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Western Civilization Cultural anthropologists and cultural sociologists give a lot of different definitions as to culture and civilization. But the only thing that goes without saying that civilization and culture are closely linked. Huntington in his work determines civilization as "the highest cultural grouping of people and the broadest level of cultural identity... defined by... language, history, religion, customs, institutions, and by the subjective self-identification of people. " (Huntington, 2003) From the sixth century BC to the sixth century AD, the organization of human communities changed greatly with the development of agriculture. At the same time the tribal religions of the past were replaced with the great religions which strengthened cultural variety.
They were Buddhism, Hinduism, Confucianism, Christianity, and Islam. Each of them united various peoples occupying vast geographical regions through common values and social orders. It is known from history that the classic empires appeared when a religion serviced for specific political authorities of the times. It is evident that the great religions were closely connected with secular political authority and had a great influence on each other.
At the same time, pre-modern empires lost their links with great religions. It often led to collapse of them; as well as religions without the protection of secular authorities also tended to wane. Before examining conflicts between religious authorities and secular authorities, it would be useful to clarify the meaning of the words Western Civilization. The problem is that it has a lot of meanings depending on its context. The most modern use of the term includes the societies of Europe and countries which have close genealogical, linguistic, philosophical, and cultural origins, such as the countries of the Americas and most countries of Oceania. But the definition of the West varies thats why it is not easy to examine the development of Western society and Western Christianity.
It should be pointed that the very term of Western thought can be considered from two different points of view: the Christian (the set of moral tradition and religious values) and secular values that have rationalist anti-clerical traditions. There are several points that should be taken into account in addition to Christianity and secularism. They are rule of law, esteem for human civilization and the development of science and technology. St. Augustine's (346 - 420 AD) was one of the first who describe the relationship between political authority and the status of Catholics. In his work The city of God he pointed state authority as an evil of Man's sinful nature.
But at the same time there were a great row of Scholastic philosophers who did not support St. Augustine's point of view. St. Thomas Aquinas (1225 - 1274) stated that the political authority was created to protect people. The philosopher emphasized that the Canon Law of the Catholic Church was to distribute duties among the men. It is known that until the 11 th century (the years between 1001 to 1100) the Catholic Church had the internal control.
It controlled vast land areas, wealth and power. It has a power to introduce reforms and regulate the relationship between the secular clergy and regular clergy (abbots and monks). Catholic ruling was full of problems and scandals. Secular clergy and regular clergy argued about the power to intrude the reforms. Frankly speaking, among the great world religions of past and present, Christianity, may be, has been always considered as one of the most intolerant. In spite of its dogmas, especially pointed in the New Testament as mutual love and nonviolence to his followers, the Christian religion was extremely intolerant to other, non-Christian religions as well as to its followers.
A lot of people were killed for heresy and heretics. Is important to observe the major movements and thinkers from the early times of the Christian religion towards the 17 th century. It helps us to understand our rational secular heritage that was implemented in providing individual rights, liberal democracy, scientific progress, secular humanism, and human dignity. One of the most powerful movements of the 16 th century was the Protestant movement. The Protestant Reformation began in 1517 and lasted till 1555. It caused the end of the Catholic Church's long held monopoly on religious and intellectual thought.
The movement started in Germany and later spread throughout Western Europe. It was a long and bloody struggle. A lot of people were executed and torture for heresy. It should be pointed that the difference in the views of God between the Christian and Protestant religious was insignificant; and a lot of killed people considered themselves Christians. The time of Reformation followed the variety in the interpretation of religious ideas. At the same times, another movement was spread in France.
It began under the influence on Sir Isaac Newtons work on mathematics and the laws of nature. In France there were leading schools of mathematics and engineering. French philosophers and liberal French aristocrats emphasized the great importance of the laws of nature and diminished the role of the Catholic Church. From the early beginning of Christianity there was a sect that people inherited divine knowledge; and rejected the influence of knowledge. Later in England there was a movement that was called Empiricism. It pointed the significant role of knowledge that comes from experience.
It opposed the Christian just know facts theory. The great importance has the Revolution for the development of religion in America. Deism and religious liberalism were spread at tat time. American Founders were persons who influenced the consciousness of ordinary people. Though they considered themselves Christians, they put philosophical ground Christianity and even a scientific outlook. They often criticized many Christian practices.
