Misplaced Pages

#61938

160-699: Following the spread of Christianity from the Levant to Europe and North Africa during the early Roman Empire , Christendom has been divided in the pre-existing Greek East and Latin West . Consequently, internal sects within the Christian religion arose with their own beliefs and practices, centred around the cities of Rome ( Western Christianity , whose community was called Western or Latin Christendom) and Constantinople ( Eastern Christianity , whose community

320-785: A Muslim majority in the Levant is presumed to have been reached by the 13th century. The majority of Levantine Muslims are Sunnis adhering to the four madhhabs ( Hanafi , Shafi'i , Hanbali and Maliki ). Islamic minorities include the Alawites and Nizari Ismailis in Syria, and Twelver Shiites in Lebanon . Levantine Christian groups include Greek Orthodox ( Antiochian Greek ), Syriac Orthodox , Eastern Catholic ( Syriac Catholic , Melkite and Maronite ), Roman Catholic ( Latin ), Nestorian , and Protestant . Armenians mostly belong to

480-506: A clearly defined way,. The process of determining orthodoxy (right belief) began with the writings of the New Testament and continued through the period of the first seven ecumenical councils . Orthodox teachings were those that claimed to have the authentic lineage of Holy Tradition . All other teachings were viewed as deviant streams of thought that were sometimes viewed as heretical . Early attacks upon alleged heresies formed

640-411: A complex fashion to form the dynamic character of Christianity in this era. The Post-Apostolic period was extremely diverse both in terms of beliefs and practices. In addition to the broad spectrum of general branches of Christianity, there was constant change and diversity that variably resulted in both internecine conflicts and syncretic adoption. These various interpretations were called heresies by

800-503: A cultural center for master architects, sculptors, musicians, painters, and artisans of every kind...In its myth and message, Rome had become the sacred city of the popes, the prime symbol of a triumphant Catholicism, the center of orthodox Christianity, a new Jerusalem. It is clearly noticeable that the popes of the Italian Renaissance have been subjected by many writers with an overly harsh tone. Pope Julius II, for example,

960-574: A day , "on rising, at the lighting of the evening lamp, at bedtime, at midnight" and "the third, sixth and ninth hours of the day, being hours associated with Christ's Passion." Christians attended two liturgies on the Lord's Day , worshipping communally in both a morning service and evening service, with the purpose of reading the Scriptures and celebrating the Eucharist . Throughout the rest of

1120-472: A dispute between Cyprian of Carthage and Pope Stephen . A bishop from Caesarea named Firmilian sided with Cyprian in his dispute, seething against Stephen's "insulting arrogance" and claims of authority based on the See of Peter . Cyprian's argument won out the day, with Pope Stephen's claims meeting rejection. Cyprian's claim was that bishops held the keys to the forgiveness of sins , with all bishops being

1280-479: A dwelling was used to mark the eastward direction of prayer . Instituted in the New Testament, in the early Church, "the verbal exchange of 'peace' with a kiss appears to be a Christian innovation, there being no clear example in pre-Christian literature." The Holy Kiss was thus followed as a Christian teaching, not a cultural practice. The early Christian apologist Tertullian wrote that before leaving

1440-487: A growing body of adversus Judaeos literature. Fourth- and fifth-century Christianity experienced pressure from the government of the Roman Empire and developed strong episcopal and unifying structure. Many variations in this era defy neat categorizations, as various forms of Christianity interacted in a complex fashion. One variation was proto-orthodoxy which became the international Great Church and in this period

1600-545: A house, Christians are to give the Holy Kiss and say "peace to this house". In early Christianity, "the kiss was shared in conjunction with the benedictions at the conclusion of worship services" though it soon "became associated with the Eucharist" and thus "its location during the worship service moved forward in time to the celebration of Communion." The Holy Kiss was seen as an essential part of preparing to partaking in

1760-642: A jaundiced eye on "la verità effetuale delle cose"—the actual truth of things—in The Prince , composed, humanist style, chiefly of parallel ancient and modern examples of Virtù . Some Protestant movements grew up along lines of mysticism or renaissance humanism ( cf. Erasmus ). The Catholic Church fell partly into general neglect under the Renaissance Popes, whose inability to govern the Church by showing personal example of high moral standards set

SECTION 10

#1732757862062

1920-491: A line tracing back to the apostles themselves. Over the course of the second century, this organizational structure became universal and continues to be used in the Catholic , Orthodox and Anglican (Anglican churches are Protestant) churches as well as in some Protestant denominations. Jerusalem was an important church center up to 135. It had the prestige of being the city of Jesus's death and reported resurrection , and

2080-416: A minority of heretics. Walter Bauer, drawing upon distinctions between Jewish Christians , Pauline Christians , and other groups such as Gnostics and Marcionites , argued that early Christianity was fragmented, with various competing interpretations, only one of them eventually coming to dominate. While Bauer's original thesis has been criticised, Elaine Pagels and Bart Ehrman have further explicated

2240-468: A moral reformation of the Church's clergy, while others repudiated the Church and separated from it in order to form new sects. The Italian Renaissance produced ideas or institutions by which men living in society could be held together in harmony. In the early 16th century, Baldassare Castiglione ( The Book of the Courtier ) laid out his vision of the ideal gentleman and lady, while Machiavelli cast

2400-574: A painting, from Eastern Christianity . Christianity has used symbolism from its very beginnings. In both East and West, numerous iconic types of Christ , Mary and saints and other subjects were developed; the number of named types of icons of Mary, with or without the infant Christ, was especially large in the East, whereas Christ Pantocrator was much the commonest image of Christ. Christian symbolism invests objects or actions with an inner meaning expressing Christian ideas. Christianity has borrowed from

2560-539: A role in ending practices common among pagan societies , such as human sacrifice , slavery , infanticide and polygamy . Christian literature is writing that deals with Christian themes and incorporates the Christian world view. This constitutes a huge body of extremely varied writing. Christian poetry is any poetry that contains Christian teachings, themes , or references. The influence of Christianity on poetry has been great in any area that Christianity has taken hold. Christian poems often directly reference

2720-654: A spiritual cleansing by Jesus . Eastern and Western Mediterranean Christians had a history of differences and disagreements dating back to the second century. Among the most significant early disagreements is the Quartodecimanism controversy. Until the late second century there was a difference in dating the celebration of the Christian Passover / Easter between Western churches and those of Asia Minor . The churches in Asia Minor celebrated it on

2880-515: A strong impact on all other aspects of life: marriage and family, education, the humanities and sciences, the political and social order, the economy, and the arts. Christianity had a significant impact on education and science and medicine as the church created the bases of the Western system of education, and was the sponsor of founding universities in the Western world as the university is generally regarded as an institution that has its origin in

3040-485: A thousand years Europe was ruled by an order of guardians considerably like that which was visioned by our philosopher. During the Middle Ages it was customary to classify the population of Christendom into laboratores (workers), bellatores (soldiers), and oratores (clergy). The last group, though small in number, monopolized the instruments and opportunities of culture, and ruled with almost unlimited sway half of

3200-631: A tool and method for learning which places emphasis on dialectical reasoning . The Byzantine Empire , which was the most sophisticated culture during antiquity, suffered under Muslim conquests limiting its scientific prowess during the Medieval period . Christian Western Europe had suffered a catastrophic loss of knowledge following the fall of the Western Roman Empire . But thanks to the Church scholars such as Aquinas and Buridan ,

3360-528: A variety of Arabic descended from the pre-Islamic Arabic dialects of Syria and Hejazi Arabic , but retaining significant influence from Western Middle Aramaic . Levantine Arabic is usually classified as North Levantine Arabic in Lebanon, Syria, and parts of Turkey, and South Levantine Arabic in Palestine and Jordan. Each of these encompasses a spectrum of regional or urban/rural variations. In addition to

SECTION 20

#1732757862062

3520-540: Is a term used to define the historical and geographical subregion that borders the Eastern Mediterranean sea to the west and core West Asia , or by the political term, Middle East to the east . In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is equivalent to Cyprus and a stretch of land bordering the Mediterranean Sea in western Asia: i.e.

