*RELIGIOUS

CONFLICT*

MONOTHEISM VS. POLYTHEISMBig Picture

While civilization began in the fertile river valleys of Asia and Africa, the first “classical civilizations” emerged along the Mediterranean Sea in ancient Greece and Rome. From a series of independent city-states, such as Athens and Sparta, Classical Greece achieved a high level of

cultural achievement in math, science, philosophy, theater, and government based on democracy. This “Hellenistic” culture was

spread by Alexander the Great who conquered the Greeks, Egyptians, and Persians. From the nearby Italian peninsula, the classical

civilization of Rome emerged, first as a republic ruled by elected senators. Later, after an era of intense expansion and corruption, Rome became an empire led by an emperor. Like the Greeks, the

Romans developed a series of significant achievements in government, law, architecture, engineering, and religion based on

Christianity. Like the classical cultures of Gupta India and Han China, much of the “Greco-Roman” achievements of the classical era are still

used today.

POLYTHEISM

A belief in many gods

MONOTHEISM

A belief in one god

POLYTHEISM IN GREECE & ROME• The Greeks worshipped many gods

• Used ritual and sacrifice to please the gods• Developed myths (traditional stories) about their gods

Used these stories to explain the world around them• Gods had human qualities – they could experience love,

hate and jealousy• Gods lived forever• The most powerful = Zeus• Temples were built to honor the gods publicly • Roman religion borrowed from the Greeks – typically the

only difference was the name of the god Jupiter: ruler of the Roman gods

THE RISE OF CHRISTIANITY• The increasing popularity of Jesus and his

monotheistic teachings frightened Roman leadersAfter Jesus was killed, his followers continued to spread his belief in only one god

Christians were persecuted (mistreated) for their beliefs (they refused to worship Roman gods)

Despite the violence towards them, Christians continued to preach the teachings of Jesus and gained millions of followers

THE SPREAD OF CHRISTIANITY• Many of Jesus’ followers dedicated their lives to spreading his

ideas and teachings• Many people embraced this new religion because 1. it embraced all

people 2. gave hope to the powerless 3. appealed to those who didn’t approve of the Roman government 4. offered a personal relationship with a loving God and 5. it promised an eternal life after death

• Emperor Constantine 312 A.D. the Roman Emperor ordered his soldiers to put a cross, the

symbol of Christianity, on their shields. When his troops were successful in battle, he believed it was with the

help of the Christian God 313 A.D. Constantine passed the Edit of Nantes, in which he declared

Christianity was a religion approved by the Roman Emperor• 380 A.D. Roman Emperor Theodosius made Christianity the

official religion of the Roman Empire

Emperor Constantine

*RELIGIOUS

CONFLICT*

RO L E OF O

RTH ODOX CHR I S

T I AN I T

Y AND

TH E 10 5 4 S

CH I SM

ROLE OF ORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY AND THE 1054

SCHISMBIG PICTUREIn the East, the Byzantine Empire was a wealthy and powerful center

for trade. During the reign of Emperor Justinian, the Byzantines developed an important law code (the Justinian Code), extended its territory, promoted learning, and preserved Greco-Roman culture.

Differences between Christians in Eastern and Western Europe divided the Christian Church into Roman Catholic and Eastern

Orthodox denominations. In sharp contrast to the Byzantine Empire, Western Europe descended into the Middle Ages. There was little

trade, learning, or cultural achievements during these “Dark Ages.” Society was controlled by feudal system in which peasants worked for noble lords in exchange for protection and

access to farm land. The Catholic Church played an important role played a unifying force that guided peoples’ daily lives.

A SPLIT IN CHRISTIANITYC H R I S T I A N I T Y I N T H E

W E S T

• Believed that there should be a Pope to oversee bishops & give authority to all Christians

• Accepted the authority of the Pope

• The Pope in Western Europe supported the use of icons & called the Byzantine Emperor a heretic (a believer of false ideas)

C H R I S T I A N I T Y I N T H E E A S T• Believed that the Byzantine

Emperor had authority over issues involving Christianity

• Byzantine emperors relied on a Patriarch to oversee the church, but the emperor had final authority

• Christians in the Byzantine Empire did not accept the authority of the Pope

• Emperor Leo III ordered the destruction of icons in

the Byzantine Empire

CONTROVERSY IN THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH

• Icons were religious images to help Christians in their prayers & worship

• Some Christians thought this was “idol worship” • In 730, the Byzantine Emperor banned icons & many

