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Situations that show the relationship between religion and development
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Religion and the Development of the Western World The accomplishments and success of civilizations are closely linked to their religious outlook and the role of religion in their governments and society. Throughout history rulers have used the influence of religions to control their populations and provide the justification for their power. A society with a greater degree of separation between religion and government promotes a superior level of liberty and creativity amongst its people. By the time of the decline of the Roman Empire in the west, however, the world had come full circle to a return to theocratic dictatorship. In the ancient civilization of the Sumerians religion was an important part of both the lives of the citizens and the administration of government. People felt very distant from their rulers and this feeling was reflected in their religion. The great gods of the day were unconcerned with human welfare. They were in control of the forces of nature and were the source of authority for the rulers. Both inspired fear and veneration in the populace and the people created lesser gods as guardian intercessors to assuage the insecurity of their world. Although the Sumerians developed systems of writing and mathematics, the use of these arts was restricted to an elite upper class while the majority of the people were enslaved by ignorance and fear. This structure of subservience to a higher power was established in their religion and played out in their government. The government of ancient Egypt was similarly autocratic. The pharaohs were both god and king and the religion taught the people to trust that their king would rule according to maat with concern for the welfare of the common man. In return for the building and maintenance of great temples the gods preserved the absolute power of the pharaoh and ensured the duration of the state. These temples, the Great Pyramids, and the Sphinx as well were created and built by the will of the elite through the labor of the people. Again we see the absolute subjugation of the people to the indisputable, god-like authority of the ruler. The rise of the Greeks was a revolutionary step away from this system. Although Greek society was also greatly influenced by their polytheistic religion, they took an intellectual approach to the study of the man-nature relationship. Instead of acce... ... middle of paper ... ...aith and theology. Christianity was declared the official religion of the state and was used to bind a vastly diverse population together under a common faith. The people lost their say in public matters and their place in society and the justification for it was dictated to them by the unquestionable leaders of the church and the empire. It is evident that religions and their place in society have a profound effect on the growth, development, and accomplishments of a civilization. The theocracies that preceded and followed the Greeks certainly had a profound historical impact, but the tradition that would most greatly affect the development of the western mind was that of the Hellenistic world. The birth of democracy and a Golden Age of western scientific and cultural development occurred in the civilization that furthest separated its religion from its government. Work Cited Armstrong, Karen. A History of God: The 4000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1993. Eliade, Mircea. A History of Religious Ideas, 3 vols. Trans. Willard R. Trask. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1981. Kagan, The Western Heritage - 7th Edition,
One of the more popular religions that shared a role in influencing western civilization would be Christianity. Christianity is a monotheist religion that developed in a time period where polytheism was highly preferred. Although it had only a few followers in the beginning, it has made a lasting impression on civilization. One of its biggest roles was helping to end human sacrifice and slavery. Christians strongly disagreed in the degrading of human life. It was very common in the 1600’s for traditional punishments to be executed if someone had gone against you. Christianity shined a new light on the matter and gave an
Although the extent of its influence varied through the years, religion continued to command a central role in European politics, society, culture, and thought, from the late 16th century to the Enlightenment. As illustrated by the examples above, it remained a powerful tool of leaders used it in various capacities and to varying degrees.
...ve Theology of Maimonides and Aquinas." The Review of Metaphysics Vol 41,(June 1988) pp.723-738. Print .
Smith, Huston. World’s Religions: A Guide to our Wisdom Traditions. San Francisco: Harper Collins, 1994.
Esposito, John L., Darrell J. Fasching, and Todd Lewis. World Religions Today. 3rd ed. New
Originally the Romans and the Greeks worshiped a lot of gods linked to the forces of nature. To be influenced by other people, they introduce new goods. The religious freedom is a particular side of the freedom of expression, representing the free and intellectual individual will of binding and choosing or not a religion. The particular aspect consists in that religion is not limited by its transposition in faith, but gives rise to practices ensuring the free exercise of religion. One of the most extremely felt, dominant and a significant force in civilization is religion. Religious thinking inspires human action and religious groups to put in order their shared religious expressions. The ancient Greek and Roman culture had an intensely rooted spiritual background and all the citizens were intensely spiritual. The gods and goddesses who they believed in have stories about them. The stories have helped everyone to learn on how things were created and to learn about the two cultures. Religious expressions let people to liberally express his or her knowledge through re...
