The Religions Book - Big Ideas Simply Explained

JUDAISM 199

WOMEN CAN
BE RABBIS

GENDER AND THE COVENANT

IN CONTEXT P aradoxically, while Jewish allowing women to participate
identity is traditionally in rituals and as witnesses, and
KEY MOVEMENT transmitted matrilineally bringing in bat mitzvah ceremonies
Feminism in Judaism (p.175), women have been excluded (the female equivalent of the bar
from participation in the observance mitzvah). Women were finally
WHEN AND WHERE of Judaism for much of its history. admitted into rabbinical schools in
Late 20th century, Until the 19th century, the idea the 1980s. Today, only Orthodox
US and Europe of women reading from the Torah Judaism still holds out against the
to a congregation, for example, ordination of women rabbis, but in
BEFORE or leading prayer as a cantor was all branches of the faith, women are
19th century The Reform considered heretical; the notion of taking an increasingly active, if not
movement emerges in a female rabbi was unthinkable. leading, role in the synagogue. ■
Judaism, and with it the
question of women taking However, with the foundation The festival of Hanukkah is
a fuller role in the covenant. of liberal Reform Judaism, and celebrated here by Barbara Aiello, the
especially in the progressive first female rabbi in Italy. Granting girls
1893 The National Council Reconstructionist movement, equal access to religious education has
of Jewish Women is founded the subject of women’s role in the transformed their role in Judaism.
after the World Parliament covenant became an issue of
of Religions in Chicago. increasing importance. The first
woman rabbi was ordained in the
1912 The Women’s Zionist Reform movement in Germany in
Organization of America, 1935. In the US, the UK, and
Hadassah, is founded. elsewhere in Europe, real pressure
for change came with the rise of
1922 The idea of ordaining feminism in the 1970s. The Reform
women rabbis is discussed at movement in the US ordained
the Central Conference of its first woman rabbi in 1972, and
American Rabbis, but no three years later a female cantor.
agreement is reached. Following this lead, other branches
of Judaism began to initiate reforms,
1935 The first woman rabbi,
Regina Jonas, is ordained in See also: God’s covenant with Israel 168–75 ■ Writing the Oral law 182–83
Berlin, Germany. ■ Progressive Judaism 190–95

CHRISTI

FROM 1ST
CENTURY CE

ANITY

202 INTRODUCTION

Jesus is born Jesus is crucified by The Roman emperor Christianity becomes
in Roman Judea: Judea’s Roman rulers. Constantine issues the the official religion
he is believed by Christians believe that Edict of Milan, allowing
Christians to be the he rises again three the Christian faith to of the Roman
Son of God born to days later and ascends be freely practiced. Empire; converts
the Virgin Mary. include Augustine
to heaven.
of Hippo.

C.4 BCE C.30–36CE 313 CE 380 CE
C.26 CE 1054
CA. 44–68CE 325 CE

Jesus is baptized by All but one of the The Nicene Creed During the Great
John the Baptist and apostles, John, is established at the Schism, Christianity
his ministry begins. are martyred. Council of Nicea and is divided into Western
later ratified as the (Roman Catholic) and

universal creed of Eastern (Orthodox)
the Christian Church. branches.

C hristianity takes its Christians give great significance sacraments. Especially significant
name from the Greek word to the story of Jesus’s crucifixion, are the sacraments of baptism and
christós, a translation of resurrection, and ascension to the Eucharist—the taking of bread
the Hebrew word for messiah, or heaven. It is the central belief of and wine, as Jesus instructed his
anointed one. This title was given Christianity that Jesus suffered, followers at the Last Supper. Others
to Jesus by a Jewish sect who died, and was buried, before being include confirmation, holy orders
considered him to be the Messiah resurrected from the dead—in (the ordination of ministers),
—the savior prophesied in the order to grant salvation to those confession, the anointing of the
Tanakh, the Hebrew Bible—and who believe in him—and that sick, and matrimony—although
the Son of God in human form. he then ascended to heaven not all of these are accepted by
Christians believe that Jesus’s to rule alongside God the Father. every Christian denomination.
arrival on earth heralded a New
Covenant or New Testament Implicit in this belief is the Persecution to adoption
with God that followed the Old acceptance that Jesus was, as the From its beginnings in Roman
Testament covenants between Son of God, God incarnate, both Judea to its status as the religion
God and the Jewish people. human and divine, and not merely with most adherents in the world
a prophet. This led to the concept today, Christianity has shaped
The main beliefs of Christianity of the Trinity, that the one God the culture of much of Western
are based on the life and teachings exists in three distinct forms—the civilization. The early Christians
of Jesus as recorded by his Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. were persecuted by both Jewish
followers in the 1st century CE authorities and the Roman Empire,
in the Gospels (meaning “good The life of Jesus also provides and many were put to death.
news”) and the Epistles (or letters) a framework for the rituals of Nevertheless, the faith persisted
of the New Testament. Christian worship, the most
important of which are known as

CHRISTIANITY 203

A series of religious A rival papacy Martin Luther John Wesley
wars, the Crusades, to Rome is initiates the Protestant founds the Methodist
Reformation in Germany movement, and other
is launched by the established in Protestant Churches
Catholic Church to Avignon, France. by publishing his
recapture Jerusalem 95 Theses, criticizing emerge in Europe.

from Muslim clerical abuses.
occupation.

1095–1291 1305 1517 17TH–18TH CENTURIES

1274 1478 1562–98 1925

Thomas Aquinas The Spanish Inquisition, Catholics and The Scopes Monkey
publishes Summa the most notorious of the Protestants wage Trial pits evolutionary
Theologica, which inquisitions instituted to
becomes the basis for war in France theory against
official Catholic dogma. suppress heresy, is founded (known as the Biblical Creation.
by King Ferdinand and Wars of Religion).
Queen Isabella.

under the leadership of the early Church over papal authority—the initially condemned: only centuries
Church. Gradually, Christianity so-called Great Schism—divided after his death was it adopted as
came to be tolerated by Roman Christianity into two distinct official Catholic dogma.
leaders, and, after the Council of branches, the Western (Roman
Nicea, where a universal Christian Catholic) Church and the Eastern The Renaissance of the 14th
creed was agreed, it was eventually (Orthodox) Church. Christianity and 15th centuries heralded a new
adopted as the official religion of also faced a challenge from the challenge to the authority of the
the Roman Empire in 380 CE. Islamic Empire from the 8th Church in the form of humanism
century on, and, through the and the beginnings of a scientific
From then on, Christianity 12th and 13th centuries, fought Golden Age. The revival of interest
became a powerful force in the a series of Crusades to recapture in classical learning prompted
political and cultural life of Europe Jerusalem from the Muslims. criticism of the Catholic Church,
and the Middle East. Its influence and the Protestant Reformation
spread rapidly and produced such Church power was triggered by publication of
thinkers as Augustine of Hippo, The Catholic Church retained Martin Luther’s 95 Theses in 1517.
a convert to Christianity, who its influence in Europe, and its Protestantism began to flourish in
integrated Greek philosophical dogma dominated learning and northern Europe and paved the way
ideas into the doctrine. With the culture throughout the Middle for new Christian denominations.
decline and fall of the Roman Ages. Philosophical and scientific Of the roughly 2.2 billion Christians
Empire, power in Europe moved ideas were often seen as heretical, worldwide today (around a third of
to the popes, who were considered and even the great Thomas Aquinas the world’s population), more than
the natural successors of the found his application of Aristotelian half are Catholic, roughly one third
apostles and the first bishops. reasoning to Christian theology are Protestant, and the remainder
In the 11th century, a split in the are Orthodox. ■

204 IN CONTEXT

JESUS IS THE KEY FIGURE
BEGINNING Jesus of Nazareth
OF THE END
WHEN AND WHERE
JESUS’S MESSAGE TO THE WORLD 4 BCE–30 CE, Judea

BEFORE
c.700 BCE The Jewish
prophet Isaiah foretells
the coming rule of God.

6th century BCE During the
exile of the Israelites in
Babylon, the prophet Daniel
has a vision of the end of
oppressive earthly kingdoms.

c.450 BCE The arrival of the
day of the Lord is a key
theme for Jewish prophets.

AFTER
1st century CE The first
Christians take Jesus’s
message throughout the
Roman Empire.

20th century The kingdom of
God becomes a major theme in
Christian theology and ethics.

I n 63 BCE, the Roman general
Pompey conquered Jerusalem,
putting an end to a century
of Judean self-rule and turning the
region into a Roman client state.
Rome was the last in a long line
of invading forces, which stretched
back over 500 years and included
Babylon, Persia, Greece, Egypt, and
Syria. This repeated loss of
sovereignty had dented national
pride and caused religious
consternation, challenging the
Jewish concept of themselves
as God’s chosen people.

Key Jewish religious texts
from previous centuries (such as
the prophetic work of Isaiah) had
promised that a time would come

CHRISTIANITY 205

See also: The promise of a new age 178–81 ■ Jesus’s divine identity 208
■ Entering into the faith 224–27 ■ Awaiting the Day of Judgment 312–13

There is a lack of justice and peace
in kingdoms ruled by humans.

God promised to fulfill our hopes for justice and Jesus of Nazareth
peace at the end of time, in a kingdom He rules.
Jesus was born in Bethlehem,
Jesus has taught and shown us how to in the Roman province of
experience the forgiveness, peace, Judea, in around 4 BCE, with
the extraordinary claim that
and justice that God promised. his mother Mary was a virgin.
Little is known about Jesus’s
Jesus’s ministry therefore marks early life, but it is most likely
the beginning of the kingdom of God: that he was schooled in the
Jewish scriptures and religion.
the beginning of the end. It is believed that he may have
shared his father’s occupation
when Israel’s God would be the as a carpenter, and lived and
acknowledged ruler of the whole worked in Nazareth.
world. He would bring in a system
of justice and peace for all through When Jesus was around
his appointed representative, 30 years old, he embarked
known as the Messiah (meaning upon a ministry of teaching
anointed one). This would be and healing across the area
the climax of world history, so the where he lived. According to
prophecy said: the end of the old, the Gospels, he drew huge
existing era and the beginning of crowds with his engaging
God’s era. However, given the new stories, radical teaching,
Roman occupation, this kingdom and astonishing miracles,
of God seemed a distant dream. but paid special attention
to 12 followers, or disciples.
Announcing a new world Preaching to his band of disciples, However, his message about
In around the late 20s CE, a Jesus gave the core message of his God’s kingdom soon attracted
Jewish rabbi called Jesus began ministry: the awaited arrival of God’s the censure of the authorities.
a brief, but extraordinary, ministry kingdom had become a reality. He was betrayed by Judas,
throughout Roman-occupied Israel. ❯❯ one of his disciples, and
arrested and condemned to
death on fabricated charges.
Three days after Jesus had
been crucified, reports were
made that his tomb had been
found empty and that he
had appeared to his disciples,
resurrected from the dead.

206 JESUS’S MESSAGE TO THE WORLD

Jesus’s miracles, such as the healing
of the blind, affirmed that, just as Jesus
went among the poor and the outcast,
so God invited everyone, regardless of
status, into his kingdom.

parables (stories used to illustrate
his message) he compared God’s
kingdom to the yeast in a batch
of dough. In another, he described
the kingdom as acting like seeds
sown in the ground. Both yeast and
seeds take time to produce results,
growing almost imperceptibly, but
are slowly and surely at work.

