Analysis of the Evolution of Christian Doctrines in Middle Ages

This essay delves into the evolution of Christian doctrines during the Middle Ages, examining the significant transformations within the religion from the early medieval period. It explores the influence of key figures like the Bishops and the Pope, and how they shaped the societal structure, particularly in Europe. The essay highlights the shift of Christianity into the official religion of Europe and the development of Christian doctrines. It also analyzes the conflicts between the laity and clergy, and the impact of Christian culture, including art, architecture, and conversion, on the society. The essay also references the views of theologians and critics, and the importance of historical context in understanding the evolution of Christianity. The study uses references from various sources to provide a comprehensive understanding of the evolution of Christian doctrines during the Middle Ages.

Running head: EVOLUTION OF CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES IN MIDDLE AGES
Evolution of Christian Doctrines in Middle Ages
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1EVOLUTION OF CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES IN MIDDLE AGES
The concept of the Christian doctrines has always been a matter of discussion in the
earlier years of the medieval period. The society was completely drowned with conflicts between
the countries. Many historians have called this period to be the Dark Ages because of several
reasons.1 The concept of Christian faith was completely divergent from the previous years to be
precise. The connection between the religious spokespersons in various countries and aristocratic
people has been acknowledged by several historians.
Therefore, this essay will look to find out how various Christian doctrines came up to
create an influence on people around the world. The role of the Bishops of the churches has been
known to dominate the entire social structure through their commands. The aristocratic society
also stood by the bishops and religious figures during those times. The evolution of the
patriarchal society mostly in Europe will be the main talking point by identifying how Christian
doctrines shaped it completely.
The impact of Christianity had been completely different during these times if it is
compared to the first three centuries. Christianity became the official and supreme religion of
Europe and almost all people followed this religion instead of other pagan ones. The
understanding about the Christianity slowly began to change during this period. According to the
critics of Christian principles, it has been said that some pastors or priests like St. Augustine of
Hippo, St. Jerome and others went on to spread the Christian religion across the world so they
could develop the thought and influence of Christianity in their minds. Many unique events
1 Southern, Richard. The Penguin history of the Church: Western society and the Church in the middle ages.
Penguin UK, 2016.\

2EVOLUTION OF CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES IN MIDDLE AGES
began to take place in Rome during those times and Pope took the early initiative to establish the
supreme dominance of Christianity in the continent.
Pope turned out to be the supreme spokesperson for the Christian faith in the Latin faith.
This marked the beginning of the supreme Christian dominance in the Western Europe. They
began to spread the Christendom in the entire Europe and wanted to establish the religion as an
institution of faith.2 The Bishops and Pope together made up the institution and they set up the
patriarchal system in Constantinople. The doctrines of Christianity were designed by these
bishops and the Pope so they could gain the highest command in the society. This would
strengthen their positions in the society also.
The development of the Christian drama came to the forefront after 1000 CE. The faith in
the institution of Christianity began to grow in the 14th and 15th centuries. This was the manner in
which social structure was beginning to be rearranged properly. The progress of Latin
Christendom was immense in the society and Pope took the leading role in this. The thoughts
and influences were designed through the Christian canons and doctrines properly. The
enlightenment of the society was being processed after the Dark Ages just like the Renaissance.
This process of Christian enlightenment was similar to the social reformation. The Jews
had been segregated from the society where Latin Christendom began to flourish. The hierarchy
was set up in the society based on the Christendom and Christian doctrines became the
dominating part in this scenario. The set of doctrines had been established and it needed the
proper evolution so the social hierarchy could remain in the following years. The concepts of
2 Southern, Richard. The Penguin history of the Church: Western society and the Church in the middle ages.
Penguin UK, 2016.\

