Chapter 15 (719-739)

Two Intersecting cultural trends that continue to play out in the 21^st century

1.         Spread of Christianity to Asians, Africans, and Native Americans
2.         The emergence of a modern scientific outlook
3.         The second one sharply challenged Western Christianity even as it too acquired a global presence

Christianity was a cultural tradition largely limited to Europe in 1500 had now become a world religion.

The Reformation began in 1517 when a German priest, Martin Luther, publically invited debate about various abuses within the Catholic Church. The document known as the “Ninety-Five Theses” gave accounts for which many knew was happening within the church concerning popes, priests, etc.

·       Neither the good works of a sinner nor the sacraments of the Church had any bearing on the eternal destiny of the soul

·       Faith was a gift from God, granted to his needy and undeserving people

These were not the teachings of a priest, but merely the reading of the Bible interpreted by the individuals conscious. All these things challenged the authority of the Church and questioned the unique position of the clerical hierarchy and the pope in particular. Reformation spread quickly within and beyond Germany, thanks to the invention of the printing press.

Thirty Years War (1618-1648) a Catholic and Protestant struggle that began in the Holy Roman Empire and quickly engulfed most of Europe

Missionaries (mostly Catholic) actively spread the Christian messages beyond European communities. They were the Dominicans; Franciscans, and Jesuits, Portuguese missionaries took the lead in Africa and Asia. Spanish and French missionaries were most prominent in the Americas.

The conquest of Aztec and Inca empires created a setting in which the religion of the victors took hold in Spanish American colonies. Women who held roles as shamans or priests did not have a complementary role in the Catholic Church.

·       Europeans sought to eradicate all local and native religions by destroying ritual objects, shrines and religious images.

·       Religious Revivalist Movement- Peru 1560s known as the Taki Onqoy (dancing sickness)

·       They encouraged locals to cut contact with Spanish and reject Christian worship

Chinese encounter with Christianity

Unlike the America’s who were conquered and required to practice Christian faith, the Chinese had no threat to their political independence

•  Europeans needed authority from Chinese authorities to operate in the country
• They pointed to parallels between Confucianism and Christianity
• They chose to define Chinese rituals as honoring the emperor or civil observances
• Christianity spread modestly to China as opposed to Spanish America

Confucianism, Buddhism, Daoism and A multitude of Chinese Gods supplied the spiritual needs of most Chinese

By the 18th century, the pope forbade the Chinese Christians to worship Confucius. That's the turning point of the religious relationship between the Europeans and the Chinese. Europeans failed to have Christianity as a prominent presence in China.

Neither China or India experienced cultural or religious change as dramatic as that of the Reformation in Europe does not do Confucian or Hindu cultures during the early modern era spread widely, as did Christianity and Islam.

China- Neo-Confucianism

Bhakti- Indian form of Hinduism. Appealing to women.

Guru Nanak- Punjab. There is no Hindu or Muslim, there is only God.