Jesus’s core message was that God was now king, and the lame A new religion
God’s long-awaited kingdom was would jump for joy. The biblical Jesus invited those who heard
now arriving. Some people who accounts of Jesus’s ministry are full him to allow God’s kingdom and
heard his message thought that he of stories of healings just like these. its values into their own lives
intended to raise an army to expel In addition, Jesus said there was without delay. He taught that the
the Romans. However, his goal was no longer any barrier to entering kingdom of God is both now, and
not Israel’s political independence, God’s kingdom. Until that time, the not yet, here, that it has begun
but the liberation of the entire Jewish faith had viewed non-Jews and continues to grow whenever
world from all evil. According to as beyond salvation, along with people choose to live by the rule
a collection of Jesus’s teachings, those people who failed to adhere of God, embracing his values
known as the Sermon on the Mount to God’s laws (sinners), but Jesus and experiencing healing and
(found in the Gospel of St. Matthew said that even these groups would forgiveness. However, Jesus also
in the New Testament), Jesus be welcomed into the kingdom. acknowledged that there would
announced that God’s kingdom Jesus demonstrated the forgiveness be a future moment when, at the
now held sway over both heaven of sinners by sharing meals—one of climactic end of the present world
and earth, and that under this new the most intimate and meaningful order, God’s rule would triumph
rule the distorted values of human of Jewish activities—with social over all other kingdoms. When this
kingdoms would be overturned. outcasts and religious renegades. day of judgment arrived, it would
God’s kingdom, he said, belonged The future was likened to a be too late to decide to be part of
not to the greedy, the self-assured, banquet prepared by God, to
and the warriors, but to the poor, which people from all over the Blessed are the poor in
the meek, and the peacemakers. world would be invited. spirit, for theirs is the
kingdom of heaven.
All are welcome But people were confused: wasn’t Jesus (Matthew 5:3)
Jesus’s message was manifested the kingdom of God supposed to
in his actions. Centuries earlier, the be the climax of world history?
Jewish prophet Isaiah had said that If so, why did the world not end
when God’s kingdom came, there with Jesus’s announcement? The
would be wonderful miracles of answer that Jesus gave them was
healing: the blind would be able to that the kingdom would not arrive
see, and the deaf able to hear that all at once, as most people had
expected. In one of his many

How can the end have a beginning? Jesus said CHRISTIANITY 207
that the final replacement of our present world with
the kingdom of God would be delayed, giving people The time is fulfilled.
time to secure themselves a place in that kingdom God’s kingdom is
by believing in him.
arriving! Turn around
FUTURE WORLD ORDER: GOD’S KINGDOM and believe

Coming of Day of the good news.
Christ Judgment Jesus (Mark 1:15)

Present-day

PRESENT WORLD ORDER: HUMAN KINGDOMS

God’s new world. This gave his the Lord’s Prayer, taught by Jesus champion movements for social
message a note of urgency. People himself, asks that God’s kingdom change; for example, Martin Luther
needed to make a decision now; far come on earth “as it is in heaven.” King and the civil rights movement
from being a distant dream, the In offering this prayer, Christians in the United States, Gustavo
end had already begun. are asking for the earthly advent of Gutiérrez and the liberation of the
God’s kingdom now, even as they poor in South America, and
The idea that Jesus marked the wait for it to arrive in fullness at Desmond Tutu and the end of
beginning of the end led directly the end of present world history. apartheid in South Africa.
to the separation of Christianity
from its Jewish roots. The early God’s kingdom today The end of all things
followers of Jesus claimed that Historically, the Christian church The idea that Jesus’s ministry
they no longer had to wait to has sometimes understood the marked the beginning of the
discover who God’s Messiah “kingdom of God” or “kingdom of end is known in theology
would be, because Jesus was heaven” as a purely spiritual realm by the term inaugurated
that Messiah—the one God had that leaves the physical world eschatology. Eschatology is a
appointed to bring his kingdom to unaffected. But in the early 20th word that itself evolved from two
earth. However, Jesus’s opponents century, New Testament scholars Greek words meaning “last” and
refused to believe this and decided began to take a new interest in the “study,” and it refers to the study
to silence him by killing him. When Jewish context of Jesus’s ministry, of the end of things, or the end of
Jesus’s followers did not give up and since then Jesus’s message all things—the end of the world.
their beliefs even after Jesus died, about the kingdom of God has had To Christians, Jesus’s message
and in fact enlarged on them—by an especially prominent place in about God’s kingdom gives
claiming that God had confounded Christian theology. By paying Christianity an inaugurated
Jesus’s opponents by raising him closer attention to the background eschatology: the end of all things
from the dead—it became clear of Jesus’s original message, the was inaugurated (begun but not
that their faith, led by a figure who political and economic implications completed) by his message. The
could not be conquered by death, of the arrival of God’s kingdom fact that the presence of God’s
was something new and distinct have become clearer. Christians kingdom today in the lives of
within the catalog of religions. now believe that the kingdom Christians can still only be
occurs wherever present reality called the beginning of the end
From the earliest days, and its values are transformed is a reminder that the Christian
Christianity has been defined by by the rule of God, a belief that faith still looks toward a final,
the conviction that Jesus’s ministry has inspired many Christians to definitive action by God. ■
was the beginning of the end. One
of the key prayers of Christianity,

208

GOD HAS SENT
US HIS SON

JESUS’S DIVINE IDENTITY

IN CONTEXT M any ancient kings and humankind—through the symbolic
emperors claimed that to the literal. The last of these was
KEY BELIEVERS they had been adopted claimed by the first Christians as
Early Christians by the gods, thereby giving the truth. They pointed to the
themselves divine legitimacy extraordinary miracles of Jesus’s
WHEN AND WHERE to rule. On their deaths, some, ministry decribed in the Gospels,
1st centuryCE, communities such as Julius Caesar, were and especially to his resurrection
around the Mediterranean elevated to divine status—a from the dead, as evidence of his
process that was known as unique place in God’s plan.
BEFORE apotheosis—and worshipped.
From c.500 BCE Jewish God has become human
scriptures use the term son In the Gospels, Jesus calls God The early Christians also claimed
of God to describe God’s his Father many times, in ways that that Jesus’s divine status was
earthly representative. are open to many interpretations, unlike that of other rulers. Jesus
from the broadest—that God, as was not adopted by God as
c.30 CE Jesus is arrested the creator, is the Father of all a reward for his obedience; rather,
and accused of blasphemy Jesus had always been God’s Son,
by the Jewish authorities for You are the Christ, even from before his birth, and so
claiming to be the son of the Son of the he shared God’s divine nature
God. He is sent for trial by the living God. throughout his human life.
Roman governor Pontius Pilate
on charges of sedition, and Matthew 16:15 This idea, known as the
condemned to death. incarnation, became a central
belief of Christianity. It is the
AFTER opposite of apotheosis; in the
325 CE The Nicene Creed incarnation, the eternally divine
states that Jesus is the Son of God took on humanity in
divine Son of God, using the the person of Jesus. God had
phrase “of one substance sent his divine Son into the world
with the Father.” as a human in order to bring his
kingdom from heaven to earth. ■
451 CE The Chalcedonian
Creed affirms Jesus as both See also: Beliefs for new societies 56–57 ■ The promise of a new age 178–81
fully God and fully human. ■ A divine trinity 212–19 ■ The Prophet and the origins of Islam 252–53

CHRISTIANITY 209

THE BLOOD OF THE
MARTYRS IS THE SEED
OF THE CHURCH

DYING FOR THE MESSAGE

IN CONTEXT O n 9 March 203 CE, two The early martyrs went to their
young mothers—a Roman deaths willingly, believing that their
KEY DEVELOPMENT noblewoman, Perpetua, example would seed Christianity’s
Persecution of the and her slave Felicity—were led message into other hearts and minds.
early Christians into the arena at Carthage with
other Christians, where they were were willing to be put to death
WHEN AND WHERE flogged, mauled by wild beasts, rather than renounce their belief
c.64–313 CE, Roman Empire and finally executed. The story that Jesus was the world’s divinely
of these two female martyrs was appointed and rightful ruler,
BEFORE recorded in The Passion of Perpetua both intrigued and attracted
c.30 CE Jesus is crucified, and Felicity, in order to inspire nonbelievers.
having told his followers to other Christians to stay committed
expect persecution in turn. to their faith even when threatened This understanding of
with persecution and death. martyrdom assisted the growth
1st century CE In response of Christianity throughout history,
to oppression by the Roman Death brings life because it gave Christians the
authorities in Jerusalem, The theologian Tertullian, writing confidence that even the most
Christianity becomes an in Carthage at that time, developed violent opposition to their message
underground movement, and a Christian understanding of was not a sign of failure, but rather
Christians leave the city and martyrdom, noting that “The blood the seed of success. ■
spread out across the Empire. of the Christians is the seed.” The
Roman emperors intended their
AFTER waves of persecution to deter
3rd century A breakaway citizens from embracing a faith
Christian sect opposes that put the authority of Jesus
readmitting to the Church above that of the state. However,
those who had renounced their as Tertullian argued, far from
faith to avoid persecution. being an obstacle to the growth of
Christianity, persecution helped it
16th century Catholic and to spread. The fact that Christians
Protestant factions in Europe
persecute each other, each See also: God’s covenant with Israel 168–75 ■ Faith and the state 189
seeing their suffering as proof ■ The Protestant Reformation 230–37 ■ The rise of Islamic revivalism 286–90
of their faithfulness.

210

THE BODY MAY
DIE BUT THE SOUL
WILL LIVE ON

IMMORTALITY IN CHRISTIANITY

IN CONTEXT God does not change. W hat happens when we
die? Do we continue
KEY FIGURE God’s relationship to exist in some form or
Origen with humans therefore does our entire being disintegrate
like our bodies? Many thinkers in
WHEN AND WHERE will not change. the ancient world considered these
3rd century CE, Egypt and questions and the issues arising
Palestine Human bodies die, so God’s from them. Greek thought was
unchanging relationship influential in the Roman Empire,
BEFORE cannot be with them. and Plato’s ideas on these subjects
4th century BCE The Greek gained widespread support in the
philosopher Plato popularizes Humans must have centuries before Jesus’s birth,
Socratic teaching that death is immortal souls, so that death, and resurrection.
the separation of the immortal
soul from the mortal body. their relationship with Plato’s thinking was dualist.
God can go on. He believed there were two parts
c.30 CE At the time of Jesus’s to human life: the physical body,
death, Jewish thought is The body may which constantly changes and
divided: the Pharisees believe die but the soul eventually dies; and the thinking
in an actual, bodily resurrection soul, which exists eternally.
after death for God’s faithful, will live on.
while the Sadducee sect In the third century CE, the
denies any form of afterlife. theologian Origen of Alexandria
explained elements of the Christian
AFTER message using terms from Greek
13th century Dante’s Divine philosophy. In particular, he
Comedy encapsulates the developed Plato’s thinking into
medieval view of the soul’s a Christian understanding of the
journey after death. soul that would last for centuries.

