REORG - Globalizing Religion Judaism & Christianity (Lesson)

Globalizing Religion Judaism & Christianity

As of right now—at this very moment in time—historians and theologians consider there to be five major world religions. This is because, as of right now, more than 70% of the world's population identifies with one of these religions. They are Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam. In previous units, we've discussed the origins and beliefs of Hinduism and Buddhism—how Hinduism evolved out of the Brahmanism of the early Vedic peoples and then how Buddhism emerged out of the Hindu religion as a separate belief system. We've also briefly discussed the political history of those who practiced Judaism during the ancient times. But now it's time to delve deeper into these five religions and determine which ones were "globalizing."

Judaism

Star of DavidLet's start with Judaism as we've only really just brushed up against this topic earlier. As you read before, the people of ancient Mesopotamia practiced polytheism, as did most people of that time around the world. The ancestors of the Hebrews (who were the ancestors of the Jews) were no exception—that is until one day god visited an old man named Abraham (or Abram). According to Jewish literature, God made a deal with Abraham- a covenant- whereby God would enable Abraham and his wife to have children (and they were really, really old at this time) who, in turn, would have many descendants and they would all have the land of Canaan. In return, Abraham and his descendants would only worship God—no more polytheism. Abraham agreed and a new religious practice emerged—monotheism.

Now, from previous lessons, we know that the ancient Hebrews did not have an easy time of it. As a tribe of people living under different imperial rule over the years, the ancient Hebrews were enslaved by the Egyptians until led to freedom by Moses; they wandered the desert for decades before establishing their homeland in Palestine; they were exiled from their promised homeland by a Neo-Babylonian king (who also destroyed their first Temple in Jerusalem;) they were sent back to Jerusalem by a Persian king and allowed to rebuild their Temple; until, ultimately, they were conquered by the Romans who sacked their Temple again and dispersed them into exile again in an event known as the Diaspora. Here's a quick illustration to help you visualize their history thus far in the narrative.

587 bce - Neo-Babylonian kind Nebuchadnezzar destroys the Hebrew Temple in Jerusalem and exiles the Hebrews 559-530 BCE - Persian king Cyrus the Great takes over and returns the Hebrews or Israelites to Jerusalem to form a religious state based on Hebrew law 300s bce - The Hebrew state flourished under Alexander the Great's reign 63 bce - Romans lay siege on Jerusalem and conquer the city. It is now part of the Roman Empire. Hebrew Temple in Jerusalem and exiles the Hebrews 70 ce - Roman General Titus grows weary of the Jewish revolts, sacks the Temple in Jerusalem and exiles the Jews once again in an event known as the Diaspora

Despite the Diaspora, Jewish communities in the Roman Empire continued to revolt. In the 2nd Century CE, they were targeted once again. Emperor Septimius Severus (r. 193-235 CE) ordered that all Jews must pay a specific tax and forbade their conversion from Judaism. Even after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the Jews remained a subordinated people practicing a faith caught somewhere between the Byzantine's official state religion of Orthodox Christianity and the outlawed heretics and practitioners of paganism. Byzantine Emperor Justinian passed laws that made it difficult for any non-Christian religions to be practiced in his empire. (For example, non-Christians were banned from owning Christian slaves. Also, the places of worship for non-Christians were ordered to be converted into Christian churches.) While these laws weren't well-enforced during his reign, they did set a precedent for future restrictive laws regarding Judaism within the Christian empire.  

Ironically, the very persecutions and hostile laws put in place to crush the Jews allowed them to spread out and thrive under both the Roman and the Byzantine Empires. Due to the Diaspora of 70 CE, Jewish communities were scattered throughout the Empire; and as these communities spoke the same language- Hebrew- they were able to communicate with each other when visiting foreign lands. Also, restrictive laws made certain professions unsustainable—an example being commercial agriculture as Jews were not allowed to own Christians as slaves (this would cut down on the available labor force put to work on a commercial farm.) Therefore, by 600 CE Jewish merchants were very successfully navigating the Eurasian trade routes and markets. Due to travel and trade (and the Diaspora and restrictive laws,) Jewish communities established settlements as far away from Palestine as modern-day Spain and Germany.

Despite this diffusion, Judaism did not become a "globalizing" or "universalizing" religion. Rather Jews remained both an ethnic and religious group living within larger populations. But out of Judaism grew a "globalizing" religion—Christianity.

