acceptance of the individual worth and dignity of all people has resulted in the explosive growth of the human lot in Europe and North America over the last several centuries. Nowhere else in the world has seen the flowering of humanity as occurred where modern Christianity was established and held sway over society and government. The basic tenets of these modern Christian societies are, as so elegantly stated in the opening lines of the Declaration of Independence:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

And these tenets are also expressed in the First Amendment to our Constitution:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

This amendment, along with other rights expressed in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, established Christian ideals as the foundation of a just society. These are core Christian values that shape the functioning of government and society, and whenever they were suppressed in a nation within Christendom, a migration of persons or groups to other Christian nations occurred. This can be seen in the modern history of Europe and North America, when modern Christianity flowered in the Renaissance in Italy, then flowed northward to France, then to Holland and parts of Germany. From there, it crossed the channel to England and throughout Great Britain, and finally across the ocean to America. At each of these stops, individual Liberty and Freedom flourished, and when they became constricted, the advancement atrophied and moved to new locales where individual Liberty and Freedom were growing. We can also say that as religious oppression grew in these locales, it restricted individual Liberties and Freedoms, and the progression of humankind moved to locales where Christian religious tolerance and freedom from religious oppression were instituted.

Thus, it can be said that Christianity was, and is, primarily responsible for the advancement of humankind, and to compare other religions or nations to Christianity and Christendom is not appropriate. Indeed, when such comparisons are truthfully and honestly made, the non-Christian religions and non-Christendom nations will be found severely wanting on Natural Rights, Liberties and Freedoms, and Equal Justice for All, and thus their contribution to the advancement of humankind is limited.

Today, in America and in other parts of Christendom, we are seeing a decline in Christian faith and ideals. This bodes ill for the future advancement of humankind and suggests the possible rise of oppressive governments. Indeed, we have seen an increase in oppression in government actions within Christendom, most commonly in attempts to restrict the First Amendment Rights of our Constitution and in the weaponization of government against those who would disagree with government actions, as I have written in my collected Chirps on “The Weaponization of Government”.

Alas, until we return to our beliefs in Christian values and uphold them in our society and governance, we shall see more chaos and oppression in the world, and the advancement of humankind will atrophy.

Crucial Roles

Christianity has also played a crucial role in shaping various aspects of history. The key areas of influence were:

• Philosophical Development: Christianity has contributed to the evolution of philosophical thought, contributing new thoughts and often challenging and reshaping existing philosophical ideas.
• Political and Governmental Changes: From monarchies and aristocracies to republics and democracies, along with the role of the common man in governance, Christian thought shaped the relationship between man and society.
• Cultural Shifts: Christianity has been a driving force behind significant cultural transformations, affecting art, literature, music, sciences, technologies, economics, and other cultural spheres.
• Social Change: Christianity has inspired movements for social justice and reform, impacting laws and societal structures throughout its history.
• Armed Conflicts: Christianity brought forth Just War Theory and Law of War to “civilize” how armed conflicts arose and were conducted.

Aspects of Humanity

In particular, Christianity changed how various aspects of humanity were viewed:

• Individualism: Before Christianity, the individual, especially the common man, had little importance (except men as soldiers and women as breeders), and virtually no Natural Rights (a concept that Christianity conceived), and acts of violence and murder of an individual were commonplace.
• Women: Before Christianity, women were assigned a role subordinate to men, and they were considered of lesser value than men. Infanticide of a female child was acceptable, and the education of a woman was rare. Women were often considered the property of their fathers, then their husbands, and few had property rights.
• Children: Before Christianity, the infanticide of female children and male children born with deformities was acceptable. As infant mortality was high, a lesser value was assigned to children, and the emotional bonding with children was often reserved for adolescents who were expected to live into adulthood.
• Marriage: Before Christianity, marriage was often a political or economic union between powerful families. Ordinary people were considered married in the sense that they cohabited and reproduced, sharing life's burdens through a division of labor in which men labored in the fields, hunted, fished, or worked as manual laborers earning income for the household, while women performed domestic labor.
• Slavery: Before Christianity, slavery of any and all people was acceptable and practiced, as I have written in my Chirp on “04/10/26 Little-Known Slavery Facts”. Some civilizations even had laws regarding the treatment of slaves, and slaves were bought and sold at the discretion of the master.
• Charity: Before Christianity, charity was haphazard and often the providence of wealthy men. No organized efforts were made for the care of the destitute and sick, and often these people so afflicted were shunned or expelled from society.
• Education: Before Christianity, the education of men was often reserved for the rich or powerful, or for males who exhibited intellectual talents. Women were rarely educated, and then only on the basic skills needed to manage a household. While non-Christian societies and civilizations had centers of learning, the concept of Universities and public education for children was unknown until Christianity flourished.
• Arts: before Christianity, the arts of literature, painting, sculpture, drama, and music were rather rudimentary. Christianity encouraged and supported these arts as a means of glorifying God and extolling mankind. While some claim that pre-Christian civilizations had these attributes, a comparison of the Sistine Chapel ceiling, the Last Supper mural, the Statue of David, and the works of Tolstoy, Bach, and Shakespeare with non-Christian arts reveals a striking difference.
• Sciences: Real science depends upon certain non-scientific suppositions regarding the nature of reality; that the world is rational and orderly, linear in its progression, and governed by natural laws capable of being explored and discovered, which were deserving of being studied. Before Christianity, such was not the case. The world was chaotic and subject to the whims of the gods, and science was often guesswork, not centered on skilled observation and experimentation, except in a few cases of brilliant ancient minds.
• Technologies: Technological inventions and innovations have occurred throughout history. But with the advancement of the sciences that Christianity afforded, these scientific advancements were applied to technology. Inventions and innovations accelerated at a rapid pace, and much of this technological progress benefited the common people.
• Economics: Before Christianity, the economies of the world were based on barter or conquest. With the technological innovations that arose in the Christian world, grounded in the sciences and the desire to relieve the manual labor burdens of mankind, Capitalism and Free Markets A capitalism and free markets of which I have chirped on "06/04/25 The Importance of Capitalism".