3680-544: Is also used for modern events, peoples, states or parts of states in the same region, namely Cyprus , Egypt , Iraq , Israel , Jordan , Lebanon , Palestine , Syria , and Turkey are sometimes considered Levant countries (compare with Near East , Middle East , Eastern Mediterranean and West Asia ). Several researchers include the island of Cyprus in Levantine studies, including the Council for British Research in

3840-411: Is clearer, with both Origen (calling infant baptism "according to the usage of the Church") and Cyprian advocating the practice. Tertullian acknowledges the practice (and that sponsors would speak on behalf of the children), but, holding an unusual view of marriage, argues against it, on the grounds that baptism should be postponed until after marriage. Interpretation of the baptismal practices of

4000-517: Is derived, had a political theory which we should do well to study; for their theory about a universal empire and a Catholic church was in turn the echo of a former age of reason, when a few men conscious of ruling the world had for a moment sought to survey it as a whole and to rule it justly. Developments in western philosophy and European events brought change to the notion of the Corpus Christianum . The Hundred Years' War accelerated

4160-512: Is literally "rising", deriving from Latin orior 'rise'. The notion of the Levant has undergone a dynamic process of historical evolution in usage, meaning, and understanding. While the term "Levantine" originally referred to the European residents of the eastern Mediterranean region, it later came to refer to regional "native" and "minority" groups. The term became current in English in

4320-594: Is no scholarly consensus as to when the Jewish canon was set . For example, some scholars argue that the Jewish canon was fixed earlier, by the Hasmonean dynasty (140–137 BC). There is a lack of direct evidence on when Christians began accepting their own scriptures alongside the Septuagint. Well into the second century Christians held onto a strong preference for oral tradition as clearly demonstrated by writers of

4480-439: Is the tri-partite form of church leadership consisting of episkopoi (overseers); presbyteroi (elders), as was the case with Jewish communities; and diakonoi (ministerial servants). Presbyters were ordained and assisted the bishop; as Christianity spread, especially in rural areas, the presbyters exercised more responsibilities and took distinctive shape as priests. Deacons also performed certain duties, such as tending to

4640-1073: Is ultimately from the Latin word levare , meaning 'lift, raise'. Similar etymologies are found in Greek Ἀνατολή Anatolē ( cf. Anatolia 'the direction of sunrise'), in Germanic Morgenland ( lit.   ' morning land ' ), in Italian (as in Riviera di Levante , the portion of the Liguria coast east of Genoa ), in Hungarian Kelet ('east'), in Spanish and Catalan Levante and Llevant , ('the place of rising'), and in Hebrew מִזְרָח mizraḥ ('east'). Most notably, "Orient" and its Latin source oriens meaning 'east',

4800-618: The Armenian Apostolic Church . There are also Levantines or Franco-Levantines who adhere to Roman Catholicism . There are also Assyrians belonging to the Assyrian Church of the East and the Chaldean Catholic Church . Other religious groups in the Levant include Jews , Samaritans , Yazidis and Druze . Most populations in the Levant speak Levantine Arabic ( شامي , Šāmī ),

4960-488: The Bible , while others provide allegory . Christian art is art produced in an attempt to illustrate, supplement and portray in tangible form the principles of Christianity . Virtually all Christian groupings use or have used art to some extent. The prominence of art and the media, style, and representations change; however, the unifying theme is ultimately the representation of the life and times of Jesus and in some cases

Christendom - Misplaced Pages Continue

5120-614: The Bronze and Iron age Levant. Other Arabs include the Bedouins of Syrian Desert , Naqab and eastern Syria , who speak Bedouin Arabic . Non-Arab minorities include Circassians , Chechens , Turks , Jews , Turkmens , Assyrians , Kurds , Nawars and Armenians . Overlapping regional designations Subregional designations Others Other places in the east of a larger region Post-apostolic period Christianity in

5280-719: The Caucasus Mountains, or any part of the Arabian Peninsula proper. Cilicia (in Asia Minor) and the Sinai Peninsula (Asian Egypt) are sometimes included. As a name for the contemporary region, several dictionaries consider Levant to be archaic today. Both the noun Levant and the adjective Levantine are now commonly used to describe the ancient and modern culture area formerly called Syro-Palestinian or Biblical: archaeologists now speak of

5440-494: The Dura-Europos synagogue , to have had images of religious figures, the traditional Mosaic prohibition of " graven images " no doubt retained some effect. This early rejection of images, although never proclaimed by theologians, and the necessity to hide Christian practice in order to avoid persecution, leaves few archaeological records regarding Early Christianity and its evolution. The oldest Christian paintings are from

5600-585: The Edict of Milan in 313 proclaiming toleration for the Christian religion, and convoked the First Council of Nicaea in 325 whose Nicene Creed included belief in "one holy catholic and apostolic Church". Emperor Theodosius I made Nicene Christianity the state church of the Roman Empire with the Edict of Thessalonica of 380. In terms of prosperity and cultural life, the Byzantine Empire

5760-564: The First Council of Nicaea . Today, the date still varies between West and East , but this is because the West later adopted the Gregorian calendar over the Julian calendar . Institutional Christian monasticism seems to have begun in the deserts in third century Egypt as a kind of living martyrdom . Anthony the Great (251-356) was the first to specifically leave the world and live in

5920-738: The Greek and Roman Empires , as the centralized Roman power waned, the dominance of the Catholic Church was the only consistent force in Western Europe. Until the Age of Enlightenment , Christian culture guided the course of philosophy, literature, art, music and science. Christian disciplines of the respective arts have subsequently developed into Christian philosophy , Christian art , Christian music , Christian literature etc. Art and literature, law, education, and politics were preserved in

6080-622: The Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation . Known as the Western Schism , western Christendom was a split between three men, who were driven by politics rather than any real theological disagreement for simultaneously claiming to be the true pope. The Avignon Papacy developed a reputation for corruption that estranged major parts of Western Christendom. The Avignon schism was ended by the Council of Constance . Before

6240-558: The Holy See of Rome . Tensions between Pope Innocent III and secular rulers ran high, as the pontiff exerted control over their temporal counterparts in the west and vice versa. The pontificate of Innocent III is considered the height of temporal power of the papacy. The Corpus Christianum described the then-current notion of the community of all Christians united under the Roman Catholic Church . The community

6400-541: The Inquisition and anti-Jewish pogroms , to root out divergent elements and create a religiously uniform community. Ultimately, the Inquisition was done away with by order of Pope Innocent III. Christendom ultimately was led into specific crisis in the late Middle Ages , when the kings of France managed to establish a French national church during the 14th century and the papacy became ever more aligned with

