Week Nine Blog

      Despite Christianity having been started by Jesus, we see that this is about one of the few things that many Christian denominations can agree in. Today, there are thousands of Christian denominations, and this difference is due to how each branch interprets the Holy Bible. However, in the beginning, Catholicism reigned alone. The first split came with the Byzantine east, which split Christianity into the European west, and Orthodox with the east. Some of the differences included language and culture. For example, Catholicism still used Latin as the language of the church and as elite communication in the West (473). However, this was abandoned by the Byzantines and they adopted Greek as their languages and they sought to formulate the church in terms of Greek philosophical concepts. Theological differences further set the two apart. For example, despite agreeing on fundamental doctrines, the two did not agree on the nature of the Trinity, the source of the Holy Spirit and on Original Sin.

       Looking at Western Europe, we can see how Catholicism thrived. Despite the fall of Rome, the Church was able to replace the Roman government, and served as a vacuum left by Rome (479). Through the Church's hierarchical organization of priests, Bishops, and cardinals and Popes, which was modeled after Rome's hierarchy, the Church took over as political and administrative functions. The Church also provided an exchange with the rulers. For example, rulers provided the church with protection for the papacy and a strong encouragement of faith. On the other hand, the Church provided religious legitimacy for the powerful and the prosperous (480). Furthermore, Western European expansion was taking place, as the eastern Byzantine world was contracting due to pressures from the West, as well as from the Arab/ Muslim invasion (485). In essence, the western part of Christendom was on the rise as the eastern half was in decline. The most dramatic show of expansion came in the form of the Crusades. However, despite successfully taking back the Holy Lands, the Crusades did not succeed in the long-run. Eventually, the lands were lost again.