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7. Cultural Transformations

Globalization of Christianity

early modern era: Christianity mostly limited to Europe

1500: Iberian Peninsula and British Isles in west to Russia in east

small and besieged communities of various kinds in Egypt, Ethiopia, southern India, Central Asia

internally: seriously divided

Roman Catholics (Western and Central Europe)

Eastern Orthodox (Eastern Europe and Russia)

externally: defensive against expansive Islam

Muslims ousted Christian Crusaders from Holy Lands by 300

Ottomans seized Constantinople in 1453 (prestigious capital of Eastern Orthodoxy)

Ottoman sieges of Vienna (1529, 1683) marked Muslim advance into heart of Central Europe

seemed future laid with Islam rather than Christianity

except in Spain, Sicily (recently reclaimed for Christendom after centuries of Muslim rule)

Protestant Reformation

early 16th

shattered unity of Roman Catholic Christianity

previous 1000 years was cultural and organizational foundation of emerging Western European civilization

Martin Luther

German priest

publicly invited debate about various abuses in Roman Catholic Church

Ninety-Five Theses

allegedly nailed to door of church in Wittenberg

start of Reformation (1517)

nothing particularly new; many long been critical of church life and practice

luxurious life of popes

corruption and immorality of some clergy

selling of indulgences (to remove penalties for sin)

others

theological basis

troubled, brooding, anxious about relationship with God

came to new understanding of salvation: faith alone

good works of sinner nor sacraments of church head bearing of destiny of soul

source of beliefs: Bible (not Church)

interpreted according to individual’s conscience

challenged authority of Church

called into question special position of clerical hierarchy and especially pope

Cathnolic/Protestant differences in 16th century

Cathnolic/Protestant differences in 16th century

Division

as result of Luther’s ideas

contrary to his original intentions

Catholic Christendom came to express variety of political, economic, social tensions

some kings, princes: found justification for own independence

long disputed political authority of pope

opportunity to gain lands and taxes previously held by church

middle-class urban dwellers: new religious legitimacy for growing role in society

Protestant idea that all vocations were of equal merit

Roman Catholic Church was associated in their eyes with rural, feudal aristocratic privilege

common people: express opposition to entire social order

offended by corruption, luxurious living of some bishops, abbots, popes

particularly in series of German peasant revolts in 1520s

Women

women not offered substantially greater role by Reformation teachings and practices

veneration of Mary and female saints ended

male Christ figure as sole object of worship

closing of convents

alternative to marriage

due to Protestant opposition to celibacy and monastic life

Protestants (other than Quakers) no more willing than Catholics to offer women official role in churches

stimulated education and literacy

reading Bible for self

little opportunity to use education outside of family

emphasis on women as wives/mothers subject to male supervision

Spread

helped by printing press brought to Europe

pamphlets, translation of New Testament to German soon widely available

divided into competing Protestant churches as it spread

France, Switzerland, England, etc.

Lutheran, Calvinist, Anglican, Quaker, Anabaptist

Calvinism: John Calvin emphasized doctrine of predestination (salvation for those chosen by God)

often subsequently subdivided

produced bewildering array of Protestant denominations

each distinctive

none gave allegiance to Rome or pope

Religious difference

in addition to class divisions, fractured political system of Europe

both within and between states

France: between Catholics and Huguenots (Protestant minority)

Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648): Catholic-Protestant conflict

began in Holy Roman Empire, eventually engulfed most of Europe

horrendously destructive

15-30% of German population perished from violence, famine, disease

Peace of Westphalia (1648) ended conflict

some reshuffling of boundaries

agreement that each state was sovereign (authorized to control religious affairs within own territory)

religious unity now permanently splintered

Catholic/Counter-Reformation

caused by Protestant breakaway and reformist tendencies within Catholic Church

Council of Trent (1545-1563)

Catholics clarified and reaffirmed doctrines, sacraments, practices

authority of pope

priestly celibacy

veneration of saints and relics

importance of church tradition and good works

things rejected by Protestants

corrected abuses and corruption that stimulated Protestant movement

new emphasis on education of priests, supervision by bishops

censorship of books, fines, exile, penitence, sometimes burning of heretics

more attention to individual spirituality, personal piety

new religious orders (e.g. Society of Jesus/Jesuits) provided dedicated brotherhood of priests committed to renewal and extension of Catholic Church

Impact

profoundly religious but encouraged skeptical attitude towards authority and tradition

successfully challenged immense prestige and power of pope and established Church

fostered religious individualism

people read and interpreted scriptures for selves

sought salvation without medication of Church

some turned into thinking independently against all conventional religion

opened space for new directions in European intellectual life

Outward-bound

Christianity motivated and benefited from European political and economic expansion

Catholic Spanish, Portuguese viewed movement overseas as continuation of crusading tradition (only recently completed liberation from Muslim control)

no contradiction or hypocrisy in blending of religious and material concerns

Empire support

colonial settlers, traders brought faith and sought to replicate in newly conquered homelands

New England Puritans planted distinctive Protestant version of Christianity in North America

education

moral purity

personal conversion

civic responsibility

little tolerance for competing expressions

little interest in converting native peoples

sought to push them out of ancestral territories

missionaries (mostly Catholic) actively spread Christianity beyond European communities

organized in missionary orders

Dominicans

Franciscans

Jesuits

Portuguese missionaries in African and Asia

Spanish and French missionaries in Americas

Russian Orthodox missionaries as Russia expanded across Siberia

priests and monks ministered to Russian settlers and trappers

often donated first sable furs to church or monastery

Reasons for success

most success in Spanish America and Philippines

two critical elements beyond colonization by Spain

Overwhelming European presence

experienced variously

military conquest

colonial settlement

missionary activity

forced labor

social disruption

disease

must have seemed like old gods had been bested, any possible future lay with religion of European invaders

Absence of literate world religion

throughout modern era: peoples solidly rooted in Confucian, Buddhist, Hindu, Islamic traditions were more resistant to Christian message than those who practiced more localized, small-scale, orally-based religions

Spanish America vs. China: difference between societies where Christianity became widely practiced and those where it was rejected

Conversion and adaptation in Spanish America

conquest of Aztecs and Inca empires and all that followed (disease, population collapse, loss of land to Europeans, forced labor, resettlement) created setting in which Christianity took hold in Spanish American colonies

Europeans saw political and military success as demonstration of power of Christian god

Native American peoples generally agreed

by 1700: vast majority baptized, saw themselves in some respects as Christians

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