1513 The Fifth Lateran Only souls matter
Council of the Church declares Like Plato, Origen believed that
the immortality of the soul to while human bodies are mortal
be orthodox Christian belief. and die, souls are immortal. For
Origen, however, the immortality
of the soul is a direct implication

CHRISTIANITY 211

See also: Physical and mental discipline 112–13 ■ Man as a manifestation of
God 188 ■ The ultimate reward for the righteous 279

showed that this was possible for Origen
those who believed in him. However,
after Origen, less emphasis was Origen was born to Christian
placed on bodily resurrection, and parents in Alexandria, North
much Christian teaching focused Africa, in around 185 CE. When
exclusively on the state of the soul Origen was 17, his father was
before death and its fate after martyred, and Origen took
death. The souls of those who had up a life of disciplined study,
rejected God were considered to becoming a respected thinker
be spiritually dead, and would live both inside and outside the
out their immortality in hell. Church. The bishop of
However, the souls of those who Alexandria appointed him
had embraced Jesus’s message head of the catechetical
would ascend to a state of school, instructing new
perfection with God in heaven. Christian converts before their
baptism. After a dispute with
According to Origen, the soul is A modern perspective the bishop, Origen moved to
the part of us that returns to God after Recent Christian thinkers have Caesarea in Palestine, where
death. Artists found this hard to convey suggested that Origen relied too his writings included an
without giving the soul, and indeed God, heavily on Platonism. A growing eight-volume defense of
a human appearance; this 16th-century movement in Christian theology Christianity against one of its
panel shows St. Paul and the Trinity. rejects dualism (the separation critics, the philosopher Celsus.
of body and soul), teaching instead
of God’s unchanging nature. that the life of the soul after death is Around 250 CE, Origen
Since God cannot change, the possible only if God also resurrects a was tortured by the Roman
relationship he has with humans person’s body. Another widespread authorities in an attempt to
cannot end once their bodies belief today is that of conditional make him renounce his faith.
disintegrate. Therefore there must immortality: immortality is only Origen refused, and was
be a part of the human that does given to those who have believed released. However, he died a
not die, and this is the soul. A in Jesus, and not to everyone. ■ few years later, in 254 CE, most
typical Platonist, Origen thought likely as a result of injuries
the soul was far more important sustained while he was being
than the body, which was a persecuted for his faith.
distraction from a spiritual life.
Key works
Hell and heaven …the soul, having a
Origen’s teaching shaped the substance and life of c.220 De Principiis (First
popular Christian understanding its own, shall, after its Principles): the first systematic
of salvation from that moment on. departure from the world, rendition of Christian theology
Unlike the Platonists, the writers of be rewarded according 248 On Prayer; On Martyrdom;
the Hebrew Bible had not separated Against Celsus
the soul from the body. If there was to its deserts.
going to be any life after death at Origen
all, then a person’s body would
need to be raised from the dead
to go along with its soul. Jesus’s
bodily resurrection from the dead

GOD IS

THREE AND

GOD IS ONE

A DIVINE TRINITY



214 A DIVINE TRINITY There is only one God.
But Christians experience God in three ways.
IN CONTEXT
God, the Father Jesus, the Son The Holy Spirit,
KEY TEXT of Jesus, who of God, who who is with
The Nicene Creed sent him to the came to the
world that he world to bring Christians now
WHEN AND WHERE had created. that Jesus has
4th century CE, Nicea God’s kingdom.
and Constantinople returned to
his Father.
BEFORE
500BCE Jewish daily prayer These three (Father, Son, and Spirit) are completely united in
includes the Shema, affirming what they do, even though each one has a particular role.
that God is one (monotheism).
God is both three and one—a trinity of divinity.
1st century CE Christians
worship Jesus and the Holy
Spirit with the God of Israel.

c.200CE Tertullian explains
the Trinity as “three persons
of one substance.”

AFTER
c.400CE St. Augustine’s The
Trinity (De Trinitate), gives an
analogy of the Trinity based on
three elements of human life:
mind, knowledge, and love.

20th century Trinitarian
theology, starting with the
doctrine of the Trinity, thrives
with theologian Karl Barth.

I n a math test, it is safe to A standardized way of speaking Judaism is monotheistic, so is
assume that 1 + 1 + 1 = 3, but about God, known as the doctrine Christianity—Christians, like Jews,
not so in a theology exam. One of the Trinity, was settled upon by believe in just one God. But how
of the most notorious conundrums of members of the early Church some could the first Christians claim to
the Christian faith is that to describe 300 years after the death of Jesus. be monotheistic if they worshipped
God, 1 + 1 + 1 = 1, not 3. Some of A range of ideas had emerged as both Jesus as God and the God
the greatest Christian theologians the faith spread across the Roman whom Jesus called Father? And
have struggled to explain how Empire and beyond, so Church how did this relate to the Spirit,
God can be three distinct persons leaders articulated the doctrine whom Jesus said he would send, so
(Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) yet as a response. that God’s presence would remain
remain only one God. However, with Christians? Since the Spirit
this idea, which is known as the Rooted in Judaism was also worshipped as God, did
doctrine of the Trinity, is a central The roots of Christianity are in this mean that Christians were
plank in Christian theology, Judaism—the religion into which tri-theists (believing in three gods)
setting its understanding of Jesus was born and of which he rather than monotheists?
God apart from other religions. claimed to be the Messiah. Just as The doctrine of the Trinity is an

CHRISTIANITY 215

See also: From monolatry to monotheism 176–77 ■ Jesus’s divine identity 208 ■ The unity of divinity
is necessary 280–81

The Trinity is portrayed as Son, Father,
and dove—inspired by Jesus’ baptism,
when the Holy Spirit “descended on him
like a dove”—in this 17th-century fresco.

attempt to answer these tricky
questions, with the assertion
that Christians worship one God
in three persons.

What Jesus taught and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew when God brought peace and
As the Gospel writers recorded, 28:19). In accordance with these justice to the world. Jesus had
Jesus referred to God as his Father teachings, the early Christians said and done things that only God
throughout his ministry. The worshipped Jesus. After all, he had could say and do: as he had implied
implication of this teaching was made it possible for everyone who during his life, Jesus was God.
clear, Jesus was God’s Son and he believed to be part of God’s family
claimed the same divinity as God. (a status previously only accorded Similar but not the same
He also spoke about his close to the Jews), forgiving their past The doctrine of the Trinity emerged
relationship to the Spirit: “the rebellion against God and assuring in response to a series of other
Holy Spirit, whom the Father will them that they would be included answers that the early Christians ❯❯
send in my name, will teach you
all things and will remind you of
everything I have said to you” (John
14:26). Jesus again hinted at the
shared divinity of the three persons
of God in the Great Commission, a
statement in which he commanded
his followers to “make disciples of
all nations, baptizing them in the
name of the Father and of the Son

The Nicene Creed

We believe in one God, By the start of the 4th century CE, of the Trinity—that would be
the Father almighty…and Christianity had spread across acceptable to all Christians.
in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Roman Empire. With such a This creed would be recited in
the only begotten Son of wide appeal, it was increasingly churches and would help steer
God…and in the Holy Spirit, difficult to establish a uniform Christians away from heretical
the Lord and lifegiver… understanding of the faith. The beliefs, especially those of the
Emperor Constantine saw the Arians (see p.216). In 381CE,
Nicene Creed problems these differences were Emperor Theodosius called
causing, so he called a council of another council, this time in
Church bishops from all over his Constantinople. The 325CE creed
empire to meet in Nicea in 325CE. was clarified and expanded,
He encouraged the bishops to resulting in the Nicene Creed,
agree a statement of faith—in which is still recited today in
particular, to define the nature churches all over the world.

216 A DIVINE TRINITY

St. Athanasius of Alexandria is characteristics of God, because, as were truly God. They solved the
remembered for his staunch theological a Son, he must have been born. An problem of whether God is one or
defense of Trinitarianism against the Arian dictum about the Son of God three by maintaining that Father,
teachings of Arianism. He had a key stated that “there was once when Son, and Spirit are three modes
role in drafting the Nicene Creed. he was not”: there must have been of the one God’s being. This idea
a time before the Son of God was is known as modalism.
judged to be wrong, or heretical. born, when God existed without
One such idea was Arianism—the him. In their view, this logic proved Father, Son, and Spirit can be
theology of Arius (c.250–336 CE), that only the Father was truly God. thought of as masks available to an
a Christian leader in Alexandria, One of the words used to describe actor in a play. There is only one
Egypt—which emphasized the Son was homoiousios, which actor, but he can play three parts,
monotheism so strongly that it is a Greek term meaning “of similar simply by wearing three different
denied the deity of the Son and, substance.” The Son was “of masks. At first, this might seem
by implication, of the Spirit. For similar substance” to the Father, like a good way to describe how
Arius, only the Father was truly but not the same. God is experienced: sometimes
God. Although the Son was to be Christians encounter him as the
honored for having the closest The Arians had preserved Father, at other times as the Son,
possible relationship with the monotheism, but at the expense and still other times as the Spirit.
Father, the Son was still only a of the Son and the Spirit. This
representative of the Father’s deity, was potentially disastrous for the However, if Christians only ever
and did not share that deity. Christian faith, since the central encountered God’s three masks,
claim of Christians was that through how could they be sure that they
This tallied with some aspects the life, death, and resurrection of had met God himself? After all,
of accepted Christian thinking: one Jesus—the Son of God—God people can wear masks in order to
of the essential characteristics of himself had saved them. If the Son hide their true identity. What if God
God was that he was uncreated— of God was not truly God, then how wore the masks to pretend to be
he had no beginning as well as could they be sure that God really something he is not? And so, instead
no end to his life. The Arians did want to forgive them their sins of talking about masks or modes,
therefore argued that since children and receive them in his kingdom? Christian theologians began to
have to be born, the Son of God use the Greek term hypostases,
could not possess all the essential At the Council of Nicea in which was translated into Latin as
325 CE, Arianism was condemned personae, or persons. They posited
when its central tenet, that the Son that God is three hypostases of one
was homoiousios with the Father, ousia (Greek for essence/being—in
was rejected. Instead, Jesus was Latin, substantia, or substance),
declared to be homoousios, which
means “of the same substance.” God is divided without
This distinction made all the division, if I may put it
difference—it was agreed that like that, and united in
the Son utterly shares the Father’s division. The Godhead
deity. Consequently, it was
accepted that the Son had no is one in three and
beginning—God has always been the three are one...
a Father and a Son, together with Gregory of Nazianzus
the Holy Spirit.

Persons, not masks
A second answer deemed heretical
to the question of the Trinity was
given by a 3rd-century CE priest in
Rome, Sabellius, and his followers.
Unlike the Arians, the Sabellians
affirmed that the Son and the Spirit

CHRISTIANITY 217

Every act which extends same way that people share their separate gods? The easy answer
from God to the creation… common humanity. There are just is that if the Trinity was understood
originates with the Father, three persons of the one divine as three separate gods, Christians
proceeds through the Son, substance—Father, Son, and Spirit. could not be certain that the God
of the story of Jesus Christ had
and is completed by By using the language of anything to do with the God who
the Holy Spirit. hypostases or persons, Christian they believe created the world, or
thinkers were able to avoid the who is at work in the world today.
Gregory of Nyssa problems of Sabellius and modalism.
It was agreed that Father, Son, and The idea of a Trinity safeguards
so three persons of one substance. Spirit were not three masks worn the unity of God’s relationship
Such theological reasoning involved by a mysterious divine actor, just with the world. Traditionally, the
stretching the meaning of human as there is no ideal human lurking Father is seen as the one who
terms in order to express the somewhere behind all the humans created the world, the Son is the
magnitude of God appropriately. who have ever lived. Instead, there one who came into the world to
Some of the theologians who are three persons (Father, Son, and save it, and the Spirit is the one
achieved this most successfully Spirit) who, together, are God. who transforms the world into the
were the Cappadocian Fathers: place God wants it to be. It is
Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Understanding the Trinity important that these are seen as
Nazianzus, and Gregory of Nyssa Why is it important to Christians one God working in three ways
(Basil’s younger brother), who lived that one God is worshipped in toward the same goal—to share
in the late 4th century CE. They three persons, rather than as three God’s love with the world—not ❯❯
explained the difference between
ousia and hypostases (substance The Trinity comprises three distinct persons who
and persons) by giving an example: are not interchangeable, yet share the same divine
ousia is humanity as a general substance, and this divine substance is present in
category, while each hypostasis only these three persons.
is an individual human. Every
person has their humanity The Father is not The Son
in common with other people; but
at the same time, each person has is God is
individual characteristics that
make them who they are. Defining is not is not
humanity accordingly would
involve stating “we experience is
one common humanity in billions
of persons,” followed by listing The Holy
every person who has ever lived, Spirit
is living, and will live.

In this definition of the Trinity,
the persons of the Trinity have
their divinity in common, in the

218 A DIVINE TRINITY

Red rose petals fall inside the
Pantheon, Rome, at the end of
Pentecost Mass, commemorating the
descent of the Holy Spirit onto the
disciples on the day of Pentecost.

three times, as if telling the
same story from three different,
but complementary, perspectives.
This repetition, maintains Barth,
reflects what God’s existence is
really like—whatever God does,
he does as Father, Spirit, and Son.

