The World of Christendom

1. The World of Christendom Religion and Its Impact in Third-Wave Civilizations

2. Christianity Today • Global Christianity Today – 60% of the world’s Christians lived in Africa, Asia, or Latin America – Europe and North America largely outnumbered in relation to global Christianity

3. The Spread in the 6th and 7th Centuries • 6th and 7th Centuries –Christianity enjoyed an Afro-Eurasian reach – Arabia, Egypt, North Africa, Ethiopia, Nubia, Syria, Armenia, Persia, India, China, and Europe • over the next thousand years, however, Christianity witnessed drastic changes. • Why? What would be the leading factor in its global decline? • Spread of Islam throughout Asia and Africa, left Christianity to spread in Western Europe

5. Christianity’s Role • Christianity was to western Eurasia, as Chinese Civilization and Buddhism did to East Asia, and Islam did to the Middle East and beyond

6. Orthodox V Catholicism • Shape divide in the Christian world with the Byzantine Empire (Byzantium) – evolved a form of Christianity – Eastern Orthodox • Western or Latin Christianity occupied what we call Western Europe today • Fall of Western Roman Empire – collapse in 476 CE – weakening features = roads fell into disrepair, cities decayed, long-distance trade vanished. • Rise of Roman Catholic faith in the west relied on the Pope – had political independence - Eastern Orthodox church did not • Western Church rural, Byzantium = Constantinople

8. Hagia Sophia

9. Asian Christianity: • - Arabia – Christianity didn’t last • - Muslim forces took control of Jerusalem in 638 – the Dome of the Rock (687-691) – location sacred. To the Jews – the stone in which Abraham prepared to sacrifice his son Isaac to God, site of first two Jewish temples. To Christians, place where Jesus spread his teachings • - Syria and Persia, majority of people voluntarily turned to Islam • -Other regions, Armenia, Syria, Jerusalem = Christians pay jizya • - Depended on the local Muslim rulers if Christians could continue to practice or not.

10. Dome of the Rock

11. Nestorian Christianity • - Nestorian Christian communities – Syria, Iraq, Persia = Church of the East – survived the assault of Islam – abandoned their art and religious paintings – didn’t want to offend Muslims • - Nestorian Church took root in China under the Tang Dynasty – “Chinese-afying Christianity” = using Buddhist and Daoist concepts to translate the Christian message – book – Jesus Sutras, God = “cool wind,” Sin = “bad karma” • - Mid ninth century, China turned against all religions of foreign origin…why?

12. Mongols and China • -Mongol conquest of China led to a brief opportunity for Christianity – Mongols were tolerant of Nestorian Christians. Mongols appreciated Christians because they could eat meat and drink. • Mongol rule ended in 1368 – with the rise of the Confucian Ming Dynasty suppressed all other religions

13. Egypt = • Christianity was the dominant religion by the time of Muslim conquest around 640 – Egyptians continued to speak Coptic and practice their religion as dhimmis under tolerant Muslim rulers • - By the 13th century relations changed – with threats from the Crusaders and the Mongols, Muslim rulers questioned anyone of Christian faith • - Mid 14th Century – anti-Christian pogroms, destruction of churches – most rural Egyptians converted to Islam as a result – Arabic replaced Coptic. Some Christians remained, 10%

14. Nubia= • in the 5th and 6th Centuries = introduced by Egyptian traders and missionaries – parts of the Bible were translated into Nubian language. Cathedral in the Nubian City of Faras. Kings served as priests, Christian Bishops held state offices. • -Nubian armies defeated Arab invasions twice • -Nubian Christianity faced difficulties as Islamized tribes pushed into Nubia. By 1500 Nubian Christianity had largely disappeared

15. Ethiopia • – Axum rulers adopted Christianity in the 4th century. Ethiopia became a Christian inland = protected by the Red Sea and its Mountainous geography – distant from Islamic trade centers – Ethiopia not conducive to the spread of Islam • -Ethiopian Queen – Sheba – visited Solomon – has his child, connect blood line to Jesus – gives legitimacy to the ruler of Ethiopia – descendent of Jesus • -12th Century – linked 12 underground churches to create a New Jerusalem, since Jerusalem lay under the control of the Muslims

16. 12 Underground Churches