6560-609: The Jewish Christian church was centered in Jerusalem in the first century, Gentile Christianity became decentralized in the second century. Various local and provincial ancient church councils were held during this period, with the decisions meeting varying degrees of acceptance by different Christian groups. Major figures of the second century who were later declared by the developing proto-orthodoxy to be heretics were Marcion , Valentinus , and Montanus . Although

Christendom - Misplaced Pages Continue

6720-524: The Late Antique period iconography began to be standardised, and to relate more closely to Biblical texts, although many gaps in the canonical Gospel narratives were plugged with matter from the apocryphal gospels . Eventually the Church would succeed in weeding most of these out, but some remain, like the ox and ass in the Nativity of Christ . An icon is a religious work of art, most commonly

6880-582: The Levant Company to trade with the Ottoman Empire . The name Levant States was used to refer to the French mandate over Syria and Lebanon after World War I . This is probably the reason why the term Levant has come to be used more specifically to refer to modern Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Israel, Jordan, and the island of Cyprus . Some scholars mistakenly believed that it derives from

7040-652: The Medieval Christian setting. Many clerics throughout history have made significant contributions to science and Jesuits in particular have made numerous significant contributions to the development of science . The cultural influence of Christianity includes social welfare , founding hospitals , economics (as the Protestant work ethic ), natural law (which would later influence the creation of international law ), politics, architecture, literature, personal hygiene , and family life. Christianity played

7200-598: The Middle Ages , although many illuminated manuscripts survive from the 15th century Renaissance , along with a very limited number from Late Antiquity . Most illuminated manuscripts were created as codices , which had superseded scrolls; some isolated single sheets survive. A very few illuminated manuscript fragments survive on papyrus . Most medieval manuscripts, illuminated or not, were written on parchment (most commonly of calf , sheep, or goat skin), but most manuscripts important enough to illuminate were written on

7360-626: The Old Testament . Depictions of saints are also common, especially in Anglicanism , Roman Catholicism , and Eastern Orthodoxy . An illuminated manuscript is a manuscript in which the text is supplemented by the addition of decoration. The earliest surviving substantive illuminated manuscripts are from the period AD 400 to 600, primarily produced in Ireland, Constantinople and Italy. The majority of surviving manuscripts are from

7520-732: The Ottomans in the Balkans —helped to develop a sense of communal identity against the obstacle of Europe's deep political divisions. The popes, formally just the bishops of Rome, claimed to be the focus of all Christendom, which was largely recognised in Western Christendom from the 11th century until the Reformation, but not in Eastern Christendom. Moreover, this authority was also sometimes abused, and fostered

7680-434: The Roman Catacombs , dated to about 200, and the oldest Christian sculptures are from sarcophagi , dating to the beginning of the third century. The development of doctrine, the position of orthodoxy , and the relationship between the various opinions is a matter of continuing academic debate. Since the Nicene Creed came to define the Church, the early debates have long been regarded as a unified orthodox position against

7840-535: The Southern Levant . While the usage of the term "Levant" in academia has been restricted to the fields of archeology and literature, there is a recent attempt to reclaim the notion of the Levant as a category of analysis in political and social sciences. Two academic journals were launched in the early 2010s using the word: the Journal of Levantine Studies , published by the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute and The Levantine Review , published by Boston College . The word Levant has been used in some translations of

8000-435: The Vetus Latina translations in Carthage . Beyond the Torah (the Law ) and some of the earliest prophetic works (the Prophets ), there was not agreement on the canon , but this was not debated much at first. Some theorize that the split of early Christianity and Judaism in the mid-second century eventually led to the determination of a Jewish canon by the emerging rabbinic movement , though, even as of today, there

8160-421: The absolute king Henry VIII establishing the English church . In modern history , the Reformation and rise of modernity in the early 16th century entailed a change in the Corpus Christianum . In the Holy Roman Empire , the Peace of Augsburg of 1555 officially ended the idea among secular leaders that all Christians must be united under one church. The principle of cuius regio, eius religio ("whose

SECTION 50

#1732757862062

8320-416: The medieval and renaissance notion of the Christian world as a polity . In essence, the earliest vision of Christendom was a vision of a Christian theocracy , a government founded upon and upholding Christian values , whose institutions are spread through and over with Christian doctrine . In this period, members of the Christian clergy wield political authority . The specific relationship between

8480-405: The political leaders and the clergy varied but, in theory, the national and political divisions were at times subsumed under the leadership of the church as an institution . This model of church-state relations was accepted by various Church leaders and political leaders in European history . The Church gradually became a defining institution of the Roman Empire. Emperor Constantine issued

8640-426: The second century that Peter and Paul had been the founders of the Church in Rome and had appointed Linus as succeeding bishop . The four Eastern patriarchs affirmed Saint Peter 's ministry and death in Rome and the apostolic succession of Roman bishops. However, they perceived this as a mark of honor rather than an overarching authority over belief and practices, as they still considered themselves to be

8800-487: The second century , Irenaeus , bishop of Lyons, may have referred to it. Additionally, Justin Martyr wrote about baptism in First Apology (written in the mid-second century), describing it as a choice and contrasting it with the lack of choice one has in one's physical birth. However, Justin Martyr also seems to imply elsewhere that believers were "disciples from childhood", indicating, perhaps, their baptism. The so-called Apostolic Tradition says to "Baptize first

8960-425: The theological doctrines of Christianity. Scholasticism , which means "that [which] belongs to the school", and was a method of learning taught by the academics (or school people ) of medieval universities c. 1100–1500. Scholasticism originally started to reconcile the philosophy of the ancient classical philosophers with medieval Christian theology. Scholasticism is not a philosophy or theology in itself but

9120-425: The western church became one of five patriarchates of the Pentarchy and the Christians of the Eastern Roman Empire developed. The Byzantine Empire was the last bastion of Christendom. Christendom would take a turn with the rise of the Franks , a Germanic tribe who converted to the Christian faith and entered into communion with Rome . On Christmas Day 800 AD, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne , resulting in

9280-426: The 14th of the Jewish month of Nisan, the day before Jewish Passover , regardless of what day of the week it fell on, as the Crucifixion had occurred on the day before Passover according to the Gospel of John . The Latins called them Quartodecimans , literally meaning 14'ers . At the time, the West celebrated Easter on the Sunday following the Jewish 14th of Nisan. Victor , the bishop of Rome, attempted to declare

9440-401: The 16th century, along with the first English merchant adventurers in the region; English ships appeared in the Mediterranean in the 1570s, and the English merchant company signed its agreement (" capitulations ") with the Ottoman Sultan in 1579. The English Levant Company was founded in 1581 to trade with the Ottoman Empire , and in 1670 the French Compagnie du Levant  [ fr ]

9600-411: The 5th and 6th centuries, is said by Bernhard Schimmelpfennig to illustrate the generally limited scope of the Roman bishops' authority but acknowledged the authority nonetheless. William Kling states that by the end of second century that Rome was a significant, if not unique, early center of Christianity , but held no convincing claim to primacy . The Petrine proof text first occurs historically in