Defining principle
The doctrine of the Trinity is
often considered one of the most
obscure and complicated aspects
of Christian theology. Nonetheless,
Christians hold to the doctrine
because they believe it reflects a
vital characteristic of God. Just as
in the debates with the Arians and
Sabellians in the 4th century CE, the
idea of the Trinity is essential to
orthodox Christian faith. Groups,
such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses and
the Unitarians, who hold conflicting
views on this issue are generally not
considered authentically Christian
by the mainstream Church.

One interesting development in
recent times has been the notion
of the social Trinity, in which the
cooperation of the three persons of

as three Gods pulling in three of speech to explain the Trinity: As Father, Son, and Spirit
different directions. Augustine the Father is the one who speaks, are three, they are three
(p.221) explained that it is this love the Son is the word that is spoken, agents of what the one
that binds the Trinity together. and the Spirit is the breath by God does with creatures.
which the word is spoken. By far
Metaphors of the Trinity the most influential Christian Robert Jenson
Over the centuries, many people theologian of the 20th century was
have tried to identify metaphors Karl Barth (1886–1968), a Swiss
for the Trinity in order to explain pastor and professor. He came up
how three can be one, and one with a helpful guide for trinitarian
three. For instance, St. Patrick—a thinking, which has been embraced
5th-century CE missionary who took by much contemporary theology.
Christianity to Ireland—used the The doctrine of the Trinity means
image of a three-leaf shamrock. that whatever is said about the
Others have used the analogy Christian God, has to be said

the Trinity is seen as a model for While Christians of different CHRISTIANITY 219
human community. Since God can denominations understand the
only be God as long the relationships Holy Spirit in different ways, Gifts of the Holy Spirit
between Father, Son, and Spirit are the Pentecostal movement of the
maintained, so humans, made in 20th century did much to raise Many spiritual gifts are
God’s image, can only be truly the public profile of the Spirit. recognized in the Christian
human as they maintain meaningful The movement was named after Church. For believers, these
relationships with God and others. the day of Pentecost, when Jesus gifts are given by God to the
sent the Spirit to his disciples. On Church to help it do the work
The Trinity and the Spirit that day, the Spirit is said to have of God’s kingdom in the world.
The Spirit often seems like the appeared as a flame above the heads The gifts are for three main
forgotten person of the Trinity. of the disciples, who were filled with purposes: ministry, motivation,
Perhaps this is because the debates the Holy Spirit. This enabled them and manifestation.
of the 4th century CE were primarily to preach in languages that had
about the relationship between been previously unknown to them. Christians maintain that
Jesus, Son of God, and God the the Spirit enables some people
Father, so the Spirit received only a The idea of the Holy Spirit’s to perform special roles within
brief mention in the creeds. It might transformative power is central the Church. These ministry
also be because the Spirit seems the to Pentecostal Christians. They gifts include full-time callings
most difficult of the three persons believe that believers may be taken to be a pastor or an evangelist.
to comprehend, a situation made over by the Holy Spirit in the way Motivational gifts are practical
more confusing by the use of the in which the Spirit took hold of the gifts that encourage the work
older English term Holy Ghost— disciples. This very intense, personal of the church: these include
from the word gast, meaning “spirit.” experience is called a baptism by prophecy, teaching, giving,
the Holy Spirit, and worshippers leading, or showing mercy.
According to the Gospel of actively seek this spiritual renewal
John, Jesus told his followers that over and above their normal Sometimes, the Spirit’s
he would send God’s Spirit to be Christian life. activity is seen in a special
with them after he had left them way, such as in tongues
and ascended into heaven. Because Charismatic Christianity (speaking with unlearned
the Spirit was supposed to transform Since the 1960s, the charismatic words in order to praise God),
the lives of God’s followers from the movement has introduced the healing, or other miracles.
inside out, so that they would live Pentecostal enthusiasm for the These gifts are called
the kind of holy lives that God Spirit into other denominations. manifestations, which show
wanted them to, the Spirit then The word charismatic comes from the Spirit is at work.
became known as the Holy Spirit. charismata (Greek for “gift of
grace”) and refers to the spiritual The Bible says that the
The name of Father, Son, gifts which are evidence of the Spirit helps to produce good
and Spirit means that Spirit’s activity among Christians, fruit in the lives of Christians:
God is the one God including gifts such as healing, Christians grow into “love, joy,
in threefold repetition… prophesying, and speaking in peace, patience, kindness,
Karl Barth tongues (or other languages). goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, and self-control”
The pronounced role of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22–23).
in the Pentecostal and charismatic
movements has prompted the Church
to think through its understanding of
all three persons of the Trinity, if it is
not to inadvertently sideline one or
more. The idea of the Trinity remains
as vital now as ever, informing how
Christians speak about the God they
believe and worship. ■

220

GOD’S GRACE
NEVER FAILS

AUGUSTINE AND FREE WILL

IN CONTEXT D o we choose God, or does theologian Augustine to come up
God choose us? This with a way of explaining how God’s
KEY FIGURE question has troubled choice relates to human choice.
Augustine of Hippo Christian thinkers since the
earliest days of the Church. At its The Pelagian controversy
WHEN AND WHERE heart is the tricky philosophical Augustine was propelled into the
354–430 CE, issue of free will, translated into debate over free will in the early
present-day Algeria the context of the Christian faith. 5th century when Pelagius, a Celtic
It took the brilliant mind of the monk, arrived in North Africa. The
BEFORE
From c.1000 BCE The Jews Salvation is by God’s grace,
understand themselves to not human capability.
be chosen by God because
of his grace, not by virtue of The human will is weak. God’s grace cannot fail.
their inherent goodness.
The weak human will God gives grace to
c.30 CE Jesus teaches his always choose sin people to enable them
followers about grace: “You over God.
didn’t choose me. I chose you.” to choose him.

AFTER Humans are thus not
418 CE Augustine’s teaching free to choose God.
on grace is accepted by the
Church and Pelagius is
condemned as a heretic at
the Council of Carthage.

16th century Calvin develops
Augustine’s thought in his
doctrine of predestination,
which becomes a central
element of the theology of
the Protestant Reformation.

CHRISTIANITY 221

See also: God’s covenant with Israel 168–69 ■ Why prayer works 246–47
■ Striving in the way of God 278

humans his grace (his saving Augustine of Hippo
help), and because God is all-
powerful, whatever he does must Aurelius Augustine was born
be effective. Those humans who in 354 CE in Thagaste, North
receive God’s grace are at liberty to Africa. He was brought up
make their own decision to choose as a Christian by his devout
God, rather than sin. Augustine mother, but renounced his
maintained a careful balance: faith during his youth and
God’s choice does not replace led a dissolute life for several
human choice, but rather makes years. After studying Greek
it possible for humans to choose. philosophy in Carthage, he
embraced Manichaeism, a
In infant baptism, Christians believe Predestination Persian religion, but returned
that the stain of sin is washed away. Augustine’s concept, which to Christianity after being
Pelagius argued that because infants became known as the doctrine impressed by the sermons
have not developed free will, they of predestination, was adopted of Bishop Ambrose in Milan
could not have sinned. by Protestant reformers, notably and the example of the desert
John Calvin. In some extreme hermit Anthony (p.223).
controversy was initially about the statements of predestination, the
baptism of infants. Pelagius argued idea that God’s grace cannot fail Augustine was baptized
that there was no need for infants was emphasized at the expense of on Easter Day in 387, and by
to be baptized to wash away the human freedom, reducing human 396 he had been appointed
stain of sin, as was generally the decisions to inconsequential acts, Bishop at Hippo. He preached
belief of the time. He maintained because God has already decided and wrote prolifically about
that sin was a result of human free what will happen—the so-called theological controversies until
will, and since he believed infants paradox of free will, by which, his death in 430. He is rightly
had not developed free will, they many argue, that predestination regarded as one of the great
could not have sinned. Moreover, if robs humans of free will. Augustine’s Christian thinkers, and his
children chose to follow God’s way idea of grace is a valuable way of teaching has continued to
as they developed free will while maintaining the balance between influence Christian thought
growing up, there would be no God’s choice and that of humans. ■ throughout the Western world.
need for them to be baptized at all. Recognized as a saint by the
God extends his mercy Anglican and Catholic Church,
Augustine disagreed with to humankind not because he was awarded the highly
nearly everything Pelagius said. honored title, Doctor of the
He argued—based as much on they already know him, Church, in the 13th century.
experience as on logic—that it is but in order that they
impossible for humans to choose Key works
freely to follow God’s way. From may know him.
birth, the weak-willed human Augustine of Hippo 397–400 CE Confessions
veers toward choosing what is 413–427 CE The City of God
wrong, an idea that became known
as original sin. In order to choose
God, Augustine believed that
humans need God’s help—which
is precisely why baptism is so
important. God chooses to give

222

IN THE WORLD,
BUT NOT OF
THE WORLD

SERVING GOD ON BEHALF OF OTHERS

IN CONTEXT Christians have to live N owadays, monasteries
in the world. are sometimes thought
KEY MOVEMENT of as relics from a bygone
Monasticism The world is full of age. However, when they began
distractions from God. to flourish in the early medieval
WHEN AND WHERE period, after the collapse of the
From 3rd century CE, By retreating from the world, Roman Empire in the 5th century,
Mediterranean monks and nuns can focus they were at the forefront of
on their spiritual life. society. In a Europe that, culturally
BEFORE speaking, was entering what
2nd century BCE–1st Without distractions, they can we now know as the Dark Ages,
century CE Within Judaism, pray for and seek to better monasteries became beacons of
ascetic Essenes gather in the world around them. learning and innovation. These
monastery-type communities powerful institutions embodied
in order to live lives of purity Monasticism is about a central idea in Christianity:
and abstinence. being in the world, that some people can be set apart
but not of the world. from the demands of conventional
AFTER living in order to focus on leading
529 CE St. Benedict establishes a spiritual life that will be of benefit
a monastic community in Italy; to others as well as themselves. An
in 817 his Rule becomes the important aspect of monasticism
authorized set of precepts for has always been praying for people
all monks in Western Europe. in the wider world.

11th century St. Francis and From caves to cloisters
St Clare found the Franciscan Monasticism has its roots in the
order of monks, and the Order lives of the “fathers and mothers”
of St. Clare for nuns. who lived in the Egyptian desert,
from the 3rd century CE. These early
16th century Monasteries monks and nuns had retreated from
that are seen as too wealthy the world in order to live simple
and corrupt are closed during lives of devotion and prayer. They
the Protestant Reformation took Jesus’s words seriously—
in Europe. “What good is it to gain the whole

CHRISTIANITY 223

See also: Self-denial leads to spiritual liberation 68–71 ■ Higher levels of teaching 101 ■ The purpose of monastic vows 145
■ Immortality in Christianity 210–211 ■ The Protestant Reformation 230–37

In the 3rd century CE, one of the first
desert hermits, St. Anthony, attracted
thousands of followers, who settled in
caves around him; this monastery was
eventually built at the site in Egypt.

world but lose one’s own soul?”— populated environments, the idea (founded in the 6th century) and
and so became ascetics, giving up of retreating from the world in order the Cistercians (12th century)
worldly possessions and marriage to nurture spiritual life persisted. offered hospitality and charity
to focus on their spiritual lives. as well as prayer. Throughout
The world was understood to be a A life for others the Middle Ages, monasteries
place of many temptations, which However, monasteries were not remained centers of education.
could distract a person from the simply spiritual refuges from the Monks and nuns copied and
ways of God. As an antidote to the outside world. At a time when most illuminated precious manuscripts,
busyness of life, the ascetics sought Christians were peasants, working and passed on their knowledge.
quiet, contemplative prayer. It was long hours simply to survive, the According to the monastic ideal,
said that, “Just as it is impossible monks and nuns worshipped and retreating from the world gave
to see your face in troubled water, prayed on their behalf. Monastic them the time and energy to
so also the soul, unless it is clear of groups such as the Benedictines serve the world in God’s name. ■
alien thoughts, is not able to pray
to God in contemplation.”