The 16 th century (1650 - 1790) is known as the Age of Enlightenment. It was a period of great scientific advance as well as the development of consciousness and dignity of people. Religious and anti-religious philosophers agreed that the world should be observed and known. One of them tried to understand the laws of nature created by God.
The others proved that the world was created without God. It was the period when a lot of people were educated. And it excited great criticism of dogma and the Bible. The role of religion in the societies was decreased. At the same time the era of inhumanity in the Christian religion came to the end. French thinker Voltaire once stated that "of all religions the Christian is undoubtedly that which should instill the greatest toleration, although so far Christians have been the most intolerant of men. " The Christian religion can be divided into two parts: Eastern and Western.
In the early 4 th century, Constantinople was founded by the Roman Emperor Constantine. The city became the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire. From those times the Christian Church seemed to have two centers of administration: Rome and Constantinople. It was followed by cultural division. As the result the Byzantine Empire was established. Later, the state reclaimed Constantinople.
It was controlled by the Palaiologan dynasty and occupied the city of Monemvasia in the Morea, until 1471. In 1453, Constantinople fell to the Ottomans. Later, Monemvasia was sold for cash and the titular Despot of the Morea Demetrius Palaeologus is living in Rome now under the protection of the Pope. The Byzantine Empire did not occupy a vast area. Most of all it was surrounded by a lot of enemies. But it influenced greatly the development and protection of the Western countries.
It should be pointed that the separation of church and state in contemporary definition was not the same in the Middle Ages. It was narrower; and can be explained as the struggle of the Catholic authorities against secular control for spheres of control. It was the beginning of separation of church and state. Byzantium is considered to be the only stable state in Europe during the Middle Ages. It had great diplomatic and military power.
It protected Western Civilization from invasions from eastern peoples (Persians, Arabs, Seljuk Turks, and for a time, the Ottomans) at the times when the Western Christian kingdoms were weakened with constant opposition between church and state. The major structural reforms as to the power of church and state were regarded to the emperor Heraclius in the 7 th century. It helped to save the empire. Historians of the 20 th century have great interest to the empire and are learning unknown facts of its impact on European civilization. After the Middle Ages, at the time of Renaissance, it was the time when the West civilization set contact with Islamic. But ordinarily, the contacts led to confrontation between two classic civilizations.
Islamic civilization was the basis for the Ottoman Empire. Christianity and Islam are considered to be the most wide spread religions. But they differ greatly. The main controversy is in the idea they proclaim. Islam is considered to be a monotheistic religion.
Its belief is based upon the teachings of Muhammad, God's final prophet. The basic sources of Islam are the Qur " an. Though Islam like Judaism and Christianity is an Abrahamic religion, but, frankly speaking, it remains one of the few religions with absolute, not relative or pluralistic dogma. There are no visual images of God because it may lead to idolatry. Islamic law concerns all aspects of life: from governance and foreign relations to daily life. The Qur " an has instructions about the laws of inheritance, marriage, restitution for injuries and murder, as well as rules for fasting, charity, and prayer.
Comparing two religions it should be pointed that while Christianity has been changed by rationalism; Islam remains a pure religion undiluted by reason. The Western World has recognized the existence of two different realms: church and state; while Islamism is a totalitarian ideology that states the society must be submitted to religion. The political process in Western societies is what has made it so successful - western democracies are governed by politics. It was the collapse of these roots in much of the West. In the 20 th Century, Christianity declined in influence in many western countries, in Europe and elsewhere. Secularism became increasingly important.
However, while church attendance is in decline, most westerners still identify themselves as Christians (e. g. 70 % in the UK) and occasionally attend church on major occasions. Bibliography: Geoff, Price. A Historical Outline of Modern Religious Criticism in Western Civilization. Rationalrevolution. net, September 10, 2005 web Islam.
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 2006. web James E. , Egolf. A Careful Examination of the Medieval Catholic Church vs. The Authority of the Secular Rulers, Simon & Schuster, p. 43, August 10, 2006 Samuel P. , Huntington. The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order. Princeton University Press, September 10, 2003.
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