9760-449: The 9th century by a scribe somewhere in southern England, possibly at the court of king Alfred the Great of Wessex . The scribe was translating Paulus Orosius ' book History Against the Pagans ( c.  416 ) and in need for a term to express the concept of the universal culture focused on Jesus Christ . It had the sense now taken by Christianity (as is still the case with the cognate Dutch christendom , where it denotes mostly

SECTION 60

#1732757862062

9920-426: The Byzantine Empire into individual nations with nationalist Orthodox Churches, the term Christendom described Western Europe, Catholicism, Orthodox Byzantines, and other Eastern rites of the Church. The Catholic Church 's peak of authority over all European Christians and their common endeavours of the Christian community—for example, the Crusades , the fight against the Moors in the Iberian Peninsula and against

10080-580: The Christian communities became larger, more numerous and farther apart geographically. The passage of time also moved some Christians farther from the original teachings of the apostles giving rise to teachings that were considered heterodox and sowing controversy and divisiveness within churches and between churches. Classical writers mistook early congregations for burial or fraternal societies which had similar characteristics like divine worship, common meals, regular meetings, initiation, rules for conduct, and their own burial grounds. The Ante-Nicene period saw

10240-416: The Christian foundations of its culture, although formerly it had been so imbued with Christianity and had drawn from it such strength and vigor that the people of these nations in many cases owe to Christianity all that is best in their own tradition. Writing in 1997, Canadian theology professor Douglas John Hall argued that Christendom had either fallen already or was in its death throes; although its end

10400-402: The Church religiously, there had been the notion of a universal Christendom that included the East and the West. After the East–West Schism, hopes of regaining religious unity with the West were ended by the Fourth Crusade , when Crusaders conquered the Byzantine capital of Constantinople and hastened the decline of the Byzantine Empire on the path to its destruction . With the breakup of

10560-515: The Eucharist: Peace, reconciliation, and unity were the very essence of the church's life; without them communion would have been a sham. Bestowed by the Spirit and experienced in prayer, their liturgical expression—which pointed forward to the eucharist—was the holy kiss. For the early Christians, the Holy Kiss "was associated with the peace and unity given by the Holy Spirit to the congregation." To guard against any abuse of this form of salutation, women and men were required to sit separately, and

10720-410: The Levant share not only geographic position, but cuisine , some customs, and history . They are often referred to as Levantines . The term Levant appears in English in 1497 , and originally meant 'the East ' or 'Mediterranean lands east of Italy'. It is borrowed from the French levant 'rising', referring to the rising of the sun in the east, or the point where the sun rises. The phrase

10880-401: The Levant , the UCLA Near Eastern Languages and Cultures department, Journal of Levantine Studies and the UCL Institute of Archaeology, the last of which has dated the connection between Cyprus and mainland Levant to the early Iron Age . Archaeologists seeking a neutral orientation that is neither biblical nor national have used terms such as Levantine archaeology and archaeology of

11040-403: The Levant and of Levantine archaeology ; food scholars speak of Levantine cuisine ; and the Latin Christians of the Levant continue to be called Levantine Christians . The Levant has been described as the "crossroads of Western Asia , the Eastern Mediterranean, and Northeast Africa ", and in geological ( tectonic ) terms as the "northwest of the Arabian Plate ". The populations of

11200-431: The New Testament , which includes the Canonical Gospels , Acts , letters of the Apostles , and Revelation were written before 120 AD, but not defined as "canon" by the orthodox mainstream until the 4th century. The writings attributed to the apostles circulated amongst the earliest Christian communities. The Pauline epistles were circulating in collected forms by the end of the 1st century AD. The earliest mention of

11360-509: The Nisan 14 practice heretical and excommunicate all who followed it. On this occasion Irenaeus and Polycrates of Ephesus wrote to Victor. Irenaeus reminded Victor of his predecessor's more tolerant attitude and Polycrates emphatically defended the Asian practice. Victor's "excommunication" of the Asians was apparently rescinded, and the two sides reconciled as a result of the intervention of Irenaeus and other bishops, including Tertullian. Both Tertullian and Irenaeus were pupils of Polycarp , who

11520-574: The Sabbath. It seems clear that some of the Early Church considered, in addition to keeping the weekly Sabbath, the importance of also worshipping on the Lord's Day . In the Didache , it states "But every Lord's day gather yourselves together, and break bread, and give thanksgiving." Infant baptism was widely practised at least by the third century , but it is disputed whether it was in

11680-487: The Southern Hemisphere in general, by 2010 about 157 countries and territories in the world had Christian majorities . Western culture , throughout most of its history, has been nearly equivalent to Christian culture , and many of the population of the Western hemisphere could broadly be described as cultural Christians . The notion of " Europe " and the " Western World " has been intimately connected with

11840-680: The Treaty of Westphalia (1648), or arguably, including the Nine Years' War and the War of the Spanish Succession in this period, with the Treaty of Utrecht of 1713. In the 18th century, the focus shifts away from religious conflicts, either between Christian factions or against the external threat of Islamic factions. The European Miracle , the Age of Enlightenment and the formation of

12000-569: The Virgin , parts of the Old Testament, and, increasingly, the lives of popular saints . Especially in the West, a system of attributes developed for identifying individual figures of saints by a standard appearance and symbolic objects held by them; in the East they were more likely to identified by text labels. Each saint has a story and a reason why he or she led an exemplary life. Symbols have been used to tell these stories throughout

12160-556: The West carried on at least the spirit of scientific inquiry which would later lead to Europe's taking the lead in science during the Scientific Revolution using translations of medieval works . Medieval technology refers to the technology used in medieval Europe under Christian rule. After the Renaissance of the 12th century , medieval Europe saw a radical change in the rate of new inventions, innovations in

12320-471: The Western world. Rome in the Renaissance under the papacy not only acted as guardian and transmitter of these elements stemming from the Roman Empire but also assumed the role as artificer and interpreter of its myths and meanings for the peoples of Europe from the Middle Ages to modern times... Under the patronage of the popes, whose wealth and income were exceeded only by their ambitions, the city became

12480-535: The ante-Nicene period was the time in Christian history up to the First Council of Nicaea . This article covers the period following the Apostolic Age of the first century , c. 100 AD, to Nicaea in 325 AD. The second and third centuries saw a sharp divorce of Christianity from its early roots. There was an explicit rejection of then-modern Judaism and Jewish culture by the end of the second century, with

12640-470: The ante-Nicene period continued the practice of female Christian headcovering (from the age of puberty onward), with early Christian apologist Tertullian referencing 1 Corinthians 11:2–10 and stating "So, too, did the Corinthians themselves understand [Paul]. In fact, at this day the Corinthians do veil their virgins. What the apostles taught, their disciples approve." Hippolytus of Rome specified

12800-617: The ascension of Constantine the Great and the Edict of Milan in AD ;313 and the First Council of Nicaea in 325. According to Malcolm Muggeridge (1980), Christ founded Christianity, but Constantine founded Christendom. Canadian theology professor Douglas John Hall dates the 'inauguration of Christendom' to the 4th century, with Constantine playing the primary role (so much so that he equates Christendom with "Constantinianism") and Theodosius I ( Edict of Thessalonica , 380) and Justinian I secondary roles. "Christendom" has referred to