Christians rioted• The Pope excommunicated the emperor (kicked him

out of the church)• These disagreements led to deep divisions among

Christians & the Great Schism (split) occurred in 1054

THE DIVISION OF CHRISTIANITY Christians in Western Europe became the

Roman Catholic Church

Christians in Eastern Europe became the Eastern Orthodox

Church

ROMAN CATHOLICS & EASTERN ORTHODOX CHRISTIANS PRACTICE THEIR REGIONS

DIFFERENTLY:

*RELIGIOUS

CONFLICT*

S P L I T O

F SU N N I A

N D SH I ’ A

From the leadership of Muhammad to the Abbasid Empire, the Islamic faith spread and had a lasting impact on the areas

where it was introduced. Because of increasing trade contacts between new areas, the flow of goods, ideas and religions reached a new height during this period. Islamic achievements in science and mathematics improved upon the ideas of the classical cultures that came before. One of the regions most changed by the introduction of Islam was

Africa, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa where many traditional customs blended with the cultures of their Islamic neighbors. By the year 850 A.D., Islam spread so far that three continents

were altered by its introduction. Today, Islam is the fastest growing world religion with over 1.2 billion followers.

Islamic EmpireBig Picture

• When Muhammad died in 632, the Muslim community elected a new leader called a caliph (“successor”)

• The first 4 caliphs all knew Muhammad & promised to stay true to the Qur'an & Muhammad’s message

Sunni and Shi’a

Split

• The first caliph was Muhammad’s friend & father-in-law, Abu Bakr: His goal was to keep Muslims united under his gov’t (“caliphate”). His used jihad to control & expand the Muslim empire.

• After Ali’s death in 661 led to a civil war for control of the empire: The clan that came to power started the Umayyad Empire. But the rise of the Umayyads led to a division in Islam.

During the Rightly Guided Caliphates,

the Islamic Empire expanded “Dar-al-Islam”

(the areas where Islam is practiced)

The caliphs used the Shari'ah

(laws of Islam) to govern the

empire

The caliphate never forced non-Muslims

to convert, especially “People of the Book” & allowed religious tolerance as long as

taxes were paid to the empire

The Sunni-Shi’a SplitBefore the Umayyads, caliphs were elected members of Muhammad’s

family■Shi’a Muslims

rejected the Umayyads■The Shi’a

believe that caliph must come directly from Muhammad’s bloodline

■Sunni Muslims accepted the rule of the Umayyads■The Sunni

believe caliphs should follow Muhammad’s example, but don’t have to be relatives

*RELIGIOUS

CONFLICT*

CRUSADES

CRUSADESBIG PICTURE

C H R I S T I A N I T Y

In the East, the Byzantine Empire was a wealthy and powerful center for trade. During the reign of Emperor Justinian,

the Byzantines developed an important law code (the Justinian

Code), extended its territory, promoted learning, and preserved Greco-Roman culture. Differences between Christians in Eastern and

Western Europe divided the Christian Church into Roman Catholic and

Eastern Orthodox denominations. In sharp contrast to the Byzantine

Empire, Western Europe descended into the Middle Ages. There was little

trade, learning, or cultural achievements during these

“Dark Ages.” Society was controlled by feudal system in which peasants

worked for noble lords in exchange for protection and access to farm land.

The Catholic Church played an important role played a unifying force

that guided peoples’ daily lives.

I S L A MFrom the leadership of Muhammad to the

Abbasid Empire, the Islamic faith spread and had a lasting impact on the areas where it was introduced. Because of

increasing trade contacts between new areas, the flow of goods, ideas and

religions reached a new height during this period. Islamic achievements in science

and mathematics improved upon the ideas of the classical cultures that came before. One of the regions most changed by the

introduction of Islam was Africa, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa where many

traditional customs blended with the cultures of their Islamic neighbors. By the

year 850 A.D., Islam spread so far that three continents were altered by its

introduction. Today, Islam is the fastest growing world religion with over 1.2 billion

followers.

