Historian: Christianity has been the world’s greatest engine for moral reform

_{Denyse O'Leary

December 29, 2019

Culture, Intelligent Design, Mind, Religion}

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Acknowledging church scandals and faithlessness, a Baylor historian writes,

But as Christians reflect on the incarnation and birth of Jesus Christ, it is a good time to remember that Christianity has massively contributed to good in world history as well. Other religions have done so, too, and Christianity’s effects are impossible to disconnect from the Jewish tradition from which it sprang. Christianity, however, is arguably the greatest engine of moral reform and cultural riches that the world has known.
That’s a big claim, but many studies and books back it up. To cite just one, sociologist Robert Woodberry showed in a landmark 2012 article that Christian missionaries were responsible for much of the global spread of cultural values such as “religious liberty, mass education, mass printing, newspapers, voluntary organizations, and colonial reforms” from Latin America to East Asia. For a century, skeptical scholars have lambasted missionaries as tools of the British and American empires. Sometimes those charges were warranted, as significant numbers of mission stations became sites of economic exploitation, or worse.
But Woodberry demonstrated that the enduring effects of Christian missions were overwhelmingly positive for the countries receiving them.
Thomas Kidd, “Christianity is the greatest engine of moral reform and cultural riches the world has known” at Dallas News

The decline of Christianity, among other things, means wars waged against intellectual freedom and freedom of conscience. The progressive has a right, after all, to a world where no one upsets him by having a different opinion.

Hat tip: Philip Cunningham

See also: Dawkins raises an issue without intending to: Can one “outgrow” God without “outgrowing” morality? Rebecca McLaughlin: To Dawkins’s credit, he comes dangerously close to acknowledging that religious belief is correlated with better moral outcomes—though he would like to think humans are better than that (117). He finds it rather patronizing to say, “Of course you and I are too intelligent to believe in God, but we think it would be a good idea if other people did!” (122).

and

David Bentley Hart offers an honest assessment of Richard Dawkins’s new book. The book is Outgrowing God: A Beginner’s Guide. Hart thinks Dawkins has finally found his authorial voice but you had better read the rest.

