Author of “Christianity After Religion,” Diana Butler Bass chronicles through her text what she believes is a “spiritual awakening” (5) in the United States, stemming from the effects of neoliberal consumerism that has sparked an obsession with choice and autonomy in all aspects of life and a melody of historical factors. The implications for Christianity, other organized religions, and spirituality movements are numerous, and—recognizing the magnitude of this effect—Bass prescribes certain remedies to traditional Christianity and notes the already present trends of change that are occurring in Christianity as it strives to respond to these shifts. Bass summarizes the core of her argument in the first couple of pages, stating notably, “…the…
Roman religion and Christianity both express many similar foundational and structural ideas. Romans and Christians share the same base of strong moral as well as respect for authority. The Roman family’s shrines to the gods although not exactly the same is very similar to Jesus’s followers enamored by his teachings, and in turn was very cult-like. They were passionate about their gods, and needed to express that. Both religions believe in sacrifice. Roman’s would sacrifice themselves, food, and objects in order to please the gods, while Jesus sacrificed himself for humanities sins, others who followed in Jesus’s footsteps were considered Martyrs. Another similarity belongs in the hierarchy and social status, Rome was very structured with the patron-client system, which focused on respect. The hierarchy of Christianity was focused on doctrine and keeping internal strife at bay, as did Rome’s hierarchy.…
Augustines first book is devoted to his early childhood and his reflections on human origin, memory, and desire. His ideas of God were very much influenced by the religious teachings of his day.…
Another political institution that caused the fragmentations in politics were the church and state relations. The church limited political power as the state was ot allowed to effect the religion, except for speaking for the popes and bishops. As a result, the church became more involved in politics, while christianity began to lose it's faith and followers. The Byzantine Empire is an example, Justinian brought religious and secular laws, making a gap between the government and the church.…
Religion played a key role in the daily life and social system of Ancient Rome. Religion included the worship of many gods and more gods were often adopted from conquered areas. Because most religions were polytheist at the time, the Romans rarely disallowed a cult from a conquered region to continue. A few cults ran into controversy and opposition from citizens or government, such as the cult of Deus Sol Invictus, and that of Isis. Romans were also not keen on monotheistic religion which explains their separation from the Jews. But above all other religions, the Romans disagreed with, persecuted and were threatened most by Christianity. The introduction of Christianity to the Roman Empire challenged a key cohesive element of Roman custom and culture -- religion -- and ultimately contributed to the Empire 's disintegration.…
Consequently, most books were of a religious nature. There were Greek and Roman texts stashed away in the monasteries, but few people paid much attention to them. All that changed during the Renaissance. For one thing, increased wealth and the invention of the printing press created a broader public that could afford an education and printed books. Most of these newly educated people were from the noble and middle classes. Therefore, they wanted a more practical and secular education and books to prepare them for the real world of business and politics. Along the same lines, a more secular literature largely replaced the predominantly religious literature of the Middle Ages. As study of the past was emerging as lessons learned for the future, hence political science was becoming the new discipline. Nicolo Machiavelli’s governing techniques in “The Prince” urged the prince to do whatever was necessary to carry on and were in contrast to St. Augustine’s concept of the “just…
Alguin himself fully supported the idea of writing things down, and that “became a Carolingian…
In Rome’s empire during the 100-600 C.E. periods, there were cultural and political changes and continuities occurring. The continuity in Rome culturally was Christianization. Christianization was the empire becoming a basis upon Christianity. A political continuity in Rome was the superiority of technology, which aided in the successfulness of the military. Some of the technology was the new armor and the use of the material, concrete. A cultural change in the Roman Empire was the way that the lower classes were treated. The way the lower class was treated had changed a lot and eventually caused them to revolt. A political change in the Ancient Roman Empire was the military strategies. The military at first had a large navy and began to break…
During the Late Antique period of the Roman Empire, Christianity was able to flourish. Integrating itself within the government, and with the rule of the emperors themselves, allowed the religion to spread quickly throughout society and to be given large amounts of authority. In addition, debates regarding different doctrines helped to create a relationship between orthodoxy and the government. These changes can be seen in how Christianity saw shifts in how it interacted with the empire both in regards to its coexistence with paganism and in its public structures. Christianity firmly established itself within the empire during Late Antiquity and it altered itself to fit its new position.…
One notable change in the culture of Rome includes the adoption of Christianity. The Roman Empire was originally polytheistic, but over time the Romans accepted Christianity. This event was a major revival for believers as Roman officials had once persecuted the Christians. Eventually, Christianity even became the standard religion of Rome. St. Augustine, who was a bishop of a North African city called Hippo, became an influential leader in Rome. He was enlightened by Hellenistic philosophy and Manichaeism, one of the “mystery religions” that intrigued Roman society and taught other about his thoughts and about Christianity. As well as cultural change, there was also political demise.…
In the history of Christianity, there were many great theologians and great philosophers, and one of the greatest theologians was Augustine. Like many other theologians, Augustine wasn’t the greatest theologians at the beginning; it took time for him to achieve his carrier.…
Inflation is the rise in prices of items due mostly to the value of the money. When the value of money was down, merchants in Rome made up for the loss of it by increasing their prices. This started to happen when they stopped conquering new lands, so the flow of gold going into the empire decreased. The patricians kept spending their gold on luxury items, so the amount of the gold in the coins decreased. Later, due to the rise in inflation, people began to barter with each other. Sometime later, salaries eventually had to be paid in food and clothing, and taxes had to be paid in veggies and fruit.…
Imagine a farmhand going to sleep around 500 A.D. and waking up in 1450 A.D. while having the world seem no more advanced than it was when he went to sleep. The Middle Ages were a time of nearly no scientific discovery due to the strong grip of the Catholic Church throughout the period. The ideals of humanism and the spirit for scientific discovery were beginning to rise during the Medieval Era. It was the humanist world view, with its spirit of inquiry, in addition to the diminishing grip of the church beliefs, that led to the scientific revolution; setting the stage for the large amounts of scientific observation and discovery for centuries to come.…
Augustine viewed human nature in only one way: good and evil. Augustine lived in an era when the pillar of strength and stability, the Roman Empire, was being shattered, and his own life, too was filled with turmoil and loss. To believe in God, he had to find an answer to why, if God is all-powerful and purely good, he still allowed suffering to exist. Augustine believed that evil existed because all men on earth was granted, at birth, the power of free will. He states that God enables humans to freely choose their actions and deeds, and through our own action and choices evil is established. Even natural evils, such as disease, are indirectly related to…
St. Augustine of Hippo was a theologian primarily in the third and fourth century CE. Born in North Africa, he had strong religious beliefs. He was a strong believer of God. According to St. Augustine, God was there for those who were considered good and did not cause any harm. He supported Christianity and described it in terms of freedom and sin. A great focus of his work, “City of Gods and Confessions”, was describing slavery and its existence. While many considered slavery an inhumane practice, others like St. Augustine justified slavery as something that is not innate but a result of sin.…