Most Significant Events in Christian History, Religion, College Term Papers.com


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Most Significant Events in Christian History

Most Significant Events in Christian History Christianity began as a sectarian group of Judaism. The difference between Christianity and Judaism at the time was how they interpreted the Bible. The Christians had interpreted it in such a way that they believed Jesus to be the messiah (Weaver 39). As Christianity began, it was highly ridiculed and looked down upon. However, there were many significant events that changed this small-beleaguered religious group into the dominant power in Western Europe in the high Middle Ages. As Christianity began, the first Christians were persecuted for their beliefs. To start, the Christians worshipped on Sunday, the Sabbath, to commemorate Jesus’ resurrection (Weaver 44). They were thought of as disloyal because they did not worship Cesar, their emperor as their god. Also they were though of as conspirators because they because they had “secret meetings,” and that it only appealed to the low-lifes of the town due to their gullibility. Around the year 90, many Jews wanted condemn any Jew who had accepted Jesus as the messiah to rid Judaism of any trace of Christianity (Weaver 49). During the time that Nero was emperor of Rome, there was “the great fire” in Rome. Nero, faced with a troublesome Roman community, blamed the Christian people for this event and persecuted them (Von Voorst 71). Despite all this, Christianity continued to grow. The period of 65-135 was called the “sub-apostolic period.” This was the period when the deaths were occurring of the original followers of Jesus, or the Apostles, and it was during this time that the church faced a major crisis. This was a problem to many Christian for the obvious reason that the natural leaders of the church were gone. However, Jesus said that the world would end when this generation would pass and this scared many Christians. It was this point where Christians turned to the Bible to assure that the world was not coming to an end. In Isaiah, chapter 41, line 10 “… do not fear, for I am with you, do not be afraid, for I am your God; (Van Voorst 42).” A number of sects of Christianity were established throughout history. Some hurt the initial movement, and some helped it. The first one of these sects was called Gnosticism. This sect was based on intellectual elitism, i.e., that one could gain salvation through secret knowledge (Van Voorst 44). This threatened the Christian movement because it taught that Jesus would only save those that had this knowledge and that Jesus was merely a “heavenly transmitter” communicating his message, and then waiting for those that caught it. Despite all the persecution and sects that come about, the church reaffirms its beliefs and becomes catholic, meaning orthodox or universal. Christianity expanded and many Christian thinkers were among the intellectually elite in Rome and around the world. A very significant event that led to the growth and power of Christianity, was crowning Constantine emperor in 324. Constantine “passed the edit of Milan which granted religious freedom to all and ended the persecution of Christians…” and it was Constantine who began the process of making the empire Christian (Weaver 68). Constantine would soon move the capital to Byzantium, renamed Constantinople. The people accepted Christ as the king of rulers and their true emperor. The cross was carried into battle, and laws were passed in the name of their lord, Jesus (Weaver 69). Constantine would include church leaders among his advisors. He would also direct all funds toward the church and it would soon become very rich and powerful. The western church, centered in Rome, was crumbling due to lack of citizen participation in government and attacks by the Barbarians. When Justinian was crowned emperor, he attempted to reformulate laws. In this task, he failed and the western empire collapsed into provincial territories. Another sect of Christianity would be started, and this one benefited it. Benedict was the leader of the aesthetics and the model for communal life. He stressed work and prayer, and monks were to bind themselves to a single monastery for life (Weaver 66). Monks were the “great librarians of the west” and responsible for the preservation of learning during the Dark Ages (Weaver 66). If it were not for these “great librarians,” Christianity would cease to grow as it had in the past. The role of monks in the civilization of the west after the fall of Rome “was of utmost importance (Weaver 66).” Yet another significant event for the spread and development of Christianity was the crowning of Gregory the Great as Pope of the church. Gregory tightened his control over the bishops to avoid corruption and centralized power in his office (Von Voorst 119). This helped strengthen the secular or temporal power of the papacy (Weaver 84). On December 25, 800, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne, originally king of the