Comments

Ed George's unreferenced counterclaims,
(1) Hospitals, which essentially began during the Middle Ages. E.G: Ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome, India, Sri Lanka, China…. had hospitals before Christianity existed.
And yet, (as is usual), the reality of the situation is much different than E.G. would like to portray,
"Those who quest for the origin of hospital are faced with an inevitable problem of defining hospital. As the different definition can lead to a different outcome, it is important to make a clear definition. In this article, the hospital was defined as an institution in which patients are housed and given medical treatments. According to the definition, the Great Basilius is regarded to have created the first hospital in 369 CE." and "In AD 369, St Basil of Caesarea founded a 300-bed hospital. This was the first large-scale hospital for the seriously ill and disabled. It cared for victims of the plague. There were hospices for the poor and aged isolation units, wards for travellers who were sick and a leprosy house. It was the first of many built by the Christian Church. In the so-called Dark Ages (476-1000) rulers influenced by Christian principles encouraged building of hospitals. Charlemagne decreed that every cathedral should have a school, monastery and hospital attached." https://cmfblog.org.uk/2017/11/04/the-reformation-and-medicine/ and, "Before Christianity emerged, there were several hospital-like centres in Buddhist regions. The ancient Greeks practised a very simple form of medicine and Greek temples included places where the sick could sleep and receive help. The Romans are believed to have established some military hospitals. However, it was the Christians of the Roman Empire who began to change society’s attitude to the sick, disabled and dying, by their radically different outlook. The Graeco-Roman world in which Christianity appeared was often cruel and inhumane. The weak and the sick were despised. Abortion, infanticide and poisoning were widely practised. The doctor was often a sorcerer as well being a healer and the power to heal equally conferred the power to kill. Among the pagans of the classical world only the Hippocratic band of physicians had a different attitude to their fellow human beings. They swore oaths to heal and not to harm and to carry out their duty of care to the sick. However, it wasn’t until Constantine granted the first Edict of Toleration in AD 311, that Christians were able to give public expression to their ethical convictions and undertake social reform. From the fourth-century to present times, Christians have been especially prominent in the planning, siting and building of hospitals, as well as fundraising for them. Cities with significant Christian populations had already begun to change prevailing attitudes, and were already beginning to build hospices (guest houses for the sick and chronically disabled). Stories of Christian caring had enormous impact, even before Constantine’s decree of toleration. Clement, a Christian leader in Rome at the end of the first century of the Christian era, records how the Christian community was already doing much to relieve the plight of poor widows. In the second century when plague hit the City of Carthage, pagan households threw sufferers onto the streets. The entire Christian community, personally led by their bishop, responded. They were seen on the streets, offering comfort and taking them into their own homes to be cared for. A few decades after Constantine, Julian, who came to power in AD 355, was the last Roman Emperor to try to re-institute paganism. In his Apology, Julian said that if the old religion wanted to succeed, it would need to care for people even better than the way Christians cared. As political freedom increased, so did Christian activity. The poor were fed and given free burial. Orphans and widows were protected and provided for. Elderly men and women, prisoners, sick slaves and other outcasts, especially the leprous, were cared for. These acts of generosity and compassion impressed many Roman writers and philosophers. In AD 369, St Basil of Caesarea founded a 300 bed hospital. This was the first large-scale hospital for the seriously ill and disabled. It cared for victims of the plague. There were hospices for the poor and aged isolation units, wards for travellers who were sick and a leprosy house. It was the first of many built by the Christian Church. In the so-called Dark Ages (476-1000) rulers influenced by Christian principles encouraged building of hospitals." etc.. etc.. http://godreports.com/2016/02/how-the-christian-hospital-movement-changed-the-world/
As to:
(2) Universities, which also began during the Middle Ages. In addition, most of the world’s greatest universities were started for Christian purposes. E.G. Yet there were great houses of learning long before Christianity.
Yet nobody claimed that "great houses of learning" did not exist before Christianity. The claim was that universities, specifically modern universities, arose out of Christianity:
Another development in the history of Christian education was the founding of universities. The origins of the university can be traced to the 12th century, and by the 13th century the medieval university had reached its mature form. Universities were founded during the rest of the Middle Ages throughout Europe and spread from there to other continents after the 16th century. The earliest universities emerged as associations of masters or students (the Latin universitas means “guild” or “union”) that were dedicated to the pursuit of higher learning. The universities, which superseded the cathedral schools as centres of advanced study, came to have a number of shared traits: the teaching methods of lecture and disputation, the extended communal living in colleges, the periodically changing leadership of an elected dean, the inner structure according to faculties or “nations,” and the European recognition of academic degrees. Universities provided instruction in the liberal arts and advanced study in the disciplines of law, medicine, and, most importantly, theology. Many of the great theologians of the era, notably St. Thomas Aquinas, were associated with the universities. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Christianity/Forms-of-Christian-education Of related note: The History of Christian Education in America Excerpt: The first colleges in America were founded by Christians and approximately 106 out of the first 108 colleges were Christian colleges. In fact, Harvard University, which is considered today as one of the leading universities in America and the world was founded by Christians. One of the original precepts of the then Harvard College stated that students should be instructed in knowing God and that Christ is the only foundation of all "sound knowledge and learning." http://www.ehow.com/about_6544422_history-christian-education-america.html Only eighteen years after the Pilgrims landed in the New World, Harvard College, the first of the Ivy League schools, was established for the sake of educating the clergy and raising up a Christian academic institution to meet the needs of perpetuating the Christian faith. All of the Ivy League schools were established by Christians for the sake of advancing Christianity and meeting the academic needs of the New World. No better summary of this effort can be offered than the one provided by the founders themselves:,,, https://christianheritagefellowship.com/the-christian-founding-of-harvard/
as to:
(4) Capitalism and free enterprise. E.G. Capitalism and free enterprise existed in various forms long before Christianity existed.
And yet even wikipedia, hardly a beacon of Christian apologetics, acknowledges that,,