• The Crusades • The city of Jerusalem was the center of faith for three major world

religions. For the Jews, it was their homeland. It had been promised to them by Jehovah, whom they believed had covenanted with Abraham to give him the land of Israel. To the Muslims, Jerusalem was the location where the Prophet Muhammad had ascended into heaven. After Makkah and Medinah, Jerusalem was Islam’s third most holy city. To the Christians, Jerusalem was both the location of Christ’s birth and the location of his death. It is also the location of much of the New Testament.• This Holy Land was conquered by Islam in the 600s A.D., and would

remain in their control for many centuries to come. In 1095 A.D., Pope Urban II called for volunteers to travel to Jerusalem and fight to take it back from the Muslims. He called their mission a crusade. The word “crusade” comes from the word Crux, which means “cross” in Latin. Those who volunteered for the crusade would be called crusaders, meaning that they took the cross of Jesus upon them.

The First CrusadeThis crusade would be the first of nine total crusades that Christians would carry out as they attempted to control Israel territory.These crusaders were promised that they would receive eternal life if they died while fighting non-Christians. As a result of the rhetoric, these Christians killed thousands of non-Christians, including Jews and Muslims, as they traveled to Jerusalem. In some cases, they slaughtered entire Jewish communities.After two years of traveling in the desert, the crusaders finally reached Jerusalem. They laid siege upon the city, surrounding it for two months. Finally the city fell and the crusaders entered, killing almost all of the non-Christians who inhabited the city; men, women and children.Europeans would control many parts of Israel and the surrounding regions for a little over 200 years. During this time, Muslims made slow but steady efforts to regain control over Jerusalem. Eight more crusades would follow in an effort to keep control over the city in the hands of the Europeans. In 1291 A.D., the Muslims captured the last European stronghold in the area. European leaders lost interest in the area, and the crusades came to an end.

*RELIGIOUS

CONFLICT*

PROTESTANT REFORMATIO

N

PROTESTANT REFORMATIONBIG PICTURE

As the feudal system broke down and lords lost power, nations began to form under the rule of powerful

kings. During this era of change, many people began questioning the practices of the Catholic Church and

hoped to reform religious practices. During this Protestant Reformation, leaders like Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Henry VIII broke from the Catholic

Church and formed new denominations of Christianity. The Catholic Church responded to these new

Protestant faiths by sending Jesuit missionaries to make new converts.

The Protestant Reformation:Background•Social and Political Factors:

•European decentralization, rise of nation-states. Breakdown of medieval centralization under Pope. •Breakdown of society because of Black Death, Hundred Years' War, etc. •Renaissance: Interest in humanism and rediscovery of ancient culture.

•Weaknesses in Catholic Church: •Administrative Divisions:

•Competing Popes (Avignon, Rome and more). •Proliferation of Questionable Religious Rituals and Practices

Pilgrimages, saint worship, endowment of masses. •Corruption and Abuses of Power in Church:

•Sale of Indulgences (certificates of remission from purgatory) and other forms of forgiveness. •Simony (selling of church offices).

Central Beliefs of Protestantism•Accessibility by Laity: "Priesthood of all Believers"

•No need for professional intermediaries (priests, confessors, etc.) between the individual and God. •Translations of the Bible into the vernacular •Lay communion. •Conviction that every profession is a religious "calling," not just the priesthood and monasticism.

•Theological Doctrines: •Martin Luther: Justification by grace and faith, not by works--sometimes led to belief in predestination (Calvin). •Some groups denied transsubstantiation. •Rejection of Non-Biblical Traditions (sola scriptura):

•e.g.: Clerical celibacy, monasticism, sacraments (e.g.: penance, extreme unction, marriage, confirmation, ordination of ministers), pilgrimage. •Many Protestant churches preferred adult (not infant) baptism. •Simplification of masses.

M A R T I N L U T H E R J O H N C A L V I N

Although Martin Luther provided the spark that began the Reformation, John Calvin took this movement and created a complete Protestant theology based only on scripture. The ideas and beliefs of Calvin’s reformed theology were particularly influential to the early American colonists. Originally a lawyer with a strong belief in the Catholic Church, Calvin suddenly converted to Protestantism in 1533. Forced to flee France because of his beliefs, Calvin went to Geneva and is mostly associated with that city. He believed that all social organizations and government should be based on biblical principles, and he revolutionized Genevan society by imposing a strict moral code on all its citizens. Under Calvin, Geneva became the Protestant stronghold of Europe.