As monasticism spread out
from the desert and into Europe,
caves were superseded by specially
designed buildings that became
known as monasteries. Many were
built around a cloister, an enclosed
courtyard or garden used for
meditation. Although monasteries
had moved from the desert to more

Eastern monasticism

In the Eastern Christian church While Western European practices, they still embody
there is only one monastic order, monasticism is renowned for the idea of separation from the
which follows the instructions for its great communal buildings, world for the sake of a spiritual
monastic life written by St. Basil. many Eastern monasteries follow life, and for the benefit of others.
an older tradition of monks and One of the holiest places in
nuns living in relative isolation Eastern monasticism is Mount
from each other, inspired by Athos in Greece, the Holy
St. Anthony. Another extreme, Mountain, which has some of
early Eastern monastic tradition the oldest monastic buildings
was practiced by the Stylites, in the world. This isolated
such as St. Simeon, who lived on peninsula is completely
the top of pillars, fasting, praying, autonomous and set apart
and preaching. Although Eastern from the world; women are not
monasteries have slightly different permitted access to the land.

224 IN CONTEXT

THERE IS NO KEY MOVEMENT
SALVATION The Fourth Lateran
OUTSIDE Council
THE CHURCH
WHEN AND WHERE
ENTERING INTO THE FAITH 1215CE, Rome

BEFORE
1st century CE The first
Christian communities form.

313 CE The Roman Emperor
Constantine publishes the
Edict of Milan, allowing
Christians to worship freely.

1054 The Great Schism divides
the Roman Catholic and
Eastern Orthodox Churches.

AFTER
1545–63 The Council of Trent
reaffirms the seven sacraments
against Protestant calls for two.

20th–21st century The
ecumenical movement affirms
that all Christians, regardless
of denomination, are part of
one worldwide Church.

I s it possible to be a Christian
without also being a member
of the Church? Many people
today would answer “yes,” pointing
out that Jesus did not provide his
disciples with instructions for
setting up a religious institution.
Some would contend that, in order
to be a Christian, it is sufficient to
have a personal belief in Jesus,
without even belonging to the
Church, in any of its denominations.

Despite this argument, being
a member of the Church has been
considered an essential element
of Christian faith for most of
its history. At first, in the years
following Jesus’s death and
resurrection, Christians simply

CHRISTIANITY 225

See also: God’s covenant with Israel 168–75 ■ Faith and the state 189
■ The central professions of faith 262–69 ■ Awaiting the Day of Judgment 312–13

The first Christian message This message was spread
was that believing in Jesus through the world by
the Church.
led to salvation.

Since the Church carried this message by its words The Christian hell
and actions (sacraments), to belong to the Church and
Throughout Christian history,
receive its sacraments was the same as being saved. ideas of hell have symbolized
the threat of exclusion from
If this is so, then the There is no salvation God’s salvation. In Jesus’s
opposite is true. outside the Church. teaching, the word used for
hell, Gehenna, referred to
adapted the religious gatherings idea that the group had been a real place outside the walls
at Jewish synagogues, from which called out by God to share the of Jerusalem, the Valley of the
many of the early believers were message of Jesus with the world. Son of Hinnom. It is thought
drawn. Like the Jews, Christians that sacrificial burnings of
came together to pray and Mother Church children once occurred here,
sing, share food, and read the By the mid-3rd century CE, the and the place was considered
Scriptures. For Christians, this theologian Cyprian had made cursed. This gave rise to the
meant the Hebrew Bible, which it clear that belonging to the popular image of hell as a
became known to them as the Old Church was a nonnegotiable place of permanent fire.
Testament, and a new collection element of Christian faith, not an
of documents about Jesus and optional extra. At this time many During the Middle Ages,
his significance, known as the Christians were suffering intense the horrors of hell became
New Testament. persecution from the Roman a regular theme in religious
authorities because of their faith; art, reminding people of
As the Christian message some had renounced their beliefs in their need to stay within
spread into the non-Jewish world, order to save their lives. Church the Catholic Church if they
Christian gatherings developed leaders were unsure what course wanted to escape the threat
their own identity and were named they should take with such people. of eternal torment.
ecclesia, from the Greek, meaning They questioned whether to ❯❯
“called out.” This referred to the More recently, Christian
thinkers have suggested
that Jesus did not mean that
there was an actual place
called hell where those who
failed to accept his message
would be punished forever.
Hell was just his name for
an existence without God.
Since God is understood
to be the author of life, to
be without his presence
is simply nonexistence,
or everlasting death.

226 ENTERING INTO THE FAITH

readmit them to the Church if they political and economic importance You cannot have God
truly repented, or whether to exclude of Rome itself during this early for your Father, if you
them and let them form their own, period, the Bishop of Rome was do not have the Church
separate communities. Cyprian was increasingly seen as the leader of
adamant that the Church should the whole Church, and by the for your mother.
forgive them and allow them back, 6th century was the only bishop Cyprian, The Unity
since in his understanding there called the pope (from a Greek
could be only one true Church, and word meaning “father”). of the Church
it was impossible for people to be
saved outside it. He likened the Papal power increased during Fouth Lateran Council of Church
Church to Noah’s Ark in the the medieval period. Although at leaders in 1215, Pope Innocent III
Old Testament story of the flood, first the Pope’s preeminence was reasserted his authority over the
commenting that just as the only seen as a useful way to ensure the powerful bishops in the Eastern
people who were saved were those unity of the Church, by the start of Church at Constantinople, Antioch,
on the Ark, so too the only people to the 11th century, Eastern Greek- Alexandria, and Jerusalem.
be saved from God’s judgment of speaking church leaders felt they
evil were those in the Church. were being unfairly dominated by In Western Europe, the Roman
the Western, Latin-speaking Pope. Catholic Church, presided over by
By Cyprian’s time, the Church In 1054, in the Great Schism, the the Pope, was seen as the only true
had already developed a clearly Church split into Eastern and family of faithful Christians until
defined structure. Deacons and Western branches, citing doctrinal the end of the Middle Ages. The
priests led local congregations, differences as well as the issue of dominance of the Roman Catholic
while bishops and archbishops papal authority. However, the Pope Church in medieval life added weight
were responsible for slightly larger in Rome still claimed to be leader of to the idea that it was impossible to
geographical areas. Partly due to the the worldwide Church, and at the be saved outside the Church.

The seven sacraments of the Roman Catholic
Church mark different stages of Christian life.
Partaking in the sacraments shows
membership of the Church;
being part of the Church is,
Catholics believe, necessary
for salvation.

Confirmation Seven sacraments
While the Church had established
Baptism Eucharist massive political and economic
influence during the medieval
Matrimony period, its main power was spiritual.
It understood that one of its main
Holy orders Penance functions was to bring visibility to
the spiritual union between God
Extreme unction and his people. Because the
Christian relationship with God
seemed intangible by nature, it was
more convenient to assess Christian
faith by the state of a person’s
relationship with the Church.

Within the Church, special rites
were used to mark different stages
of the Christian life. Known as

CHRISTIANITY 227

There is one Universal the close relationship between teaching from Peter, one of Jesus’s
Church of the faithful, a husband and wife was thought closest disciples and considered the
outside of which there is to mirror the close relationship first pope, anyone who rejected the
absolutely no salvation. between God and his people. teaching of the pope was held to be
rejecting the teaching of Jesus.
Fourth Lateran Receiving the sacraments was Unrepentant heretics (believing in
Council a clear indication that a person anything other than the teachings
remained a member of the Catholic of the Catholic Church) faced the
sacraments, these rites were Church, and so could rely on being punishment of excommunication:
physical actions that had spiritual saved by God. Church legislation they were removed from the Church
significance. Originally, the early was therefore developed to guide and forbidden from receiving
Church celebrated only two both priests and lay people as to sacraments until they changed their
sacraments—baptism and the how the sacraments should be minds. If they died before giving up
Eucharist—tracing them back to properly used. They were considered their heresies, they could expect to
the example and teaching of Jesus so important that the clergy were miss out on God’s salvation and to
himself. However, during the Middle forbidden from making a profit from endure the horrors of hell.
Ages, their number increased to doing their duties. At the Fourth
a total of seven, all of which were Lateran Council, it was decreed At the end of the Middle Ages,
offered with the authority of the that all Christians should receive the monopoly on salvation by the
Catholic Church. These were: the Eucharist at least once a year at Catholic Church was challenged by
baptism (the moment a person Easter, and should also confess their the Protestant Reformation (p.230–
enters the Church and their sin is sins and do penance at least once 37). No longer could a single Christian
washed away); confirmation (the annually. The prayers of a priest at institution claim that there was no
point at which a person receives the bedside of a sick person were possibility of salvation outside itself.
the gift of God’s Holy Spirit to help considered so essential that doctors However, the idea that salvation is
live a Christian life); the Eucharist were required to call a priest to not possible outside the wider
(a regular celebration of the attend to the patient before they did Christian Church has persisted
forgiveness achieved by the death their own work. These important among many Christian groups. ■
and resurrection of Jesus); penance regulations ensured that the Church
(the actions specified by a priest in offered the sacraments freely and St. Peter, close disciple of Jesus and
order for a person to be reconciled regularly, and that Church members martyred in Rome, is the source of papal
with God after confessing sin); received what was offered. prerogative. His authority is thought to
extreme unction, otherwise known be inherited by the popes, and so to
as the last rites (anointing and Avoiding damnation reject their word is to reject Jesus.
giving comfort and the assurance Like other Church councils before
of forgiveness to the dying); and holy and after it, the Fourth Lateran
orders (when a person decides to Council made it clear that to reject
spend their life serving God within the sacraments of the Catholic
the Church). The last of the seven Church was to remove oneself from
rites was marriage, which was the Church and so also to lose the
considered a sacrament because salvation offered on behalf of God.
If the Church was to be seen as the
mother of the faithful, then anyone
who was not a child of the Church
could not enjoy salvation.

Special condemnation was
reserved for people who not only
failed to receive the sacraments
themselves, but also taught others
to reject them. Since it was believed
that the popes of the Roman Church
had inherited and passed on true

228

THIS IS MY
BODY, THIS
IS MYBLOOD

THE MYSTERY OF THE EUCHARIST

IN CONTEXT In the sacrament of But the elements in the
the Eucharist, Christians Eucharist are bread and
KEY FIGURE wine, not flesh and blood.
Thomas Aquinas experience the real
presence of Jesus.
WHEN AND WHERE
1225–74 , Europe The accidents of the Aristotle distinguishes
bread and wine are between substance and
BEFORE clearly unchanged. accidents (the form or
From 300 BCE Jews add the attributes of something).
drinking of a cup of wine that
has been blessed to the eating So it must be the substance This is the mystery
of unleavened bread during that is converted from bread of the Eucharist.
the Passover meal. and wine into the body and

1st century CE St. Paul writes blood of Jesus.
with instructions for the early
Christians as they regularly B efore his arrest and eventual of Bread. But over the centuries,
celebrate Jesus’s last meal crucifixion, Jesus shared the meaning and significance of
with his disciples. a Passover meal of bread his words have been the subject
and wine with his disciples, saying, of huge controversy. In what sense
1215 CE The Fourth “This is my body” and “This is my does the bread and wine change
Lateran Council defines the blood.” Since then, this ritual has into the body and blood of Jesus?
Eucharist as one of seven been celebrated by Christians in
essential sacraments for an act of worship known variously In the 13th century, the great
the Catholic faithful. as the Eucharist, Holy Communion, medieval theologian Thomas
the Lord’s Supper, and the Breaking Aquinas developed the theory
AFTER of transubstantiation. He drew
16th century The Protestant
Reformers reject the concept of
transubstantiation, generally
favoring a more symbolic
understanding of Jesus’s words.