12960-580: The best quality of parchment, called vellum , traditionally made of unsplit calfskin , though high quality parchment from other skins was also called parchment . Christian art began, about two centuries after Christ, by borrowing motifs from Roman Imperial imagery , classical Greek and Roman religion and popular art. Religious images are used to some extent by the Abrahamic Christian faith, and often contain highly complex iconography, which reflects centuries of accumulated tradition. In

13120-526: The boundaries of the Levant as follows. A distinction is made between the main subregions of the Levant, the northern and the southern: The island of Cyprus is also included as a third subregion in the archaeological region of the Levant: The vast majority of Levantines are Muslims . After the Muslim conquest of the Levant in the 7th century, Islam was first introduced into the region. However,

13280-461: The capital of Christendom while projecting it through art, architecture, and literature as the center of a Golden Age of unity, order, and peace. Professor Frederick J. McGinness described Rome as essential in understanding the legacy the Church and its representatives encapsulated best by The Eternal City : No other city in Europe matches Rome in its traditions, history, legacies, and influence in

13440-417: The children, and if they can speak for themselves let them do so. Otherwise, let their parents or other relatives speak for them." If it was written by Hippolytus of Rome , Apostolic Tradition could be dated about 215, but recent scholars believe it to be material from separate sources ranging from the middle second to the fourth century, being gathered and compiled about 375–400. The third century evidence

13600-498: The climate for what would ultimately become the Protestant Reformation. During the Renaissance, the papacy was mainly run by the wealthy families and also had strong secular interests. To safeguard Rome and the connected Papal States the popes became necessarily involved in temporal matters, even leading armies, as the great patron of arts Pope Julius II did. During these intermediate times, popes strove to make Rome

13760-561: The common stock of significant symbols known to most periods and to all regions of the world. Religious symbolism is effective when it appeals to both the intellect and the emotions. Especially important depictions of Mary include the Hodegetria and Panagia types. Traditional models evolved for narrative paintings, including large cycles covering the events of the Life of Christ, the Life of

13920-522: The concept of "Christianity and Christendom"; many even attribute Christianity for being the link that created a unified European identity . Historian Paul Legutko of Stanford University said the Catholic Church is "at the center of the development of the values, ideas, science, laws, and institutions which constitute what we call Western civilization." Though Western culture contained several polytheistic religions during its early years under

14080-604: The countries along the Eastern Mediterranean shores, extending from Greece in Southern Europe to Egypt and Cyrenaica (Eastern Libya) in Northern Africa . In the 13th and 14th centuries, the term levante was used for Italian maritime commerce in the Eastern Mediterranean, including Greece, Anatolia , Syria-Palestine , and Egypt , that is, the lands east of Venice . Eventually

14240-719: The creation of another Christian king beside the Christian emperor in the Byzantine state. The Carolingian Empire created a definition of Christendom in juxtaposition with the Byzantine Empire, that of a distributed versus centralized culture respectively. The classical heritage flourished throughout the Middle Ages in both the Byzantine Greek East and the Latin West. In the Greek philosopher Plato 's ideal state there are three major classes, which

14400-482: The desert as a monk. Anthony lived as a hermit in the desert and gradually gained followers who lived as hermits nearby but not in actual community with him. One such, Paul the Hermit (also known as Paul of Thebes , c.226/7-c.341) lived in absolute solitude not very far from Anthony and was looked upon even by Anthony as a perfect monk. Paul had gone into the desert before Anthony, but to escape persecution rather than for

14560-441: The design and construction of buildings and structures in Christian culture . Buildings were at first adapted from those originally intended for other purposes but, with the rise of distinctively ecclesiastical architecture, church buildings came to influence secular ones which have often imitated religious architecture. In the 20th century, the use of new materials, such as concrete, as well as simpler styles has had its effect upon

14720-469: The design of churches and arguably the flow of influence has been reversed. From the birth of Christianity to the present, the most significant period of transformation for Christian architecture in the west was the Gothic cathedral . In the east, Byzantine architecture was a continuation of Roman architecture . Christian philosophy is a term to describe the fusion of various fields of philosophy with

14880-497: The early Christian period, being founded officially in 330, five years after the First Council of Nicaea, though the much smaller original city of Byzantium was an early center of Christianity largely due to its proximity to Anatolia . The community and seat of the patriarchate according to Orthodox tradition was founded by St Peter and then given to St. Ignatius , in what is now Turkey. Irenaeus of Lyon believed in

15040-555: The early Church Fathers Augustine of Hippo and John Chrysostom held that footwashing is done in imitation of Jesus , a rite also being encouraged by Origen . The early Church Father Clement of Alexandria linked the new sandals given by to Prodigal Son with feetwashing, describing "non-perishable shoes that are only fit to be worn by those who have had their feet washed by Jesus, the Teacher and Lord." The early Church thus saw footwashing to be connected to repentance , involving

15200-535: The early church is important to groups such as Baptists , Anabaptists , and the Churches of Christ who believe that infant baptism was a development that occurred during the late second to early third centuries. The early Christian writings mentioned above, which date from the second and third century indicate that Christians as early as the second century did maintain such a practice. In Apostolic Tradition , Hippolytus instructed Christians to pray seven times

15360-487: The early church." While Clement and New Testament writers use the terms overseer and elder interchangeably, an episcopal structure becomes more visible in the second century. Roger Haight posits the development of ecclesiology in the form of "Early Catholicism" as one response to the problem of church unity. Thus, the solution to division arising from heterodox teaching was the development of "tighter and more standardized structures of ministry. One of these structures

15520-413: The empire of universal peace, all-permeating rational art, and philosophical worship, is mentioned no more. An unformulated conception, the prerational ethics of private privilege and national unity, fills the background of men's minds. It represents feudal traditions rather than the tendency really involved in contemporary industry, science, or philanthropy. Those dark ages, from which our political practice

15680-651: The end of Christendom came about because modern governments refused to "uphold the teachings, customs, ethos, and practice of Christianity". He argued the First Amendment to the United States Constitution (1791) and the Second Vatican Council 's Declaration on Religious Freedom (1965) are two of the most important documents setting the stage for its end. According to British historian Diarmaid MacCulloch (2010), Christendom

15840-494: The existence of variant Christianities in the first centuries. They see early Christianity as fragmented into contemporaneous competing orthodoxies. Eamon Duffy notes that Christianity throughout the Roman Empire was "in a state of violent creative ferment" during the second century. Orthodoxy , or proto-orthodoxy , existed alongside forms of Christianity that they would soon consider deviant " heresy ". Duffy considers

16000-710: The fall of the Western Roman Empire and the gradual rise of the Papacy more in religio-temporal implications practically during and after the reign of Charlemagne; and the concept let itself be lulled in the minds of the staunch believers to the archetype of a holy religious space inhabited by Christians, blessed by God, the Heavenly Father, ruled by Christ through the Church and protected by the Spirit-body of Christ; no wonder, this concept, as included

16160-415: The final authorities in their own regions, see for example Metropolitan bishops and Pentarchy , yet still under the overall guidance of the bishop of Rome. Other patriarchs did turn to Rome for support in settling disputes, but they also wrote to other influential patriarchs for support in the same fashion. Outside of a few notable exceptions, the body of literature left from this period, and even as late as