Ronald A. Wells, History Through the eyes of faith: Western Civilization and the kingdom of God (New York: Harper One, 1989),16
Between the years of 300 and 800 C.E different cultures’ religion and politics were correlated to each other. Religion is commonly linked to politics because it is an important aspect of people lives. Even though some influences may be negative or positive towards the people, the religion’s protocol is always a major factor. Christianity caused uproar in the Roman faith, so they created laws that affected their environment and laws that were unfair to Christians. Islam positively affected the government and improved their environment. These different religions will show the different impact it brought among their people.
Clifford Geertz has focused more on the symbolic power of religion. He has talked about the fact that it is the symbolic power of religion that has a strong influence on the people. It is the religion, in accordance to Clifford that helps the people in understanding the place that the people have in the world. The actions that are undertaken by the people are also defined by the religion. Based on the arguments that have been given by Clifford, it can be added here that there is a great effect of religion and the religious values on the kind of politics being observed in the nations (Pals 309). When we talk about the religion, it can be added here that we are talking about the set of beliefs as well as the ethical values, which are used in the creation of the world and the ways in which the world is managed. So where does the symbolic state of religion stand in the modern political world. One of the main facts that need to be mentioned here is that politics is related with the development certain motivations in men. These motivations need to be powerful and long lasting. It has been found in the case of the definition of religion by Geertz. He has added that religion provides a set of symbols that develop long lasting, modulations in the people. There is no doubt about the fact that the politics and democracy has more to do with the development of strong states and nations. There needs to be a general order of existence in the nations and states, which leads to strong nations. Nations that are more democratic are the ones having strong order of existence. This is the order that has been mentioned in the definition of a ‘symbolic’ religion by Geertz (Pals 313). Thereby from here, it would not be wrong to add that the religion and ...
For example, the caliphs of Islam which were also Muhammad’s successor, combined political and religious authority. It is said that, one of the main purposes of the empire is to enlighten and convert the people to Islam as well as to govern them according to the laws prescribed by Muhammad himself. Besides that, we have also observed how the Byzantine Empire associated the church and the state. The conversion of Barbarian kings to Christianity, the giving of blessing by the church to their rule and the coining of the title “Holy Roman Emperor” by the Pope show just how much religions had influenced the governments of that era. In the later part of history, democratic governments started to arise replacing hereditary monarchies. This happened in the U.K. after the Glorious Revolution in 1688, whereby the power of the monarch was reduced so greatly and replaced by the Parliament. Wars are now very scarce as governments always seek for more harmonious relationships with each other. Trades are key in the development of a nation. Education is also thought to be essential for a better and more successful
At the rise of the Roman Empire they began to be influenced by a new type of religion, one that the people of Greece had worshiped for many years. Soon the Roman Empire would t...
Eastman, Roger. The Ways of Religion: An Introduction to the Major Traditions. Third Edition. Oxford University Press. N.Y. 1999
Religions of the ancient world were in a state of constant flux. Karl Jaspers states that between the eighth and fourth centuries B.C.E, “great changes took place in all the civilized world” (qtd. in Basham 36), and the great thinkers of these times began thinking independently and individually. Moreover, “after these great thinkers the world was never the same again” (qtd. in Basham 36-37). These times were dubbed the “axial period” (qtd. in Basham 37). The axial religions that emerged during this period were profound and lasting. In fact, the religions discussed in this paper—Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Christianity—are considered the most practiced religions to do this day. Although these religions have changed over time, their underlying structure remains intact.
Oxtoby, Willard G., and Alan F. Segal. A Concise Introduction to World Religions. Oxford, Canada: Oxford University Press, 2007.
The Roman Catholics represented the largest branch of Christianity and it was headed by the Pope. Early Christians were persecuted during the Roman Empire. The clergy were important in guiding the rulers and the politics of the Roman Empire. The church served as a unifying factor between the people and the politicians. However, in the Middle ages the church took over from the Roman Empire and offered leadership at the helm of power. The church influenced politics and culture. The church took over governance through a pope who was the head of the catholic church at the time. The church undertook political functions as well as religious functions. The church was responsible for both the laws of the Almighty God and those laws of the land. The catholic church has made political advancements through taking up the role of advancing education and development. The church was responsible for political advice when the Kings asked for their wise counsel. The church and religious leaders had an important role in ensuring that there was a peaceful existence in the empires under different political rulers. In 452, the church played a role in European politics when the religious leaders met Attila the Hun and advised him change his decision about invading Italy. The pope played an important advisory role in shaping the politics of ancient civilizations (Backman, p