Analyzing Christianity's Impact on Western Culture and Society

This essay examines the multifaceted role of Christianity in shaping Western culture and civilization. It highlights Christianity's contributions to ending slavery, elevating the status of women, and improving interpersonal relationships. The paper discusses how the teachings of Christianity contradicted the practice of slavery, influenced the treatment of women in society, and fostered a sense of individual importance and interdependence. The essay references historical events, such as the Alexandrian Plague, to illustrate the impact of Christian values on social practices, particularly in the development of charity and care for the sick. The author concludes that Christianity played a significant role in the development of Western institutions like democracy, equality, rule of law, and capitalism.

Running head: ROLE OF CHRISTIANITY IN SHAPING THE WEST
Role of Christianity in Shaping the West
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1ROLE OF CHRISTIANITY IN SHAPING THE WEST
The role played by Christianity in the field of civilisation has been intertwined in
historical manner with the history and the formation of the Western society. There are several
positive contributions of Christianity in the formation of Western culture (McMohan, 2017).
However, the positive contribution of Christianity towards the history is widely
underestimated and ignored by many. This paper will elaborate on discussing the various
ways by means of which Christianity has shaped the Western culture and civilisation.
It is to note that Christianity has significantly aided to the ending of the practise of
slavery in the West. The efforts of William Wilberforce along with all his Christ followers for
ending the modern practise of slavery while facing the then stiff resistance was something
that stand out. According to Duderija and Rane (2019), the evil rationalisation of some of the
relatively modern owners of the slave got contradicted with the teachings and the character of
Christ. However, it should also be mentioned that the true form of Christianity never played
in for of or have supported the idea of slavery. Even the shortage of the criticism of slavery in
some versus of New Testament in relation to the prevailing cultural institution of slavery is
different from the modern abuses practices in the western part of the world including Haiti,
England, Africa and the Southern part of United States. The slaves present in the ancient
culture were all merged very easily into the then population. There were some who also held
the government offices. As per the New Testament, it did not call for abolition but have
admonished the owners of the slave for treating the slaves in kind way and at the same time,
have also admonished the grant of freedom for some specific individuals.
Furthermore, it is also to mention in this context that Christianity has also helped in
elevating the status of women in the Western society and culture. The status of women was
once extremely low, particularly the Jewish, Roman and the Greek women (Grant, 2017).
This low status was radially positively influenced by the appearance of the Jesus Christ and
his values. As claimed by Scotland (2018), the culturally defying acceptance of the notion

2ROLE OF CHRISTIANITY IN SHAPING THE WEST
that Jesus Christ have accorded the women in the society, was not lost on the then apostolic
churches. After the precedent of Christ, the early Christians started ignoring the restrictive
and confining cultural rituals and norms for which the women of the then society were
subjected. Very soon, after the physical resurrection of Christ, all his followers started
assembling on every first day of the week on a regular basis for renewing their joy and
happiness of such a unique miracle. They started getting assembled in their homes or
synagogues that were earlier known as the house churches. Latter, gradually, the women were
often treated predominantly, not only as worshipers but also as the leaders. The prominence
and importance that were given to the women, taking into consideration the resurrection of
Jesus Christ was not heard of in the Western Culture ever before.
Moreover, Christianity has also contributed significantly in the field of improving
interpersonal relations in the Western Society. It has developed the importance and
significance of individual persons in the Western world. It has influenced the view of the
civilisation of individual related to the other individuals. Sociology, actually lies on the
notion of “chains of interdependence” and this refers to the interpersonal connections among
the individuals present in the society where each and every person is in some or the other
sense relied and dependent on the others. It is the Christianity, particularly the Reformation of
the Christianity that has had deepen and ensured long lasting influence of this area. With the
same, Christianity has also promoted the practise of caring for the other individuals who are
sick and dying. Ludder and Edwards (2018) in the context of an Alexandrian Plague that took
place about 250 A.D have claimed that “thrust aside anyone who started to be sick and kept
aloof even from their dearest friends, and cast the sufferers out upon the public roads half
dead, and left them unburied, and treated them with utter contempt when they died.” It is also
to mention in this context that the charity hospitals were never really existed until and unless
Christianity have introduced them.

3ROLE OF CHRISTIANITY IN SHAPING THE WEST
Hence, from the above analysis it can be concluded that religious indeed has a played
a significant and leading role in directing a course of history. Christianity has been crucial in
the development of the Western culture and civilisation in the sense that it was the one to
provide the forms of thoughts in absence of which the then institutions of West like
democracy, equality, rule of law, capitalism would possibly never have come to fruition.

4ROLE OF CHRISTIANITY IN SHAPING THE WEST
References:
Duderija, A., & Rane, H. (2019). Islam and Muslims in the West: History and Current
Demographics. In Islam and Muslims in the West (pp. 9-30). Palgrave Macmillan,
Cham.
Grant, J. (2017). White women's Christ and black women's Jesus. Womens Studies in
Religion.
Ludder, C. J., & Edwards, D. H. (2018). Being Lutheran Today: A Layperson’S Guide to Our
History, Belief and Practice. AuthorHouse.
McMahon, R. (2017). Religion, civilisation, geography: normative EU studies and eastern
enlargement. Journal of Contemporary European Studies, 25(3), 307-324.
Scotland, N. (2018). The Role of Revivalist Religion in the Campaigns for Social Reform and
Equal Rights of Nineteenth-Century Women in England and America. European
Journal of Theology, 27(1).