 

Christianity

Christian_crossChristianity started as a religious sect within the larger religion of Judaism but grew to become the second major monotheistic religion in history. According to Christian literature God visited the Virgin Mary and impregnated her with his son. This son, raised by Mary and his stepfather in Judea within the Jewish faith, grew up to become a teacher of Judaism—but with a slight twist on how that faith should be practiced emphasizing love and acceptance over law. Naturally, this twist would not sit well with those in authority, whether in the Jewish Temple or the Roman government. After only three years on the road, sharing his message among fellow Jews, Jesus was arrested as a heretic at the age of thirty-three and sentenced to execution by the popular Roman method of crucifixion.

Usually the death of the main character would end a narrative, but Christian literature goes on to explain the story of Jesus's resurrection as proof that he was the son of God further illuminating how Jesus's teachings became a religion as his disciples continued his mission. Led by Paul of Tarsus (a converted extreme anti-Christian), the disciples wandered far and wide passing on Jesus's oral lessons on love and acceptance, God and the Afterlife. One change Paul made to the practice employed by Jesus in his teachings was to include non-Jews (or Gentiles) in the audience. Christianity's message that there was a kingdom greater than Rome (God's) and that the meek would inherit the earth appealed to many within the Roman Empire (as many of them were the meek.) Several decades after Jesus's crucifixion (around 100 CE), Christian churches appeared all over the Roman landscape.

With its rebellious message that Rome and the Elites weren't the end-all-be-all in the world, Christianity attracted lots of followers but a lot of scorn from those in power.  Periodically, that scorn would turn into outright persecution—some Roman Emperors were better known for this practice than others. These bouts of persecution continued on and off for the next two centuries. However, instead of scaring people away from the new religion, it seemed to reinforce it as those persecuted became martyrs and inspired others to join them. Another irony involving the Roman Empire and Christianity in its early days, is that the fact that the Roman Empire, as one vast "state," gave the new Christians a plethora of people and places they could easily travel to (remember all of the roads the Romans built) and pass on their message to in a common language.   Century after century, the former Jewish sect grew, gathered followers, experienced persecution, created martyrs and evolved into a major religion.

The big boost establishing Christianity as an influential and globalizing religion, however, came from an emperor himself. In early 4th Century CE, Emperor Constantine (of Constantinople fame) converted to Christianity and issued his Edict of Milan. The Edict of Milan guaranteed Christians legal status as members of a legal religion and prohibited any further persecutions. It also declared that past wrongs done to its members and its Church should be righted. Constantine, who was in the process of building his "Eastern Roman" capital, led by example with massive church-building projects in Constantinople and throughout his realm. If you look at the map below, you can see the expansion of Christianity throughout Eurasia and the Mediterranean World. The areas in dark blue depict the spread of Christianity up to 325 CE while the areas in light blue depict the spread of Christianity following Constantine's intervention through 600 CE.

Map of Spread of Christianity to AD 600

Before the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Rome adopted Christianity as the official state religion and established a "headquarters" for the Church in Rome. The spread of Christianity continued following the fall of the Western Roman Empire throughout Europe and was spread in the East and South by the Byzantine Empire as its official religion. In fact, the Byzantine Empire spent the next 1000 years with Christianity as its official state religion.

So why is Christianity considered a globalizing religion while the religion it grew out of (Judaism) is not?  Let's look at what makes a religion a globalizing or universalizing religion first.

 

Characteristics of a Universalizing Religion

  • an appeal to diverse populations (man/woman, rich/poor, free/slave)
  • flexibility and resilience as it travels from one culture/area to another
  • universal rules that guide behavior no matter time/place/existing culture
  • use of missionaries to recruit new believers
  • deep sense of community that unites believers
  • support from powerful empires or rulers

Based on these characteristics, we can make a checklist to illustrate why Christianity became a globalizing religion during the first several centuries of the Common Era while Judaism did not. (The below checklist is blank so that you can go through and visualize on your own what characteristics should be checked off for each religion.)

Characteristic

Judaism

Christianity

An appeal to diverse populations (men/women, rich/poor, free/slave)

 

 

Flexibility and resilience as it is travels from one culture/area to another

 

 

Universal rules that guide behavior no matter time/place/existing culture

 

 

Use of missionaries to convert new believers

 

 

The deep sense of community that unites believers

 

 

Support from powerful empires or rulers

 

 

As you were going through the checklist, you should have been mentally checking off which characteristic applied to whom—you probably noticed the biggest tipping point that made Christianity a "globalizing" religion—"support from powerful empires or rulers." While Christian missionaries did a lot in spreading the religion, it wasn't until Constantine and later emperors got on board that we see the explosion of Christianity as a major religion (think back to the above map.)

But Christianity was not the only globalizing/universalizing religion that reorganized human societies during the first centuries of the Common Era—there was another. And just like Christianity, this second globalizing/universalizing religion emerged from an older religion as well.

 

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