Timothy Head
Civilizations rise and civilizations fall. But the greatest and most enduring civilizations can also adapt. Western civilization and Western values are not in decline as much as they are adapting to the irreversible move toward globalization.
When the city of Rome crumbled, the city of God took its place. Christianity blossomed in the Middle Ages, and by the Renaissance, the popes saw themselves and the Church as the heirs to the greatness that was Rome. There was a unique cultural chemistry that brought about the extraordinary rise and proliferation of Christianity. Non-Christian religions in the ancient world were static religions of magic and myth that failed to keep pace with advances in dynamic philosophy and human mobility. Meanwhile, the thinkers of Greece and Rome admired the religious genius of Judaism. These philosophers recognized the brilliance of monotheism and the contribution Judaism brought in linking morality to religion.
The writers of the New Testament and the early Christian fathers were able to synthesize the monotheism and morality of Judaism with the insights of the philosophers. Importantly, in the expansive, transient, multi-ethnic era of the Roman Empire, Christianity was socially, culturally, and ethnically flexible while still providing a clear doctrinal and moral framework. And it was a revolutionary and practical religion in that it taught personal choice, hence calling for personal responsibility.
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