CHRISTIANITY 229

See also: Beliefs for new societies 56–57 ■ Entering into the faith 224–27 ■ The Protestant Reformation 230–37

The presence of Christ’s wine. This was important because
true body and blood in this Christians believe that the Eucharist
is a sacrament, a sacred act that is
sacrament cannot be thought to embody a religious truth
detected by sense, nor (p.226). If Jesus were not present
understanding, but by when the bread and wine were
shared, the sacrament would lose
faith alone. its meaning and significance.
Thomas Aquinas
When is bread not bread? Holy Communion is fundamental to
on the recently rediscovered According to Aristotle, substance the faith of nearly all Christians. Roman
philosophy of Aristotle to clarify is the unique identity of an object Catholic and Orthodox Christians
previous teaching about the or person—the “tableness” of believe in transubstantiation; others
Eucharist. Aquinas’s teaching a table, for example. Accidents see it more as a symbolic act.
became the official doctrine of are the attributes of the substance,
the Roman Catholic Church. and can change without its identity was converted into that of the
altering—a table might be wooden, body and blood of Jesus (hence
The purpose of Aquinas’s and blue, but if it was metal and the term transubstantiation—
teaching was to explain how the pink it would still be a table. “to change from one substance to
real presence of Jesus could be another”). However, the accidents
found in the elements of bread and For Aquinas, this meant that or attributes of the bread and wine
it was possible for the substance remained, so the real presence of
or essence of an object or person Jesus in bread and wine was to be
(such as Jesus) to be found in the believed, but not physically seen. ■
accidents or attributes of other
objects (such as bread and wine).
He said that it was also possible
for one object to be converted into
another object: so, as the priest
prayed over the bread and the wine,
the substance of bread and wine

Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas is acclaimed as contribution to Christianity
the greatest theologian in the was his use of Greek philosophy,
medieval scholastic movement, notably the work of Aristotle,
which was characterized by a to explain and defend Christian
new method of contemplating the theology. Known as “Thomism,”
Christian faith in an academically his system of theology became
rigorous way. Aquinas was born the standard within Catholic
to a noble family in Roccasecca thinking for centuries. Aquinas
near Naples in 1225. While at the died at the age of 49 in 1274,
university in Naples, Aquinas while he was traveling to the
joined the recently established ecumenical Council of Lyon.
Order of Preachers (later known
as the Dominican Friars). He Key works
continued his studies in Paris and
Cologne, subsequently becoming c.1260 Summa contra Gentiles
a highly regarded teacher in the c.1265–74 Summa Theologica
Catholic Church. His major (Sum of Theology)

GOD’S WORD

NEEDS

NO GO-BETWEENS

THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION



232 THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION

IN CONTEXT T he Roman Catholic Scripture, and maintained that
Church was a formidable salvation could only come from
KEY MOVEMENT institution in the late personal faith rather than from
The Reformation Middle Ages. From his palace in following the Church’s decrees.
Rome, the Pope had power not only
WHEN AND WHERE over Europe’s religious life, but Renaissance Europe
16th century, also over its politics and economics. By the 16th century, Europe had
Western Europe The Church was a major landowner, begun to shake off the old ideas of
and, through the feudal system, medieval life. The horizons of the
BEFORE many peasants found themselves known world were expanding
1382 John Wycliffe publishes indebted to it for their homes and rapidly, with Spanish, Portuguese,
the first major translation of livelihoods, as well as for the care and French explorers following in
the Bible into English. of their souls. At the other end of the wake of Columbus’s voyage to
the spectrum, it was in the best the Americas in 1492. Transport
1516 The Christian Humanist interests of nobles and rulers to and trade were flourishing as a
thinker Erasmus publishes a maintain good relations with the result of advances in seafaring,
new edition of the Greek New Church, obeying its laws, and including a new route around
Testament, which includes his paying tithes and taxes. Africa to India.
new Latin translation.
However, in the first decades In Europe, the feudal system
AFTER of the 16th century, a spiritual and was being abandoned in favor
1545–63 The Council social revolution shifted power of new kingdoms and city-states
of Trent is convened. As away from the Catholic Church, controlled by rulers interested in
representatives of the Catholic initiating a new chapter in the improving the economic prosperity
Church, the group condemns history of Christianity in Europe. of their territories. Culturally,
the Protestant movement. This revolution, now known as the artists, philosophers, and scientists
Protestant Reformation, was based were rediscovering the classical
1563 The Heidelberg on the idea that God could be learning of the past, in a loosely
Catechism is published, known and worshipped directly, connected movement known as
offering a Protestant statement without the need for an authorized the Renaissance. In short, a new
of faith for both Calvinists and hierarchy of priests to act as world was arriving and it seemed
Lutherans. It becomes an intermediaries. The reformers that the Church, with its ancient
influential Reformed catechism. placed the teachings and traditions traditions and structures, was set
of the Church under the authority of to have a smaller role within it.

The Bible was written The first Christians Restricting the Bible to
in the common language of were encouraged to study Latin during the Middle
the Scriptures to make Ages meant that most
the day (the Old Testament their own mind up about people could not make
in Hebrew, the New up their own minds
Testament in Greek). Christian faith.
about what it said.

God’s word needs no Translating the Bible
go-betweens. into the vernacular meant
that everyone could read
and hear God’s Word for

themselves.

CHRISTIANITY 233

See also: The power of the shaman 26–31 ■ The personal quest for truth 144 ■ St. Augustine and free will 220–21
■ Mystical experience in Christianity 238

Martin Luther preaches from the the churches be certain that their which claimed to release people
pulpit in this painting in the Church priests were teaching them what from the threat of suffering for their
of St. Mary in Wittenberg. The presence the Bible really contained? How sins in purgatory after their death.
of the crucified Christ is a symbol of a could they check the truth of Indulgences had been available
direct relationship with God. what they heard? in the Catholic Church for many
centuries, but Luther was appalled
Misunderstanding God Conflict with Rome at Tetzel’s blatant sales tactics,
Church services in the Middle Ages The Reformation began because which frightened people with
were held in Latin, a language that a German monk, Martin Luther, terrible images of how much their
most people did not understand. believed that people were being deceased loved ones were suffering
The authorized version of the deceived—sometimes unwittingly in purgatory. “As soon as the coin
Bible—a 4th-century translation —by the priests and leaders of the in the coffer rings, the soul from ❯❯
from the original Hebrew and Greek Catholic Church of the day.
by St. Jerome known as the A Christian is a
Vulgate, meaning “commonly used” Luther was angered by the perfectly free lord of all,
—was also written in Latin. As a preaching of the Dominican Johann subject to none. A Christian
result, most churchgoers relied Tetzel, who had arrived in the is a perfectly dutiful servant
upon their priests to explain the villages near Wittenberg, Saxony,
truths of Christianity to them. where Luther was a parish priest of all, subject to all.
Priests held considerable power and university professor. Tetzel Martin Luther
over their congregations and was essentially on a fundraising
tended to advocate the traditions of mission for the Church: in Rome,
the Catholic Church, rather than Pope Leo X was raising money to
going back to the original texts. build a vast church, the Basilica
of St. Peter; and, closer to home,
Although this meant that there the German Cardinal Albrecht
was a consistency to Catholic needed to repay a loan taken out to
teaching across Europe, there defray the expenses of his position.
were obvious dangers as well. Tetzel had been authorized to sell
For instance, how could people in certificates, called indulgences,

234 THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION

Pope Julius II is shown in this
19th-century painting in the process
of instructing Bramante, Michelangelo,
and Raphael to start work on the
Vatican and St. Peter’s Basilica.

purgatory springs,” Tetzel warned, the Church, and declaring him and Scriptures for them. Anyone could
and many of Luther’s parishioners his followers to be heretics. Luther read the Bible and come to a clear
duly paid for the indulgences in was invited to retract his views, understanding of God’s way of
the hope of purchasing salvation. but he refused, and even burned salvation, which, for Luther, did
his copy of the Pope’s document. not involve indulgences, popes,
Luther had become firmly or many of the other practices of
convinced, from his studies of the Authority of the Scriptures the Catholic Church.
Bible, and especially the Book of Luther’s meaning was clear: even
Romans in the New Testament, though the Pope may have been the Luther’s rejection of tradition
that salvation was a free gift leader of the Church, he was not in favor of returning to original
from God to those who have faith, the final authority when it came to biblical sources fell on fertile soil
not something to be bought. He matters of faith. The final authority in the early 16th century. The
recorded his objections to the was God’s word itself, as recorded Humanist movement (not to be
sale of indulgences in 95 theses, in the Bible, otherwise known as confused with modern, secular
or statements, which he sent to the Scriptures. Luther held that it humanism) was already seeking to
his bishop, the Prince of Mainz, was not necessary for Christians recover the classical learning that
and reportedly pinned to the door to rely upon the traditions and had been forgotten during the Dark
of the church in Wittenberg. teachings of the Church to come Ages. Christian Humanists such
A copy of the theses found its way to a true knowledge of God and as Desiderius Erasmus (1466–1536)
to a printer, and the publication salvation. Instead, Christians could encouraged their students to study
became an overnight bestseller. bypass these human traditions, the original languages of the Bible
which were often inaccurate (Hebrew for the Old Testament and
Far more was at stake than anyway, and discover truth directly Greek for the New) and the writings
the collection of funds for a pope’s from the Bible. This would later of the very first Christians, the
building project and an archbishop’s be expressed by the Latin phrase Church Fathers. The Reformation
pocket: Luther’s protest raised sola Scriptura, “Scripture alone”: encouraged everyone to join in by
the issue of authority within the the Reformers were convinced that reading the Bible for themselves.
Catholic Church. In 1520, Pope people do not need middle men
Leo X responded by publishing a to interpret the meaning of the Those who preach
document explaining how Luther indulgences are in error
had misrepresented the teaching of when they say that a person
is absolved and saved from

every penalty by the
pope’s indulgences.

Martin Luther

Luther has been sent into Germany could soon read the CHRISTIANITY 235
the world by the genius of Scriptures for themselves. Before
discord. Every corner of it long, both French and English Martin Luther
has been disturbed by him. translations were printed, and
All admit that the corruptions these fueled the spread of Martin Luther was born in
Reformation ideas throughout Germany, in 1483. He gave up
of the Church required Europe. Alongside Bibles, the law school in order to become
a drastic medicine. printing presses of Europe churned a monk, after nearly being
Erasmus out hundreds of pamphlets and hit by a lightning bolt in a
books written by the Reformers, thunderstorm. By 1508 he
A revolution in print which were eagerly consumed by was teaching theology at
While the direct engagement of people thirsty for new ideas. the University of Wittenberg,
people with the Scriptures was a where he was also a priest.
central plank of the Reformation, Protest and schism Luther’s studies led him to
there remained a large obstacle. At first, Luther and his followers his key insight, which would
Many people were illiterate, simply wanted to bring about develop into the doctrine of
and even if they could read, the reform within the Catholic Church, justification by faith: God
Bible was available only in Latin, hence their name, Reformers. declares Christians to be
and only to a select few, because However, in a series of church righteous in his sight simply
every copy had to be written out by meetings known as “diets” (similar on account of their faith in
hand. Earlier attempts to translate to sessions of a parliament), it Him, and not because
the Bible into the vernacular had became clear that the Catholic of anything good they
been resisted strongly by the Church would not accept the might do (or, in the case
Catholic Church. As far back as demands of the Reformers, which of indulgences, might buy).
1382, John Wycliffe had translated included independence from the Luther’s challenge to the
the Bible into English, but it was Pope, services in the local language pope’s authority made him a
not available to all. rather than Latin, and marriage for wanted man, but he refused
the clergy. Hopes for reform of the to recant. He spent the rest of
By Luther’s day, however, the Catholic Church were finally dashed his life preaching and writing,
printing press, which had been at the Diet of Speyer in 1529. and by the time he died in
invented by Johannes Gutenberg 1546, the Lutheran Church
in nearby Mainz in 1440, had Luther’s followers submitted a was well established.
revolutionized the publishing “Letter of Protestation,” refusing
process. Luther harnessed this new to submit to the authority of the Key works
technology: he set out to translate Church. From then on, they took
the Bible into the German language on the new name of Protestants, 1520 Appeal to the German
as it was spoken by ordinary people, which expressed their rejection Ruling Class, calling for
publishing the New Testament of Catholic authority in favor of reform of the church.
in 1522 and the whole Bible in their newfound confidence in 1534 the Luther Bible
1534. The combination of Luther’s interpreting the Bible themselves. (translation of Old and
colloquial language and the relative New Testaments).
cheapness of the printed Bible Political support
meant that Christians across The Protestant movement was
backed by a number of German
princes who took advantage of
Luther’s religious revolt to secure
the political independence of their
states. They began suppressing
the Catholic faith and Church
influence within their territories,
adopting the motto, Cuius regio
eius et religio (“Whoever is the ❯❯