After Christianity arose, non-Christian values regarding individualism, women, children, marriage, slavery, charity, and education were replaced by Christian values worldwide. While Judaism touched on these aspects and was a major influence on Christian thought, it did not spread them worldwide. As Christianity grew, the Arts, Sciences, Technologies, and Economics also advanced significantly because of Christian ideas.

Historical Influences

In addition, Christianity influenced key historical events:

• Fall of the Western Roman Empire: As Christianity arose in the Roman Empire, the Western Roman Empire collapsed due to its own corruption and lack of values. While the Western Roman Empire collapsed, the Eastern Roman Empire, known as the Byzantine Empire, continued to thrive for several more centuries until it was conquered by the Islamic world.
• Crusades: A series of religious wars initiated by Western Christians between 1096 and 1291, primarily aimed at reclaiming the Holy Land from Muslim control. These wars were marked by military campaigns, major battles, and the establishment of Crusader states in the region.
• Renaissance: A cultural movement in Europe that began in the 14th century and lasted until the 17th century, marked by a renewed interest in classical art, literature, and learning. It is often seen as a bridge between the Middle Ages and modern history, with significant developments in art, science, and philosophy.
• Reformation: The Protestant Reformation was a significant religious movement in the 16th century that challenged the authority of the Catholic Church and led to the establishment of Protestantism. It sought to reform church practices and beliefs, ultimately resulting in widespread changes across Europe and the formation of Protestantism, which advocated for religious tolerance and the separation of church and state.
• Scientific Revolution: The 16th and 17th centuries were marked by significant changes in scientific thought, moving away from ancient Greek ideas toward a more empirical and experimental approach to understanding nature. This era laid the groundwork for modern science and emphasized the importance of observation, experimentation, and mathematical reasoning. Much of this revolution resulted from the non-scientific suppositions regarding the nature of reality that Christianity held.
• Age of Enlightenment: Also known as the Age of Reason, it was an intellectual and cultural movement in Europe that emerged in the late 17th century and peaked in the 18th century, emphasizing reason, empirical evidence, and individual rights. It significantly influenced modern political and philosophical thought, leading to revolutions such as the American and French Revolutions. Much of this enlightenment resulted from the suppositions of Christianity.
• American Revolution: The American Revolution was not just a military conflict; it was a transformative period that laid the foundation for modern democratic principles and governance. The Christian principles of Natural Rights, Liberties and Freedoms, and Equal Justice for All shaped the American Revolution.
• French Revolution: A period of significant political and social upheaval in France from 1789 to 1799, led to the end of absolute monarchy and the rise of democratic ideals. It was marked by events such as the Storming of the Bastille and the execution of King Louis XVI, which fundamentally changed the relationship between the rulers and the governed. Christian ideas contributed to the French Revolutionary discussions about rights and governance.
• Industrial Revolution: A period of significant change that began in the late 18th century, primarily in Britain, marked by the transition from agrarian economies to industrialized ones and the rise of factories and mechanized production. This era brought major technological advancements, increased productivity, and significant social changes, including urbanization and shifts in labor practices. This revolution was only possible because of Christian advances in the sciences, technologies, and economics.
• Technological Revolution: A period of rapid technological change in which new technologies replace older ones, leading to significant societal changes. This often results in increased productivity and efficiency across various sectors. This revolution began in the Christian world due to advances in the sciences and technologies that Christianity promoted.

All of these historical events were shaped by Christian values and ideals. Christianity's historical role is essential to understanding the complexities of modern society and its values. The interplay between Christianity and historical progress remains a significant area of study, revealing the religion's lasting impact on the world.

Conclusions

Christianity has played a crucial role in shaping our world. A shaping that has improved the world and humankind. One shudders to think what will happen to the world and its peoples if Christian values, morals, and ethics are disregarded. And without Christianity's guidance, the world will atrophy into a morass in which humanity's progress and individual rights will diminish, and the lot of the common person will become much more miserable.