IMPACT OF CHRISTIANITY HISTORICALLY

IMPACT OF CHRISTIANITY HISTORICALLY

I. JESUS

1. Important Statements of Jesus

John 9:5

“…I am the light of the world.”

John 14:6

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the

Father except through Me

Matthew 28:19-20

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of

the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20  teaching them to observe all

things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end

of the age

Matthew 6:9-10

Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. 10 Your kingdom come. Your will

be done On earth as it is in heaven

John 3:16

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever

believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life

John 10:10

The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come

that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly

Matthew 24:14

And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to

all the nations, and then the end will come

II. THE INFLUENCE OF CHRIST IN HISTORY

This series is about Truth. It’s about defending hot topic cultural issues of our day.

Our standard of truth is derived from the Word of God. The gospels espouse the

teachings of Christ and the New Testament continues the tradition. The effects of

this document are widespread.

Christianity has had a profound impact throughout history. A world without Christ is

one no one would want to live in. There is no doubt He (Jesus ) Has made things

better for humanity on every way. Some of His followers have not always followed

his heart or dictates. They have at times not represented Jesus well. Nonetheless all

of civilization owes a debt of gratitude to the influence of the teaching of Christ.

There is a significant effort today to demonize Christianity and Christ. But

Christianity, not without it’s stains, has been a force for incredible good in the world.

I will share a few of the historical benefits.

 In the ancient world, Jesus’ teachings lifted archaic standards of morality, stopped

infanticide, prospered human life, liberated women, abolished slavery, inspired

charities and relief organizations, created hospitals, established orphanages, and

founded schools.

In medieval times, Christianity almost single-handedly kept classical culture alive by

preserving and transcribing manuscripts, building libraries, moderating warfare

through truce days, and providing dispute arbitration. Christians invented colleges

and universities.

In this modern era, Christian teaching, properly expressed, resulted in advanced

science, greater liberty and freedom, resulted in more justice, and impacted the arts

more than any other source.

Schmidt, Alvin J.. How Christianity Changed the World (p. 8). Zondervan. Kindle

Edition.

There are several areas that Christ and His followers have made a huge difference.

They are:

 Roman Culture

 Mores and Values

 Sex and Marriage

 The Role and Status of Women

 Charity and Compassion

 Hospitals and Medical Advancement

 Education

 Labor and Economics

 Scientific Advocacy and Advancement

 Liberty and Justice

 Abolition of Slavery

 Language

 Many More

Today we will focus briefly on just a few of these areas.

1. Christianity’s Impact on Roman Culture

2. Christianity’s Impact on the Role and Status of Women

Next Week:

3. Christianity’s Impact on Education

4. Hospitals and Compassion

5. Christianity’s Impact on the Abolition of Slavery

III. CHRISTIANITY AND ROME

Early Christians defied the entire systems of Rome’s morality

The Romans had a very low view of life while Christians had a very high view of life.

The early Christians believed that every one was created in the image and likeness of

God

Gen 1:27

So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male

and female He created them.

Psalm 8:4-5

What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him? 5

For You have made him a little lower than the angels, And You have crowned him

with glory and honor

1. Infanticide

In the Greek and Roman Culture reasons those born deformed or physically

weak were mostly killed. Mostly by drowning but some in more brutal ways.

Girls were killed the most

Saints stood up against this and as a result Valentinian, a Christian emperor who

was sufficiently influenced by Bishop Basil of Caesarea in Cappadocia, formally

outlawed infanticide in 374 (Codex Theodosius 9.41.1). He was the first one to

do so. 1

Infanticide was never eliminated but it was greatly reduced.

2. Abandonment

The Romans also practiced abandoning children for any cause. The church

Fathers such as Tertullian and others stood against this but they also rescued

and adopted the abandoned children

Many laws were passed that outlawed abandonment as a result of Christian

influence but it was not stamped out totally

3. Gladiatorial Games

Early Greeks and Romans embraced Stocism. No regard for the weak and

defenseless of society. Christianity’s high view of life had a great impact on

Society’s ending the games.

Ex. Brutality of it all. - Animals and Humans. - 5000 in one day

Ex. 911 won’t show those dying (Christian Influence)

4. Human Sacrifices

a. Jewish History

When you see Baal Worship you see Human and child Sacrifice.

Ex. Archeologist have found infants that Ahab and Jezebel sacrificed

b. Irish before St Patrick would sacrifice Humans

c. Prussians and Lithuanians even until the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries

sacrificed Humans

d. Aztec Indians in Mexico

It was the human doctrine that human life is sacred that began to put an end to

these atrocities.

5. Suicide

To take one’s own life was an act of self-glory. Hence, it is not surprising to find

that suicide was widely practiced on all levels of society.

Christian opposition to suicide over the centuries influenced and prompted

Western nations to outlaw it.

6. Cannibalism

During World War II on a remote island in the Pacific, an American soldier met a

native who could read, and the native was carrying a Bible. Upon seeing the

Bible, the soldier said, “We educated people no longer put much faith in that

book.” The native, from a tribe of former cannibals, replied, “Well, it’s good that

we do, or you would be eaten by my people today.” 2

IV. THE STATUS AND ROLE OF WOMEN

Gal 3:28

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male

nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus

What would the status of women be if Christ never came?