3EVOLUTION OF CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES IN MIDDLE AGES
Roman Catholicism had been included in the Christian doctrines and its essence was the driving
force behind running the society properly.
In the criticism of these concepts, theologians have reflected on the usefulness of those
doctrines in the society. The articulations of the doctrines have been put under the lens of
criticism in an intensified manner. Many groups of society disagreed with the teachings provided
by the clergymen in that society. The dominance of Christendom had been challenged by many
people during those times as well.3 Their basic point was to convince people regarding the truth
of God and helping people to attain the salvation. The clergymen wanted to establish the faith of
Jesus Christ in the minds of everyone in the society. They were sure that Christian canonical
texts and other Scriptures would help them to do so. The word of God would help them to
achieve the salvation from all their sins. The evolution of the Christian doctrines became clear
when the conflicts between the laity and official clergy became prominent. Both these groups
were seminal parts of Christianity but he official clergymen had rights to practice Christianity
properly and preach it with the help of canonical texts and sacraments.4
The religious changes in the early ages were coming very thick and fast. The historical
development of the Christian religion should be comprehended properly so its roots could be
identified.5 Apart from that, the conflicts and transformations of both the sections of Christianity
3 Wood, Ian. The modern origins of the Early Middle Ages. OUP Oxford, 2013.
4 McGrath, Alister E. Christian theology: An introduction. John Wiley & Sons, 2016.
5 Harle, Wilfried. Outline of Christian Doctrine: An Evangelical Dogmatics. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2015.

4EVOLUTION OF CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES IN MIDDLE AGES
named Protestant and Catholicism became clarified.6 These two sections were very clear in the
early middle ages and Reformations had to be done in the Christian religion for its betterment.
The context of periodization has been a huge problem to identify the roots of Christian doctrines.
The historical progress of Christianity has been characterized by the historical periodization of
the events.7
The investigation of the traces of historical periodization should be done properly to
understand its developments. The developments had also taken place in the spheres of art and
craft in that era.8 Many new architectures and sculptures had been crafted by the influence of
Christianity. Christian symbols were painted and inscribed on the architectural buildings. This
shows the high extent of influence that Christendom had put through. The differences between
the medieval and early modern can also be designed through these depictions of Christian
models. Critics found out through their investigation process that the main essence of
Christianity had lost its way in the medieval periods due to the misinterpretation and hierarchy of
6 Hardison Jr, Osborne Bennett. Christian Rite and Christian Drama in the Middle Ages: Essays in the Origin and
Early History of Modern Drama. JHU Press, 2019.
7 Langton, Edward. Good and Evil Spirits: A Study of the Jewish and Christian Doctrine, Its Origin and
Development. Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2014.
8 Pelikan, Jaroslav. The Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine, Volume 5: Christian
Doctrine and Modern Culture (since 1700). Vol. 5. University of Chicago Press, 2018.

5EVOLUTION OF CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES IN MIDDLE AGES
ecclesiastical regime.9 The concepts of conversion into Christianity were probably the most
effective way of evolution of Christian doctrines.
The clergymen and pastors began the process of Christian conversion pointing towards
the messages of the Scripture.10 The historiographic factors are really very crucial aspects to
describe the impacts of Christendom on the society. Critics in the later period claimed that the
society of early middle ages in Europe was responsible for the spreading of Christianity in a
random manner. they also argued that people of Europe in the early middle ages wee converted
into Christianity in a superficial manner. This was done at the beginning of the Reformation in
those years. The chronological factors are important in this connection and this should be
identified to figure out the impacts of this Christian conversion.11 The growth of the Christian
culture was seen in the most complicated manner and individual reformers came to the scenario
to assist in the evolution of the Christian doctrines. These doctrines were developed through the
explanations of the church people.
The interviews had been arranged with the clergymen of the current times to find out how
they view this phenomenon. The impact of the Christian doctrines on the society is recognized to
9 Brunner, Emil. The Christian Doctrine of the Church, Faith, and the Consummation: Dogmatics: Vol. III. Vol. 3.
Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2014.
10 Torrance, Thomas F. The Christian doctrine of God, one being three persons. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2016.
11 Brunner, Emil. The Christian Doctrine of God: Dogmatics: Vol. I. Vol. 1. Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2014.