Franks, emperor. His empire consisted of most of Italy, France, Germany, and most of present day Austria. Charlemagne even began a movement to solidify, educate and reform his empire and it was on of the high point of civilization before the 11th century (Weaver 86). However, this did not last, as the empire crumbled following Charlemagne’s death. The Pope, due to a Barbarian attack on Rome crowned Otto Holy Roman Emperor in 962. At the time, Otto was king of present day Germany and he treated the church as part of his royal domain and wanted a holy papacy. This would lead to the occasion that the pope would be strong enough to control the secular ruler and that sometimes the emperor or king would be strong enough to control the pope (Weaver 72). A very significant event in Christian history was Holy Roman Emperor Henry’s solution of the three popes. Henry appointed Leo IX to the position of pope disregarding the fact that there were already three popes (Weaver 82). Leo IX called a council to avoid this problem. The council and Leo together made one of the most crucial decisions to date regarding Christianity: no more simony. This meant that church offices could no longer be sold. Leo also established the policy of fealty, which meant that bishops must swear loyalty to their secular kings. Upon this, Pope Gregory VII excommunicated Henry and made him stand barefoot in the snow begging papal forgiveness (Weaver 84). Gregory would later “set the tone for medieval papacy (Weaver 95)” by arguing that the pope was the supreme authority of the church. He stated that no council could be called without the permission of the papacy and that papal decrees could “be annulled by no one (Weaver 95).” The high Middle ages saw the beginning of the crusades. Pope Urban II called for a crusade simply to exercise his papal power. He urged princes and soldiers from all over Europe to liberate Jerusalem from the Turks. By doing this, he proclaimed himself to be the personal leader of Christendom (Weaver 84). The crusades became a way of gaining salvation for people fighting in them. On occasion, the pope would even use this as influence to gain participators in the crusades. Pope Innocent III, perhaps more than any other pope, “embodied the most extreme measure of ecclesiastical and political power (Weaver 111).” Innocent declared that God established this church and appointed the pope to be his viceroy and that all kings should adhere to the viceroy’s policies in order to properly rule (Von Voorst 157). Pope Innocent III wrote a letter to Prince John of England (older brother Richard was fighting in the crusades, and John was ruling in his place) saying that it was his duty as acting king to join the Catholic Church as part of the Holy Roman Empire. John signed the document (Von Voorst 157-58). Throughout the Christian history, to this point there were many significant events, internal and external, as well as people that have developed the religion and helped it grow into what it was at the time. What started out as a small group of non-conformers, transcended into a new way of life that still exists today. Internal events, mainly conflicts, brought about perhaps the most significant of these events such as the near schism of three popes that resulted in the banning of Simony by Pope Leo IX and his council, the establishment of the pope as supreme leader of the church by Gregory VII. External events, such as the attack on Rome by the Barbarians, led to appointing of pope Otto. Despite all the persecution and ridicule that Christians as a whole received, the religion grew to be one of the most powerful religions to date. Of all the examples of significant events is the growth of this religion; there are two events that are absolutely key to the survival of the religion. These two events were the reign of Constantine, and the preservation of knowledge through the Dark Ages by the monks. If it were not for Constantine’s reign, Christians would continue to be persecuted and ridiculed. Instead, he established religious freedom and Christian law in his empire thereby establishing Christianity as the official religion of the Western Empire. The monks preserved Christian as well as intellectual knowledge throughout the Dark Ages by being known and the “great librarians” and reproducing multiple copies of religious writings. “Monks were often called upon to act as teachers, political advisors, and missionaries (Weaver 66).” Out of all the events the helped preserve and strengthen the Christian faith, through careful observation, one can gather that these two events were quite possibly the most important and significant. However, the Christian faith as we know it today, would cease to exist if it were not for the collective efforts of the aforementioned people and events. Bibliography: Von Voorst, Robert E. Readings in Christianity. New York: Wadsworth, 1997. Steinmetz, Sol, and Carol G. Braham, eds. Webster’s Desk Dictionary. New York: Gramercy Books, 1993. Weaver, Mary Jo. Introduction to Christianity. New York: Wadswoth, 1998.

Word Count: 1621