236 THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION

ruler, his must be the religion”). denominations emerged following … Scripture, gathering
In other words, they demanded the Protestant Reformation. While together the impressions
the right to impose the Church Protestants were agreed that the of Deity, which, till then,
of their choice upon their people. authority of the Roman Catholic lay confused in our minds,
Church was to be rejected, they dissipates the darkness, and
Once established, the Protestant could not agree on a unified shows us the true God clearly.
principle changed both the religious alternative system of thought.
and the political landscape of Disputes between some Protestant John Calvin
Europe forever. It gave other rulers movements were at times as
the grounds they needed to remove fierce as those between the The Counter-Reformation
their kingdoms from the control of Catholics and Protestants. In a sense, the Catholics had been
the Pope. The English Reformation, right about controlling the means
for example, began when King Protestant proliferation of communication with their flock:
Henry VIII, a one-time opponent of Three main Protestant strands without the regulation of papal
the reformers, sought to curb the arose from these turbulent times: authority, the Church was no longer
Pope’s authority in order to divorce Lutherans, who followed the ideas united in its thinking. To try to
his wife, Catherine of Aragon, and of Martin Luther; Presbyterians, stem discontent over corruption
marry Anne Boleyn. who were influenced by the work and worldly attitudes, and reclaim
of John Calvin (see opposite); and lost souls from the Protestants, the
Protestantism gave rise to a Anglicans, moderate Protestants Catholic Church launched a
number of new branches of the based in England who kept hold Counter-Reformation. In 1545,
Church, known as denominations. of many aspects of Catholicism Catholic leaders met in the Italian
While the Catholic Church had the other movements rejected. city of Trent, aiming to reestablish
been the only Church in Europe the superiority of the Catholic
for centuries, a whole host of Church against the rising tide of
Protestantism. By the end of the
The Reformation depended upon Council of Trent, which spanned
the widespread dissemination of the 18 years to 1563, traditional Catholic
Christian scriptures. The Bible was doctrines had been reaffirmed,
translated into the vernacular, printed but reforms were also introduced
in the presses, and distributed. addressing the unacceptable
practices of the clergy that had
sparked the Reformation.

An Index of Forbidden Books
was published, naming 583
heretical texts, including most
translations of the Bible and the
works of Erasmus, Luther, and
Calvin (the Index was enforced
until 1966). A church building

CHRISTIANITY 237

Churches built in northern Europe
for Protestant congregations, such as
this Lutheran church in Vik, Iceland,
are often plain in design, eschewing
any embellishment or decoration.

program was started, with enough to entice the Protestants light.” After the so-called Dark
the intention of constructing back to the fold. From then on, Ages, the Protestant spirit sought
great new churches with space Europe was host to a marketplace to shed the skin of medieval
for thousands of worshippers, and of different churches, each vying for Catholicism and embrace a new
acoustics designed—for the first the hearts and minds of Christians. world of ideas. It was especially
time—for vernacular sermons. While Catholicism could claim a confident that reading and hearing
Ignatius Loyola, a former soldier long and illustrious heritage, the the Bible in a language that could
and the son of a Spanish nobleman, idea of Protestantism seemed to be clearly understood would lead
was charged with setting up match the spirit of the age. One of to a relationship with God that
the Society of Jesus, an order of the mottos of the Reformation was was uncluttered by priests, popes,
missionaries also known as the post tenebras lux, “after darkness, and indulgences. ■
Jesuits, who were willing to go
anywhere without regard to their
own safety, to spread Catholicism.
The Church also used a process
known as the Inquisition to
reassert its authority, prosecuting
people accused of heresy and
using often brutal methods to
extract the truth from the accused.

Exit from the Dark Ages
The Counter-Reformation was
partly successful in Italy, Spain,
and France, but changes made to
the Catholic structures elsewhere
were minimal, and certainly not

John Calvin Born in northern France in 1509, Calvin stressed humanity’s
John Calvin came into contact sinfulness and inability to know
with Christian Humanism while God without the study of
at the University of Bourges, Scripture; he emphasized God’s
where he devoted himself to sovereignty, which meant God
theological study. During this could freely give the gift of
period, he experienced a religious salvation to whoever he chose.
conversion that caused him to Followers of Calvin, known
break with the Roman Catholic as Calvinists, established
Church and join the growing churches around the world that
Protestant movement. Forced to became known as presbyterian,
flee France, Calvin became a from the Greek for “elder.”
minister in Geneva, Switzerland,
from 1536 to 1538, then Strassburg Key works
(now Strasbourg) until 1541, before
returning to Geneva, where he 1536 Institutes of the Christian
remained until his death in 1564. Religion (first Latin edition)

238

GOD IS HIDDEN
IN THE HEART

MYSTICAL EXPERIENCE IN CHRISTIANITY

IN CONTEXT F rom the earliest days of reciting authorized prayers, mystics
Christianity, Christians advocated silent contemplation of
KEY FIGURE believed that Jesus had God. This often led to overwhelming
Teresa of Avila made it possible for them to have experiences of God’s love. Mysticism
a direct relationship with God. has been embraced by many
WHEN AND WHERE However, some Christians struggled Christians because it requires
16th century, Spain with worship in churches, finding neither priests nor prayer books
it too ritualistic. A quest for an to guide the believer, only a
BEFORE intensely personal experience of personal communion with God.
From3rd centuryCE Monks God emerged in the later Middle
and nuns adopt lives of Ages, as a reaction to formalized The interior journey
solitude in the desert in order worship. It became known as One of the classic works on mystical
to escape worldly distractions Christian mysticism. Rather than experience was written by Teresa
and focus solely on God. following the usual pattern of of Avila (1515–1582), a Spanish
Carmelite nun. In The Interior
c.1373 The English mystic Castle, Teresa narrates the journey
Julian of Norwich recounts of the Christian soul through six
her visions in Sixteen rooms in a castle until it reaches
Revelations of Divine Love. the seventh, innermost room, where
God dwells. Each room represents
16th century A new emphasis a more intimate level of prayer until
on personal communion with the soul achieves the goal of perfect
God, instead of ritual, leads to union with God’s life, which Teresa
the Protestant Reformation. described as “spiritual marriage.” ■

AFTER In a male-dominated Church, some
1593 Teresa of Avila and fellow of the most renowned mystics were
Spanish mystic John of the women, such as Teresa of Avila (left),
Cross, a major figure in Catherine of Siena (1347–1380), and
the Counter-Reformation, Julian of Norwich (c.1342–1416).
establish the Discalced, or
Barefoot, Carmelites, a more See also: Self-denial leads to spiritual liberation 68–71 ■ Man as a manifestation
contemplative form of the of God 188 ■ Sufism and the mystic tradition 282–83
monastic order.

CHRISTIANITY 239

THE BODY NEEDS
SAVING AS WELL
AS THE SOUL

SOCIAL HOLINESS AND EVANGELICALISM

IN CONTEXT T he Industrial Revolution By salvation I mean not barely
posed a new challenge for deliverance from hell or going
KEY FIGURE Christianity. While a select
John Wesley few enjoyed unprecedented wealth, to heaven, but a present
thousands of people in towns and deliverance from sin.
WHEN AND WHERE cities endured perilous working John Wesley
18th century, UK conditions and suffered ill health
and extreme poverty. In Britain,
BEFORE brothers John and Charles Wesley,
1st century CE Jesus preaches both Anglican priests, responded to
to open-air gatherings, which the needs of a changing society with
anyone may attend. He a message of social holiness. John
reportedly urges his followers Wesley described social holiness as
to feed the hungry, clothe the a faith that was not just private and
naked, and care for the sick. internal, but publicly engaged with
the social issues of the day.
Late 17th century
The Pietist movement in The Christian message that experience of Christianity
Continental Europe stresses In May 1738 the Wesleys were could transform individuals and
practical Christian living. deeply moved by reading the society. They were at the forefront
works of Martin Luther and came of important movements, such as
AFTER to a new understanding of the the abolition of the slave trade,
19th century In the US, the necessity of faith for salvation. the trade union movement, and
Wesleyan and Free Methodists The experience had a profound the provision of free education
are active in the anti-slavery effect on their ministry and caused for working-class children. The
abolitionist movement. them to join a growing number of Wesleys’ followers became
evangelicals who took the Christian known as Methodists, after
1865 William Booth, a message out of churches, preaching the methodical, practical way
Methodist minister, founds in marketplaces, fields, and homes. in which they applied their faith
the Salvation Army with the Evangelicals fervently believed to meet the needs of others. ■
mission of saving bodies
as well as souls.

See also: Living in harmony 38 ■ Let kindness and compassion rule 146–47
■ The Sikh code of conduct 296–301

SCIENTIFIC

ADVANCES

DO NOT DISPROVE

THE BIBLE

THE CHALLENGE OF MODERNITY



242 THE CHALLENGE OF MODERNITY

IN CONTEXT Science uses human The Bible records the
reason to discover facts religious experience
KEY MOVEMENT
Protestant Liberalism about the world. of its authors.

WHEN AND WHERE Science describes Christian experience
19th century, Europe/US “how” the world exists explains “why” the

BEFORE as it does. world is as it is.
From late 17th century
Pietism develops within the “How” and “why” are different,
Lutheran Church. but complementary, questions.

From 1780s Immanuel Kant’s Scientific advances do not
philosophy champions reason. disprove the Bible.

1790s The Romantic
movement gains influence
in Europe as an alternative to
the Enlightenment.

AFTER
1859 Charles Darwin’s
publication of On the Origin
of Species results in tension
between a conservative view
of the Bible and science.

1919 Theologian Karl Barth’s
commentary on the Romans
marks the end of liberalism
and the start of neoorthodoxy
(the new orthodoxy).

T he idea that the earth The positions of the Church and In the 13th century, for instance,
revolves around the sun, of Galileo differed because of the medieval theologian Thomas
rather than the other the different ways in which they Aquinas (p.229) had encouraged
way around, is today accepted arrived at truth. According to the the systematic exploration of the
as fact. However, in the early Church, truth was revealed by God, natural world. He took it for granted
17th century, this theory, which and was supported by passages in that a deeper understanding of
had been published by the Polish the Bible that suggested the earth creation would lead to a better
astronomer Copernicus in 1543, was at the center of the universe. knowledge of the creator.
was in direct opposition to the Science, on the other hand, used
teachings of the Catholic Church experimental observations— This mutual respect was
and sparked a controversy that Galileo was a pioneer of using the conceivable as long as the results of
embroiled the finest natural telescope in astronomy—to build scientific reasoning coincided with
scientists of the day. Most notably, theories about the workings of the the concept of “divine revelation”
Galileo Galilei, a mathematician in world. Until well into the medieval (truth communicated by God to
Florence, was condemned as a period, these two methods had humans through Scripture) but not
heretic for supporting the theory. existed happily side by side. when the two thought systems
reached different conclusions.