16320-604: The first centuries of Christianity. Some believe that the Church in the apostolic period practised infant baptism, arguing that the mention of the baptism of households in the Acts of the Apostles would have included children within the household. Others believe that infants were excluded from the baptism of households, citing verses of the Bible that describe the baptized households as believing, which infants are incapable of doing. In

16480-414: The first known document considered to be describing apostolic succession , including the immediate successors of Peter and Paul: Linus , Anacleutus , Clement , Evaristus , Alexander , and Sixtus . The Catholic Church considers these men to be the first popes , through whom later popes would claim authority. In apostolic succession, a bishop becomes the spiritual successor of the previous bishop in

16640-531: The form of episkopos (overseers, bishops), presbyters ( elders ), and then deacons (servants). A hierarchy within Pauline Christianity seems to have developed by the late 1st century and early second century. (see Pastoral Epistles , c. 90–140 ) Robert Williams posits that the "origin and earliest development of episcopacy and monepiscopacy and the ecclesiastical concept of (apostolic) succession were associated with crisis situations in

16800-448: The fourth century by which governments upheld and promoted Christianity." Curry states that the end of Christendom came about because modern governments refused to "uphold the teachings, customs, ethos, and practice of Christianity." British church historian Diarmaid MacCulloch described (2010) Christendom as "the union between Christianity and secular power." Christendom was originally a medieval concept which has steadily evolved since

16960-638: The general resurrection and judgment. Justin Martyr and Irenaeus were the most outspoken proponents of premillennialism. Justin Martyr saw himself as continuing in the “Jewish” belief of a temporary messianic kingdom prior to the eternal state. Irenaeus devoted Book V of his Against Heresies to a defense of the physical resurrection and eternal judgement. Other early premillennialists included Pseudo-Barnabas , Papias , Methodius , Lactantius , Commodianus Theophilus , Tertullian , Melito , Hippolytus of Rome and Victorinus of Pettau . By

17120-637: The gospels is found in the First Apology (c155) of Justin Martyr , who mentions the "memoirs of the apostles" which Christians called "gospels" and which were regarded as on par with the Old Testament. A four gospel canon (the Tetramorph ) was asserted by Ireanaeus, who refers to it directly. Debates about scripture were underway in the mid- second century , concurrent with a drastic increase of new scriptures, both Jewish and Christian. Debates regarding practice and belief gradually became reliant on

17280-758: The great colonial empires , together with the beginning decline of the Ottoman Empire , mark the end of the geopolitical "history of Christendom". Instead, the focus of Western history shifts to the development of the nation-state , accompanied by increasing atheism and secularism , culminating with the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars at the turn of the 19th century. In his 1964 encyclical letter Ecclesiam Suam , Pope Paul VI observed that One part of [the] world ... has in recent years detached itself and broken away from

17440-502: The historical region of Syria ("Greater Syria"), which includes present-day Israel , Jordan , Lebanon , Syria , the Palestinian territories and most of Turkey southwest of the middle Euphrates . Its overwhelming characteristic is that it represents the land bridge between Africa and Eurasia . In its widest historical sense, the Levant included all of the Eastern Mediterranean with its islands; that is, it included all of

17600-473: The history of the Church. A number of Christian saints are traditionally represented by a symbol or iconic motif associated with their life, termed an attribute or emblem , in order to identify them. The study of these forms part of iconography in Art history . Christian architecture encompasses a wide range of both secular and religious styles from the foundation of Christianity to the present day, influencing

17760-444: The kiss of peace was given only by women to women and by men to men, with closed mouths. Apostolic Tradition specified with regard to catechumens: "When they have prayed they shall not give the kiss of peace for their kiss is not yet holy" (18:3). As such, the Holy Kiss was distinguished as a ritual only to be partaken of by baptized Christians , with catechumens and non-Christians not being greeted this way (18:4). Christianity in

17920-486: The leaders of the proto-orthodox church, but many were very popular and had large followings. Part of the unifying trend in proto-orthodoxy was an increasingly harsh anti-Judaism and rejection of Judaizers . Some of the major movements were: In the middle of the second century, the Christian communities of Rome, for example, were divided between followers of Marcion, Montanism, and the gnostic teachings of Valentinus. Many groups were dualistic , maintaining that reality

18080-566: The link that created a unified European identity . Early Christianity spread in the Greek/Roman world and beyond as a 1st-century Jewish sect, which historians refer to as Jewish Christianity . It may be divided into two distinct phases: the apostolic period , when the first apostles were alive and organizing the Church, and the post-apostolic period , when an early episcopal structure developed, whereby bishoprics were governed by bishops (overseers). The post-apostolic period concerns

18240-588: The matter of Tertullian 's Prescription Against Heretics (in 44 chapters, written from Rome), and of Irenaeus' Against Heresies (c. 180, in five volumes), written in Lugdunum (modern Lyon) after his return from a visit to Rome. The letters of Ignatius of Antioch and Polycarp of Smyrna to various churches warned against false teachers, and the Epistle of Barnabas warned about mixing Judaism with Christianity , as did other writers. The First Council of Nicaea

18400-493: The modern period, Christendom was in a general crisis at the time of the Renaissance Popes because of the moral laxity of these pontiffs and their willingness to seek and rely on temporal power as secular rulers did. Many in the Catholic Church's hierarchy in the Renaissance became increasingly entangled with insatiable greed for material wealth and temporal power, which led to many reform movements, some merely wanting

18560-502: The most powerful continent on the globe. The clergy, like Plato's guardians, were placed in authority... by their talent as shown in ecclesiastical studies and administration, by their disposition to a life of meditation and simplicity, and ... by the influence of their relatives with the powers of state and church. In the latter half of the period in which they ruled [800 AD onwards], the clergy were as free from family cares as even Plato could desire [for such guardians]... [Clerical] Celibacy

18720-576: The name of Lebanon. Today the term is often used in conjunction with prehistoric or ancient historical references. Another term for "Syria-Palestine" is Ash- Shaam ( Arabic : ٱلشَّام , /ʔaʃ.ʃaːm/ ), the area that is bounded by the Taurus Mountains of Turkey in the north, the Mediterranean Sea in the west, the north Arabian Desert and Mesopotamia in the east, and Sinai in the south (which can be fully included or not). Typically, it does not include Anatolia (also known as Asia Minor),

18880-655: The north. Two minority languages are recognized: Armenian , and Cypriot Maronite Arabic , a hybrid of mostly medieval Arabic vernaculars with strong influence from contact with Turkish and Greek, spoken by approximately 1,000 people. Western Neo-Aramaic is additionally spoken in three villages in Syria: Maaloula , Jubb'adin and Bakhah . Among diaspora communities based in the Levant, Greek , Armenian and Circassian are also spoken. According to recent ancient DNA studies, Levantines derive most of their ancestry from ancient Semitic-speaking peoples of

19040-489: The orthodox and unorthodox were sometimes difficult to distinguish during this period, and simply says that early Christianity in Rome had a wide variety of competing Christian sects. Some orthodox scholars argue against the increasing focus on heterodoxy. A movement away from presuming the correctness or dominance of the orthodoxy is seen as neutral, but criticize historical analysis that assumes heterodox sects are superior to

19200-408: The orthodox movement. Rodney Stark estimates that the number of Christians grew by approximately 40% a decade during the first and second centuries. This phenomenal growth rate forced Christian communities to evolve in order to adapt to their changes in the nature of their communities as well as their relationship with their political and socioeconomic environment. As the number of Christians grew,