One of the main tenets introduced by Calvin was the doctrine of predestination (also called \"the doctrine of the elect\"). This belief held that salvation was predestined by God for certain individuals before birth. According to Calvin, there is no element of human choice or free will in salvation. You are either born part of the elect or you are not saved.

Martin Luther’s stand against the Catholic

Church led to the formation of a new

Christian denomination known as Lutheranism Lutheranism was the

first of a series of “Protestant” Christian faiths that broke from the Catholic Church

*RELIGIOUS

CONFLICT*

C O U N T E R RE F O R M

AT I ON

COUNTER REFORMATION BIG PICTUREAs the feudal system broke down and lords lost power, nations began to form under the rule of powerful kings.

During this era of change, many people began questioning the practices of the Catholic Church and

hoped to reform religious practices. During this Protestant Reformation, leaders like Martin Luther, John Calvin, and

Henry VIII broke from the Catholic Church and formed new denominations of Christianity. The Catholic Church responded to these new Protestant faiths by sending

Jesuit missionaries to make new converts.

Also called the Catholic Reformation, it was the Roman Catholic Church's response to the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century. Some parishioners and members of the Roman Catholic clergy had already been calling for reforms within the church for more than two centuries when in 1517 German monk and theology professor Martin Luther (1483-1546) nailed his Ninety-Five Theses to the door of the Castle Church at Wittenberg (Saxony, Germany). His theses attacked the doctrines and authority of the church, sparking the Reformation. The movement's leaders, called Protestants because they protested against the Catholic Church, changed the religious landscape of Europe by creating new Christian churches. But a movement to make changes inside the Catholic Church also began. The turning point came in 1534 when Paul III (1468-1549) became pope. Realizing that the church must respond to what it viewed as a religious crisis, Pope Paul convened the Council of Trent (in Italy), which was charged with reviewing all aspects of religious life. The ecumenical group met from 1545 to 1547, 1551 to 1552, and 1562 to 1563, and out of those deliberations emerged the modern Catholic Church. The Counter Reformation was aided by a group of priests and brothers known as the Jesuits, members of the Society of Jesus, a religious order of the Roman Catholic Church. The Jesuits were instrumental in spreading the word of the reforms and in promoting a new spirit within the Catholic Church.

One of the first reformers in the Catholic Church was Ignatius of Loyola who

formed the Society of Jesus in 1540

Members of the Society of Jesus were called Jesuits &

focused on three goals: Jesuits formed

schools to better educate Catholic priests

Jesuits tried to stop the spread of

Protestantism Jesuits sent missionaries

around the world to convert non-Christians to

Catholicism

*RELIGIOUS

CONFLICT*

E N G L I SH R

E F O R M AT I ON

ENGLISH REFORMATIONBIG PICTURE

As the feudal system broke down and lords lost power, nations began to form under the rule of powerful

kings. During this era of change, many people began questioning the practices of the Catholic Church and

hoped to reform religious practices. During this Protestant Reformation, leaders like Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Henry VIII broke from the Catholic

Church and formed new denominations of Christianity. The Catholic Church responded to these new

Protestant faiths by sending Jesuit missionaries to make new converts.

The English Reformation was a series of events in 16th century England by which the Church of England broke away from the authority of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church.These events were, in part, associated with the wider process of the European Protestant Reformation, a religious and political movement which affected the practice of Christianity across most of Europe during this period. Many factors contributed to the process: the decline of feudalism and the rise of nationalism, the rise of the common law, the invention of the printing press and increased circulation of the Bible, the transmission of new knowledge and ideas among scholars and the upper and middle classes. However, the various phases of the English Reformation, which also covered Wales and Ireland, were largely driven by changes in government policy, to which public opinion gradually accommodated itself.

Based on Henry VIII's desire for an annulment of his marriage, the English Reformation was at the outset more of a political affair than a theological dispute. The reality of political differences between Rome and England allowed growing theological disputes to come to the fore.[2] Immediately before the break with Rome, it was the Pope and general councils of the church that decided doctrine. Church law was governed by the code of canon law with final jurisdiction in Rome. Church taxes were paid straight to Rome and it was the Pope who had the final say over the appointment of bishops. The split from Rome made the English monarch the Supreme Governor of the English church by "Royal Supremacy", thereby making the Church of England the established church of the nation. Doctrinal and legal disputes now rested with the monarch, and the papacy was deprived of revenue and the final say on the appointment of bishops.