6EVOLUTION OF CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES IN MIDDLE AGES
be very effective.12 They have stated their opinions regarding this issue. They believe the
Christian doctrines with the help of Scriptures were very influential to convince the pagans to
convert into Christianity. Though it was forcibly done they had to think about the ways of how
they could get away from their sins and attain salvation to go to Heaven after death. The
outcomes of these interviews have also recognized the effect of the contemporary Christian
culture on the minds of common people. The cultures of the Christian fraternity had been
enhanced by the simple concepts of the Bible and New Testament. All these things had been
helpful for Christian clergymen to impress the common people about their thoughts and beliefs.13
The Christian priests also showed their faith in the religion because Christianity was
believed to be a cultural tradition as well as a religious one. The creativity in the cultural
traditions of Christianity was probably one of the reasons as to why Christian doctrines came to
prominence.14 The tradition of faith was the component that shaped the culture of Christianity in
a large manner. The evolution of the Christian culture could be observed in the curved paintings
and inscriptions in the Christian architectural buildings like churches and large cathedrals. The
12 Davie, Grace, Paul Heelas, and Linda Woodhead, eds. Predicting religion: Christian, secular and alternative
futures. Taylor & Francis, 2017.
13 Mensah, Yaw M. "An analysis of the effect of culture and religion on perceived corruption in a global
context." Journal of Business Ethics 121, no. 2 (2014): 255-282.
14 Ziegler, Robert. "Augustine of Hippo’s Doctrine of Scripture: Christian Exegesis in Late Antiquity." Primary
Source 5, no. 2 (2015).

7EVOLUTION OF CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES IN MIDDLE AGES
manuscripts were also illuminated to show the grandeur of the Christian cultures.15 These
evolutions were helpful for the growth of Christian faith among people of contemporary society.
In the concluding section of the essay, it must be said that the Christian doctrines have
been evolving in the last few centuries a lot. The changes began from the early middle ages and
Christian doctrines were used to spread Christianity throughout the world. The Roman Empire
was largely influenced by the Christian cultural and traditional faith. The conversion of
Christianity was due to create an influence in the patriarchal society. The use of manuscripts and
inscriptions in the cathedrals are tremendous examples of these new developments according to
the Christian faith.
15 Waters, Brent. From human to posthuman: Christian theology and technology in a postmodern world. Routledge,
2016.

8EVOLUTION OF CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES IN MIDDLE AGES
References
Brunner, Emil. The Christian Doctrine of God: Dogmatics: Vol. I. Vol. 1. Wipf and Stock
Publishers, 2014.
Brunner, Emil. The Christian Doctrine of the Church, Faith, and the Consummation: Dogmatics:
Vol. III. Vol. 3. Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2014.
Davie, Grace, Paul Heelas, and Linda Woodhead, eds. Predicting religion: Christian, secular
and alternative futures. Taylor & Francis, 2017.
Hardison Jr, Osborne Bennett. Christian Rite and Christian Drama in the Middle Ages: Essays in
the Origin and Early History of Modern Drama. JHU Press, 2019.
Harle, Wilfried. Outline of Christian Doctrine: An Evangelical Dogmatics. Wm. B. Eerdmans
Publishing, 2015.
Langton, Edward. Good and Evil Spirits: A Study of the Jewish and Christian Doctrine, Its
Origin and Development. Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2014.
McGrath, Alister E. Christian theology: An introduction. John Wiley & Sons, 2016.
Mensah, Yaw M. "An analysis of the effect of culture and religion on perceived corruption in a
global context." Journal of Business Ethics 121, no. 2 (2014): 255-282.
Pelikan, Jaroslav. The Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine, Volume 5:
Christian Doctrine and Modern Culture (since 1700). Vol. 5. University of Chicago Press, 2018.
Southern, Richard. The Penguin history of the Church: Western society and the Church in the
middle ages. Penguin UK, 2016.\

9EVOLUTION OF CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES IN MIDDLE AGES
Torrance, Thomas F. The Christian doctrine of God, one being three persons. Bloomsbury
Publishing, 2016.
Waters, Brent. From human to posthuman: Christian theology and technology in a postmodern
world. Routledge, 2016.
Wood, Ian. The modern origins of the Early Middle Ages. OUP Oxford, 2013.
Ziegler, Robert. "Augustine of Hippo’s Doctrine of Scripture: Christian Exegesis in Late
Antiquity." Primary Source 5, no. 2 (2015).