19360-441: The place instead of any one culture. The French mandate of Syria and Lebanon (1920–1946) was called the Levant states. Today, "Levant" is the term typically used by archaeologists and historians with reference to the history of the region. Scholars have adopted the term Levant to identify the region due to its being a "wider, yet relevant, cultural corpus" that does not have the "political overtones" of Syria-Palestine. The term

19520-578: The poor and sick. Much of the official organizing of the ecclesiastical structure was done by the bishops of the church. This tradition of clarification can be seen as established by the Apostolic Fathers, who were bishops themselves. The Catholic Encyclopedia argues that although evidence is scarce in the second century, the primacy of the Church of Rome is asserted by Irenaeus of Lyons' document Against Heresies (AD 189). In response to second century Gnostic teaching, Irenaeus created

19680-586: The process of transforming France from a feudal monarchy to a centralized state. The rise of strong, centralized monarchies denoted the European transition from feudalism to capitalism . By the end of the Hundred Years' War, both France and England were able to raise enough money through taxation to create independent standing armies. In the Wars of the Roses , Henry Tudor took the crown of England. His heir,

19840-427: The purpose of pursuing God. This type of monasticism is called eremitical or "hermit-like." Pachomius of Thebes (c. 292–348) is traditionally considered the founder of cenobitic monasticism , in which monks live in communities isolated from the world but not from each other. As monasticism spread in the East from the hermits living in the deserts of Egypt to Palestine, Syria, and on up into Asia Minor and beyond,

20000-488: The region is, his religion") established the religious, political and geographic divisions of Christianity, and this was established with the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648, which legally ended the concept of a single Christian hegemony in the territories of the Holy Roman Empire, despite the Catholic Church 's doctrine that it alone is the one true Church founded by Christ. Subsequently, each government determined

20160-628: The religion itself, just like the German Christentum ). The current sense of the word of "lands where Christianity is the dominant religion" emerged in Late Middle English (by c.  1400 ). Canadian theology professor Douglas John Hall stated (1997) that "Christendom" [...] means literally the dominion or sovereignty of the Christian religion." Thomas John Curry , Roman Catholic auxiliary bishop of Los Angeles , defined (2001) Christendom as "the system dating from

20320-586: The religion of their own state. Christians living in states where their denomination was not the established one were guaranteed the right to practice their faith in public during allotted hours and in private at their will. At times there were mass expulsions of dissenting faiths as happened with the Salzburg Protestants . Some people passed as adhering to the official church, but instead lived as Nicodemites or crypto-protestants . The European wars of religion are usually taken to have ended with

20480-501: The rise of a great number of Christian sects , cults and movements with strong unifying characteristics lacking in the apostolic period. They had different interpretations of Scripture , particularly different Christology —questions about the divinity of Jesus and salvation from the consequences of sin—and the nature of the Trinity . Many variations in this time defy neat categorizations, as various forms of Christianity interacted in

20640-524: The sayings ( apophthegmata ) and acts ( praxeis ) of the Desert Fathers came to be recorded and circulated, first among their fellow monastics and then among the laity as well. Christian art emerged only relatively late. According to art historian André Grabar , the first known Christian images emerge from about AD 200, though there is some literary evidence that small domestic images were used earlier. Although many Hellenised Jews seem, as at

20800-456: The successors of Saint Peter. Jerome later took up the argument for the primacy of the Roman bishop in the 5th century , a position adopted by Pope Leo I . By the end of the early Christian period, the church within the Roman Empire had hundreds of bishops, some of them (Rome, Alexandria, Antioch, "other provinces") holding some form of jurisdiction over others. The books of the canon of

20960-667: The teachings of the Church, in an environment that, otherwise, would have probably seen their loss. The Church founded many cathedrals , universities , monasteries and seminaries , some of which continue to exist today. Medieval Christianity created the first modern universities . The Catholic Church established a hospital system in Medieval Europe that vastly improved upon the Roman valetudinaria . These hospitals were established to cater to "particular social groups marginalized by poverty, sickness, and age," according to historian of hospitals, Guenter Risse. Christianity also had

21120-440: The tenets of the all encompassing order the Church had brought and as the repository of the legacy of classical antiquity : The enterprise of individuals or of small aristocratic bodies has meantime sown the world which we call civilised with some seeds and nuclei of order. There are scattered about a variety of churches, industries, academies, and governments. But the universal order once dreamt of and nominally almost established,

21280-581: The term ash-Shām as used by the organization known as ISIL, ISIS, and other names , though there is disagreement as to whether this translation is accurate. In The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of the Levant: c. 8000–332 BCE (OHAL; 2013), the definition of the Levant for the specific purposes of the book is synonymous to that of the Arabic " bilad al-sham , 'the land of sham [Syria]'", translating in Western parlance to greater Syria . OHAL defines

21440-530: The term was restricted to the Muslim countries of Syria-Palestine and Egypt. The term entered English in the late 15th century from French. It derives from the Italian levante , meaning "rising", implying the rising of the Sun in the east, and is broadly equivalent to the term al-Mashriq ( Arabic : ٱلْمَشْرِق , [ʔal.maʃ.riq] ), meaning "the eastern place, where the Sun rises". In 1581, England set up

21600-647: The third century there was growing opposition to premillennialism. Origen was the first to challenge the doctrine openly. Dionysius of Alexandria stood against premillennialism when the chiliastic work, The Refutation of the Allegorizers by Nepos, a bishop in Egypt , became popular in Alexandria , as noted in Eusebius 's, Ecclesiastical History . Eusebius said of the premillennialian, Papias, that he

21760-406: The time roughly after the death of the apostles when bishops emerged as overseers of urban Christian populations. The earliest recorded use of the terms Christianity (Greek Χριστιανισμός ) and catholic (Greek καθολικός ), dates to this period, the 2nd century , attributed to Ignatius of Antioch c. 107. Early Christendom would close at the end of imperial persecution of Christians after

21920-462: The type of veil: "And let all the women have their heads covered with an opaque cloth, not with a veil of thin linen, for this is not a true covering." The early Christian apologist Tertullian recorded that footwashing was a regular part of Christian worship in the ante-Nicene period. Footwashing was done with a basin "of water for the saints' feet" and a "linen towel". Being commanded in John 13 ,

22080-578: The use of scripture other than what Melito referred to as the Old Testament , as the New Testament canon developed . Similarly, in the third century a shift away from direct revelation as a source of authority occurred, most notably against the Montanists . "Scripture" still had a broad meaning and usually referred to the Septuagint among Greek speakers or the Targums among Aramaic speakers or

22240-469: The use of the term Christian is attested in the Acts of the Apostles (80–90 AD), the earliest recorded use of the term Christianity (Greek: Χριστιανισμός ) is by Ignatius of Antioch about 107 AD. The predominant eschatological view in the Ante-Nicene period was Premillennialism , the belief of a visible reign of Christ in glory on earth with the risen saints for a thousand years, before

22400-400: The varieties normally grouped together as "Levantine", a number of other varieties and dialects of Arabic are spoken in the Levant area, such as Levantine Bedawi Arabic (by Bedouins ) and Mesopotamian Arabic (in eastern Syria). Of the languages of Cyprus , the two official languages are Turkish and Greek. The most used languages by population are Greek in the south followed by Turkish in