CHRISTIANITY 243

See also: The Protestant Reformation 230–37 ■ The compatibilty of faith 291
■ Jewish Science 333 ■ The Church of Christ (Scientist) 337

While both Catholic and Protestant a cultural movement that had Friedrich
denominations of the Church been born out of a reaction against Schleiermacher
insisted that their faith in divine what was perceived as the soulless
revelation was well placed, it rationalism of the Enlightenment. Friedrich Schleiermacher was
seemed obvious to many that the The Romantics emphasized born in 1768 in Breslau (then
results of experiment and reason the importance of feelings and Prussian Silesia), the son of a
were far more reliable. Difficult emotions in human life at a time reformed clergyman. He was
questions were soon being asked when ideas and objects in the educated by the Moravian
that would shake the foundations world were being valued purely Brethren, a strict Pietist sect,
of Christian belief across the for their scientific credibilty and before moving to the more
modern Western world, and by the usefulness. Schleiermacher realized liberal University of Halle to
end of the 18th century the Church that as long as Christian belief study theology and philosophy
was in danger of losing popular was assessed according to the (focusing in particular on the
support as people increasingly same criteria and at the same level work of Kant). When he moved
doubted the rationality and as scientific knowledge, it would be to Berlin in 1796, he was
relevance of the Christian faith. considered unreasonable. Instead introduced to key members
In response, Christian thinkers of trying to prove the truth of of the Romantic movement.
needed to articulate, in a radically Christianity as though it were Schleiermacher became a
new way, how religion and science, a scientific theory (as many of his professor of theology at Berlin
faith and reason, could coexist. predecessors had), he translated University in 1810. When he
it into the realm of feelings, as died in 1834, his radical
From facts to feelings championed by the Romantics. ❯❯ reinterpretation of doctrine
This new era of Christianity was had given rise to a completely
heralded by the German theologian Romanticism valued emotion new form of theology known
Friedrich Schleiermacher (see above reason and the senses above as theological liberalism,
right). While working as a hospital the intellect. The movement found which would be a dominant
chaplain in Berlin, he had come expression in the art, literature, and intellectual force in Europe
into contact with Romanticism, philosophy of the early 19th century. and the United States for
a century.

Key works

1799 On Religion: Speeches
to its Cultured Despisers,
Schleiermacher’s most radical
work on theology.
1821–22 The Christian Faith,
Schleiermacher’s major work
of systematic theology.

244 THE CHALLENGE OF MODERNITY

Friedrich Schleiermacher identified true opportunity to recover what he
religion with a specific type of feeling. It was considered to be at the very heart
distinct from knowledge or activity and was of the Christian religion, which
an end in itself. Knowledge, was simply, “a sense and taste
action, and feeling for the infinite.” In his book
were different but The Christian Faith (1821–22),
related realms. Schleiermacher systematically
reinterpreted Christian theology
Feeling as a description of Christian
experience. For example, according
Knowledge Action to him, a statement such as “God
exists” does not make any claim
about the actual existence of God;
instead, it describes a person’s
feeling that he or she is dependent
upon something that is beyond
him or herself.

He emphasized that science and and feeling belongs to religion. A record of experience
faith were not in competition: they Schleiermacher believed that the In the mid-19th century, a number
should be seen as complementary problem facing Christianity was of scholars, primarily based in
because they both focused on that it had often focused too heavily Germany, were using a form of
different aspects of human life. on knowledge and action, and analysis known as historical
too little on feeling. In doing this, criticism to look at biblical texts.
Redefining religion Christianity had opened itself up They studied the Bible’s original
Schleiermacher’s most significant to attack by the rationalism of the sources from the Middle East to
idea was his redefinition of the modern world. On the one hand, reinterpret its content within a
nature of religion. In his first scientific reason disputed some historical context. By focusing
important book on the subject, of Christianity’s fundamental on the ways in which the Bible
Religion: Speeches to its Cultured beliefs, such as the miracles had been composed and compiled
Despisers (1799), he discussed three and resurrection of Jesus. On the as a set of human documents,
realms of human life: knowledge, other hand, the philosophy of Kant this analysis appeared to strip
action, and feeling. Although he and others saw morality as based the sacred text of its supernatural
recognized that these three realms on universal principles, rather
are necessarily related to each than on the contents of the Bible. The self-identical essence
other, he was convinced that they The challenge to Christianity posed of piety is this: the
ought not to be confused: according by science and philosophy did not,
to him, knowledge belongs to however, disturb Schleiermacher; consciousness of being
science, action belongs to ethics, on the contrary, it presented an absolutely dependent, or,
which is the same thing, of
being in relation with God.
Friedrich Schleiermacher

CHRISTIANITY 245

origins (the belief that it was of relegated to history while science Clergymen carry a symbol of peace,
divine authorship). The result was moved forward to shape the future indicating their opposition to nuclear
that, for many people, the Bible of the world. By assigning religion arms. Critics of theological liberalism
could no longer be referred to as and science to different spheres argued that an emphasis on personal
the inspired word of God. of human life (religion to feeling, feelings encouraged indifference to
and science to knowledge), he important issues in the world.
Friedrich Schleiermacher’s view, was successful in establishing a
however, helped to rescue the Bible means by which they could coexist. misuses of science and knowledge
from what some perceived to be —such as genocide, the arms race,
irrelevance. He claimed that since However, while many Christians and nuclear armament—in the
religion relates fundamentally to embraced Schleiermacher’s modern world, Christian theology
experience, the Bible is supremely thesis as a solution to the friction would need to be based on more
important as a record of religious between science and religion, than private feelings.
experience. It can therefore be used others were dissatisfied with
as the ultimate guide to Christian what they saw as the relegation Today, Christian thinkers still
experience, as believers compare of Christian faith to the sphere of face the challenge of explaining to
their own feelings of dependence feelings. They also identified peple how they can trust what the
on God with those described an unintended consequence: Bible says about God, when what
within the sacred text. Christianity could no longer claim it says about the world is often
to have an authoritative voice in the disputed by scientific reasoning.
This approach to the Bible public sphere if it was associated Many Christians would answer
became known as the liberal most strongly with an individual’s with a modified form of
view, as opposed to the more feelings, since feelings are always Schleiermacher’s argument. The
conservative view, which insisted personal. This seemed to be at Bible talks about the same reality
—in the face of this historical odds with the original message as that described by science,
criticism—that the Bible contained of Christianity, which concerned history, politics, and other social
facts about God, and not just facts the arrival of God’s kingdom in sciences. However, it simply
about human experience. Tension the whole world (not just in private answers different questions:
between these two views has religious experience) and indicated not, “how did this come to be?”
shaped Protestantism ever since. an important societal role. but “why did this come to be?”
Science and faith—the “how?”
Unintended consequences Taking a stand and the “why?”—do not disprove
Schleiermacher developed his idea In the 20th century, the liberal each other, but complement each
of religious experience in order to movement was strongly criticized other. They help Christians to reach
protect Christianity from being by a new generation of scholars, a more complete understanding
including the eminent Swiss of the universe that Galileo
Christian doctrines theologian Karl Barth. He was observed through his telescope. ■
are accounts of particularly appalled that his liberal
theology teachers had failed to take
the Christian religious a principled stand against the rise
affections set of Nazism in Germany in the 1930s,
forth in speech. and claimed that this was because
Schleiermacher’s theology had
Friedrich Schleiermacher been allowed to become far too
influential within the Church.
He maintained that a private
Christian experience could be
too easily indifferent to the needs
of the world outside.

Barth argued that for
Christianity to be successful
in opposing some of the obvious

246

WE CAN
INFLUENCE GOD

WHY PRAYER WORKS

IN CONTEXT F from the earliest times, that every detail of the future is
Jewish and Christian mapped out in advance. In this
KEY MOVEMENTS theologians have latter representation, God is
Process theology wrestled with complex issues immune to appeals from humans
and open theism surrounding the nature of God for help because he has absolute
and the relationship of God to prior knowledge of the outcome
WHEN AND WHERE humankind. To some he is a of every situation.
Late 20th century, vengeful God, who not only
US and Europe stands in judgment at the end of The relevance of prayer
time, but also chooses whether or How the relationship between
BEFORE not to respond to those who pray. God and the things that happen is
From prehistory Many To others, he is perceived as an understood has deep implications
primal belief systems use all-knowing presence who has for the role of Christian prayer.
prayer and ritual to seek decided the course of world history If God already knows the past,
the favor of supernatural and has reasons for all events, so present, and future, then prayer—
forces or beings.
God knows everything The future hasn’t
First millennium BCE that exists. happened yet, so it
The Bible tells that God
answered Moses’s prayer doesn’t exist.
to change his mind about
destroying the Israelites after We can influence what Therefore, the future is still
they worship the golden calf. the future becomes by our open to change.
prayers and actions today.
AFTER
1960s The Liberation
Theology movement in
South America emphasizes
social and economic justice,
maintaining that God
responds especially to the
prayers of the poor and
oppressed in society.

CHRISTIANITY 247

See also: The battle between good and evil 60–65 ■ Divining the future 79 ■ Devotion through puja 114–15
■ Jesus’s message to the world 204–207 ■ Augustine and free will 220–21

Theologians of hope

God…is so related to The rejection of traditional God, and open theism. In the
the world that there is theological concepts such later 20th century, a group
between him and that as God’s foreknowledge (his of theologians emerged who
world a “give-and-take”… awareness of future events), have been loosely termed the
immutability (his unchanging “theologians of hope.” These
He is influenced by nature), and impassibility include, in Germany, Jürgen
what happens. (his freedom from emotion Moltmann and Wolfhart
W. Pittenger and independence from other Pannenberg, and in the US,
beings) was not confined to any Robert Jenson. One of their
one school of theology during principal arguments was that
the 20th century. The ideas because the future does not
have been labeled in various yet exist—even for God—the
ways, including process essential characteristic of
theology, the openness of Christianity is hope.

communicating with God by he has prior knowledge of it, but on earth, since he lived a human
offering verbal praise or requests, takes no preventive action—as life, with all its limitations.
through thoughts and meditations, may be evident, for example, in his Consequently, if the future does
or in the form of deliberate acts of knowledge, even before the creation, not yet exist for either humans
worship—seems irrelevant. Merely that humans would bring suffering or God, then it can be truly open.
telling God what he already knows and wickedness into the world. Seen from this perspective, God
would carry no hope of changing is not a distant observer but an
what will happen. However, if the The future is open active participant in the historical
future is not already determined The classic Christian view of process, a presence who listens
by God and is truly open, then God’s foreknowledge depends to the prayers and appeals
prayer becomes an essential part upon the belief that God exists of people, responding to their
of shaping that future. outside of time, so that what is needs and walking beside them
in the future for human beings in their journey through life. ■
Inside the mind of God (and hence is nonexistent and
Although Christian theology unknowable) is in the past for The misuse of weapons of war,
has traditionally regarded God as God (and therefore both exists such as nuclear bombs, indicates the
omniscient, possessing a complete and is knowable). However, this human capacity for evil—in the future
knowledge of all things past, present, view owes more to ancient Greek as well as the past. Does God know
and future, in the 20th century some philosophy than genuine Christian about this and choose to do nothing?
theologians began to reject the idea thinking. The Bible describes a
of his foreknowledge (knowledge God who actively accompanies his
of the future). If God knows what people through time, not simply
will happen, then the future must watching them from a distant
already be set in stone, which, they position outside of time. Moreover,
argued, would remove true freedom Christians believe that the coming
and spontaneity from history. This of Jesus as a human being should
would also raise questions about be understood as the clearest
God’s essential goodness, and indication that God is not outside
whether he is complicit in evil if of time or the reality of human life

ISLAM

FROM 610 CE