Ex. Lets look at countries who have rejected Christian Influence

 Some Islamic countries women still have to be veiled

 In Saudi Arabia can only drive since 2017

 Koran on Women:

A man has the right to beat and sexually desert his wife, all with the full support

of the Koran, which says,

“Men stand superior to women. . . .But those whose perverseness ye fear,

admonish them and remove them into bedchambers and beat them; but if they

submit to you then do not seek a way against them” (Sura 4:34). 3

 The Word

Eph 5:25,28

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself

for her, 28  So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who

loves his wife loves himself

1. Greeks and women

Athenian women were not permitted to leave her house unless she was

accompanied by a trustworthy male escort, commonly a slave appointed by her

husband. 4

The only woman who had some freedom was the hetaera (het era), or mistress, who

often accompanied a married man when he attended events outside his home. The

hetaera was the man’s companion and sexual partner. 5

 The average Athenian woman had the social status of a slave.

Ex. Boys school girls could not

Ex. Female infanticide was much greater than male

2. Romans and Women

While many upper-class girls informally received some education in grammar and

reading, a Roman wife, like her Athenian counterpart, was not allowed to be present

with her husband’s guests at a meal. 6

There were numerous other restrictions on women as well. For instance, a married

woman was commonly under the Roman law of manus, which placed her under the

absolute control of her husband, who had ownership of her and all her possessions. 7

A man could divorce her if she merely went out in public without a veil, according to

Plutarch (Romulus 22.3). She could never divorce him.

A woman could not even tell her husband’s slave what to do 8

This law was still in force in the early part of the fifth century and received strong

criticism from Augustine, the Christian bishop of Hippo in northern Africa.

3. Hebrews and Women

Although it did not use women sexually in religious activities, the Hebrew culture

was in some other ways as badly biased against women as was the culture of the

Greco-Romans. This was particularly true during the rabbinic era (ca. 400 B.C. to ca.

A.D. 300). The rabbinic oral law (now essentially recorded in the Talmud and

Midrash), like the customs of the Greeks and Romans, barred women from testifying

in court (Yoma 43b). 9

4. Jesus and Women

a. He treated women humanely and respectful

John 4:5-29 (Woman at the Well)

b. Mary and Martha (Luke 10:38-42)

Jesus taught Mary as a Rabbi against rabbinic oral law

Sotah 3:4

“Let the words of the Law [Torah] be burned rather than taught to women. . . . If

a man teaches his daughter the Law, it is as though he taught her lechery.”

c. He appeared to women and sent her to tell the disciples after His Resurrection`

Matthew 28:10

Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell My brethren to go to

Galilee, and there they will see Me

d. Woman with the issue of Blood (Mark 5:25-34)

5. Paul and Women

a. House church Leaders

Apphia, “our sister,” was a leader in a house church in the city of Colossae

(Philemon 2).

In Laodicea, there was Nympha, who had a “church in her house” (Colossians

4:15).

In Ephesus, Priscilla, with her husband Aquila, had a church that met “at their

house” (1 Corinthians 16:19). Paul called Priscilla one of his “fellow workers”

(Romans 16:3)

Phoebe in Romans 16:1–2 is referred to by the male title of diakonos (deacon), a

position she held in the church at Cenchreae. Paul did not use any feminine form

of the word.

Pheobe  had a “position of authority in the churches.” 10

6. Other Issues

 Child Brides..

 Freedom to Dress…

 Freedom to Vote

 Ending Burning Widows

James 1:27

Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans

and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world

 Jesus had compassion on the widow of Nain, whose son he raised from the dead

(Luke 7:11–15).

He chided the Pharisees for taking financial advantage of widows (Mark 12:40),

He commended the widow gave two mites in her offering (Luke 21:2–3).

Writing to Timothy, St. Paul urged him to have the Ephesian Christians, especially

the children and grandchildren, honor their widowed mothers (1 Timothy 5:3–4).

NOTES

1 Schmidt, Alvin J.. How Christianity Changed the World (p. 51). Zondervan. Kindle

Edition.

 2 Cited by James Hefley, What’s So Great About the Bible? (Elgin, Ill.: David C.

Cook, 1966), 76.

3 Schmidt, Alvin J.. How Christianity Changed the World (p. 97). Zondervan. Kindle

Edition.

4. Charles Albert Savage, The Athenian Family: A Sociological and Legal Study

(Baltimore: n.p., 1907), 29.

5 Verena Zinserling, Women in Greece and Rome (New York: Abner Schram, 1972),

39.

6 Balsdon, Roman Women, 272.

7. Ibid. p. 276

8. (Aulus Gellius Noctium Gellius 17.6). According to lex Voconia (a law enacted in

169 B.C.)

9. Schmidt, Alvin J.. How Christianity Changed the World (p. 102). Zondervan.

Kindle Edition.

10. E. A. Judge, “Early Christians as a Scholastic Community,” Journal of Religious

History 1 (1960–61): 128.