22560-422: The ways of managing traditional means of production, and economic growth. The period saw major technological advances, including the adoption of gunpowder and the astrolabe , the invention of spectacles , and greatly improved water mills , building techniques, agriculture in general, clocks , and ships . The latter advances made possible the dawn of the Age of Exploration . The development of water mills

22720-474: The week, Christians assembled at the church every day for morning prayer (which became known as lauds ) and evening prayer (which became known as vespers ), while praying at the other fixed prayer times privately. This practice of seven fixed prayer times was done in the bodily positions of prostration and standing. Derived from the writings of Saint Paul , Christians employed the orans position in prayer too. A Christian cross on an eastern wall of

22880-463: The whole of Europe and then the expanding Christian territories on earth, strengthened the roots of Romance of the greatness of Christianity in the world. There is a common and nonliteral sense of the word that is much like the terms Western world , known world or Free World . The notion of "Europe" and the " Western World " has been intimately connected with the concept of "Christianity and Christendom"; many even attribute Christianity for being

23040-473: Was "a man of small mental capacity" because he had taken the Apocalypse literally. Christian communities came to adopt some Jewish practices while rejecting others. Only Marcion proposed rejection of all Jewish practice, but he was excommunicated in Rome c. 144 and declared heretical by the growing proto-Orthodoxy . According to Bauckham, the post-apostolic church contained diverse practices as regards

23200-597: Was 'killed' by the First World War (1914–18), which led to the fall of the three main Christian empires ( Russian , German and Austrian ) of Europe, as well as the Ottoman Empire, rupturing the Eastern Christian communities that had existed on its territory. The Christian empires were replaced by secular, even anti-clerical republics seeking to definitively keep the churches out of politics. The only surviving monarchy with an established church, Britain,

23360-514: Was a student of the Apostle John and, according to Polycarp's own written words, was also a "hearer" of the other Apostles. Polycarp was a bishop in Smyrna. Eusebius later claimed that synods and conferences of bishops were convened, which ruled "without a dissenting voice" in support of Easter on Sunday. A uniform method of computing the date of Easter was not formally addressed until 325 at

23520-557: Was called Eastern Christendom). From the 11th to the 13th centuries, Latin Christendom rose to the central role of the Western world . The history of the Christian world spans about 2,000 years and includes a variety of socio-political developments, as well as advancements in the arts , architecture , literature , science , philosophy , politics and technology. The Anglo-Saxon term crīstendōm appears to have been coined in

23680-711: Was composed into two radically opposing parts: matter , usually seen as evil, and spirit, seen as good. Proto-orthodox Christianity, on the other hand, held that both the material and spiritual worlds were created by God and were therefore both good, and that this was represented in the unified divine and human natures of Christ . Trinitarianism held that God the Father, God the Son , and the Holy Spirit were all strictly one being with three hypostases . Christianity differed from Roman religions in that it set out its beliefs in

23840-399: Was convoked by Emperor Constantine at Nicaea in 325 in response to disruptive polemical controversies within the Christian community over the nature of the Trinity caused by Arius , who denied the eternal nature of Christ as put forth in the Gospel of John . In the post-Apostolic church, bishops emerged as overseers of urban Christian populations, and a hierarchy clergy gradually took on

24000-399: Was defended by the Apostolic Fathers . This was the tradition of Pauline Christianity , which placed importance on the death of Jesus as saving humanity, and described Jesus as God come to Earth. Another major school of thought was Gnostic Christianity , which placed importance on the wisdom of Jesus saving humanity, and described Jesus as a human who became divine through knowledge. While

24160-436: Was founded for the same purpose. At this time, the Far East was known as the "Upper Levant". In early 19th-century travel writing , the term sometimes incorporated certain Mediterranean provinces of the Ottoman Empire , as well as independent Greece (and especially the Greek islands ). In 19th-century archaeology, it referred to overlapping cultures in this region during and after prehistoric times, intending to reference

24320-413: Was gradual and not as clear to pin down as its 4th-century establishment, the "transition to the post-Constantinian, or post-Christendom, situation (...) has already been in process for a century or two", beginning with the 18th-century rationalist Enlightenment and the French Revolution (the first attempt to topple the Christian establishment). American Catholic bishop Thomas John Curry stated in 2001 that

24480-457: Was impressive, and extended from agriculture to sawmills both for timber and stone, probably derived from Roman technology . By the time of the Domesday Book , most large villages in Britain had mills. They also were widely used in mining , as described by Georg Agricola in De Re Metallica for raising ore from shafts, crushing ore, and even powering bellows . Levant The Levant ( / l ə ˈ v æ n t / lə- VANT )

24640-642: Was not only an effective secular leader in military affairs, a deviously effective politician but foremost one of the greatest patron of the Renaissance period and person who also encouraged open criticism from noted humanists. The blossoming of renaissance humanism was made very much possible due to the universality of the institutions of Catholic Church and represented by personalities such as Pope Pius II , Nicolaus Copernicus , Leon Battista Alberti , Desiderius Erasmus , sir Thomas More , Bartolomé de Las Casas , Leonardo da Vinci and Teresa of Ávila . George Santayana in his work The Life of Reason postulated

24800-431: Was one of the peaks in Christian history and Christian civilization , and Constantinople remained the leading city of the Christian world in size, wealth, and culture. There was a renewed interest in classical Greek philosophy , as well as an increase in literary output in vernacular Greek. As the Western Roman Empire disintegrated into feudal kingdoms and principalities , the concept of Christendom changed as

24960-418: Was part of the psychological structure of the power of the clergy; for on the one hand they were unimpeded by the narrowing egoism of the family, and on the other their apparent superiority to the call of the flesh added to the awe in which lay sinners held them.... After the collapse of Charlemagne's empire , the southern remnants of the Holy Roman Empire became a collection of states loosely connected to

25120-402: Was representative of the idea of the "tripartite soul", which is expressive of three functions or capacities of the human soul: "reason", "the spirited element", and "appetites" (or "passions"). Will Durant made a convincing case that certain prominent features of Plato's ideal community where discernible in the organization, dogma and effectiveness of "the" Medieval Church in Europe: ... For

25280-405: Was severely damaged by the war, lost most of Ireland due to Catholic–Protestant infighting, and was starting to lose grip on its colonies. Changes in worldwide Christianity over the last century have been significant, since 1900, Christianity has spread rapidly in the Global South and Third World countries. The late 20th century has shown the shift of Christian adherence to the Third World and

25440-473: Was the center of the Apostolic Age , but it experienced decline during the years of the Jewish–Roman wars (66-135). The First Council of Nicaea recognized and confirmed the tradition by which Jerusalem continued to be given "special honour", but did not assign to it even metropolitan authority within its own province, still less the extraprovincial jurisdiction exercised by Rome and the other sees mentioned above. Constantinople came into prominence only after

25600-429: Was to be guided by Christian values in its politics, economics and social life. Its legal basis was the corpus iuris canonica (body of canon law). In the East, Christendom became more defined as the Byzantine Empire 's gradual loss of territory to an expanding Islam and the Muslim conquest of Persia . This caused Christianity to become important to the Byzantine identity. Before the East–West Schism which divided

#61938