The history of capitalism is diverse and has many debated roots, but fully fledged capitalism is generally thought by scholars to have emerged in Northwestern Europe, especially in Great Britain and the Netherlands, in the sixteenth to seventeenth centuries. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_capitalism Moreover, Professor Rodney Stark has done an in depth analysis and has found,,, Stark defines his terms carefully and contends that hypotheses such as geography and technology "are part of what needs to be explained: why did Europeans excel at metallurgy, shipbuilding, or farming? The most convincing answer to these questions attributes Western dominance to the rise of capitalism, which also took place only in Europe." He traces the origins of capitalism to the belief in reason, which he in turn locates uniquely in Christian theology: "While the other world religions emphasized mystery and intuition, Christianity alone embraced reason and logic as the primary guide to religious truth.",,, Stark then explores the growth of capitalism from northern Italy to Flanders, Amsterdam and England, and presents case studies of early France and Spain where capitalism didn't take strong root. Along the way Stark finds no evidence for Weber's idea that Protestantism was essential to the growth of capitalism. He maintains that capitalism began under Catholicism, in the rational management of medieval monastic estates, and flourished in Italy long before Luther nailed his theses to a church door. Finally, Stark tests his theories against New World history, covering well-worn ground on the political and economic differences between North and Latin Americas. https://www.sfgate.com/books/article/The-Christian-roots-of-capitalism-2555601.php
As to:
(5) Representative government, particularly as it has been seen in the American experiment. The great American experiment that created a government who’s representation was limited to white land owners. Much like what existed in Rome long before Christianity.
And yet, there was an extensive discussion on this just recently on UD, starting here (a discussion which E.G. apparently learned not one thing from since he repeated his lie.)
Test: If Naturalists Are Right, Totalitarian States Should Be Just As Creative As Free Ones https://uncommondescent.com/intelligent-design/test-if-naturalists-are-right-totalitarian-states-should-be-just-as-creative-as-free-ones/#comment-690045 For instance, this The Catholic Invention of Representative Government Jorgen Moller- January 2019 Modern representative democracy is unthinkable without innovations pioneered by the medieval Catholic Church. Excerpt: A long line of research, stretching back to the German sociologist Max Weber’s seminal work, identifies Protestantism as the sledgehammer that broke down autocratic barriers, giving rise to modern liberal societies. A good example is work by American political scientist Robert Woodberry, which demonstrates that Protestants pioneered a series of innovations that eased the advent of modern representative democracy, including religious pluralism, voluntary associations, printing, and mass education. More generally, the Weberian notion of Protestantism as the midwife of modernity received a great deal of attention during the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation in 2017. Often as an accompaniment to these views, writers like Samuel Huntington have portrayed either the Catholic Church itself or aspects of Catholic culture as historical impediments to modern liberalism and modern democratization. But the story about the origins of our political institutions, and the way religious institutions affected it, is much more interesting and complicated than implied by this conventional narrative. In fact, modern representative democracy is well-nigh unthinkable without constitutionalist practices and doctrines pioneered by the medieval Catholic Church.,,,, The passing away of conciliarism at the very point in time where modern democratization began has made students of democratization ignore an important historical lesson: Representative democracy is all but inconceivable without the 12th– and 13th-century Catholic practices of representation and consent and the 15th-century conciliar doctrines about representative government. This fascinating story remains relevant not only for those who wish to understand the origins of our political institutions; it also sheds light on current interactions between religion and politics. In that sense, it is a story worth revisiting for those who are interested in the political dynamics of the 21st century. https://www.the-american-interest.com/2019/01/24/the-catholic-invention-of-representative-government/
bornagain77_{December 30, 2019
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Ed George @ 2 You don't believe in absolutes, yet give a lot of absolute statements. Without a soul and without God, there can be no morality at all. How can any criticism you gave be sincere without some moral basis? Where did morality come from, since it cannot exist with atheists? Morality does not exist in nature and never has. When an animal kills another animal, there is no charge of murder.BobRyan_{December 29, 2019
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BA77
21 Positive Contributions Christianity Has Made Through the Centuries By D. James Kennedy (excerpted from “What if Jesus Had Never Been Born?”)
Just a response to a few.
(1) Hospitals, which essentially began during the Middle Ages.
Ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome, India, Sri Lanka, China.... had hospitals before Christianity existed.
(2) Universities, which also began during the Middle Ages. In addition, most of the world’s greatest universities were started for Christian purposes.
Yet there were great houses of learning long before Christianity.
(4) Capitalism and free enterprise.
Capitalism and free enterprise existed in various forms long before Christianity existed.
(5) Representative government, particularly as it has been seen in the American experiment.
The great American experiment that created a government who’s representation was limited to white land owners. Much like what existed in Rome long before Christianity.
(8) The abolition of slavery, both in antiquity and in more modern times.
Yet the bible condones slavery. Yet the height of the African slave trade started well after the start of Christianity, with active participation by countries that were largely Christian.
(9) Modern science.
Yes, the modern scientific process was greatly influenced by Christians, but it would be false to say that science didn’t exist long before Christianity.
(10) The discovery of the New World by Columbus.
Except that the New World was discovered thousands of years before Christianity.
(11) The elevation of women.
Elevation to what? Subservient to their husbands? Second class citizens? Not allowed to be priests or cardinals?
(12) Benevolence and charity; the good Samaritan ethic.
Yes, there are great Christian charities. But there are also examples of charity in all other religions as well as in cultures that long pre-date Christianity.
(13) Higher standards of justice.
That is certainly debatable.
(14) The elevation of common man.
Most examples of the elevation of common man were the result of actions of common men, not the church.
(15) The condemnation of adultery, homosexuality, and other sexual perversions. This has helped to preserve the human race, and it has spared many from heartache.
These condemnations and prejudices long predates Christianity.
(16) High regard for human life.
Again, not uniquely Christian.
(17) The civilizing of many barbarian and primitive cultures.
Civilize, barbarian and primitive are highly subjective, to say nothing of being offensive.
(18) The codifying and setting to writing of many of the world’s languages.
Many of which were codified and written long before Christianity.
(19) Greater development of art and music. The inspiration for the greatest works of art.
Subjective claim
(20) The countless changed lives transformed from liabilities into assets to society because of the gospel.
Like the subjugation of women, persecution of Jews and homosexuals.
(21) The eternal salvation of countless souls.
This assumes the existence of an eternal soul.Ed George_{December 29, 2019
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21 Positive Contributions Christianity Has Made Through the Centuries By D. James Kennedy (excerpted from "What if Jesus Had Never Been Born?") (1) Hospitals, which essentially began during the Middle Ages. (2) Universities, which also began during the Middle Ages. In addition, most of the world’s greatest universities were started for Christian purposes. (3) Literacy and education for the masses. (4) Capitalism and free enterprise. (5) Representative government, particularly as it has been seen in the American experiment. (6) The separation of political powers. (7) Civil liberties. (8) The abolition of slavery, both in antiquity and in more modern times. (9) Modern science. (10) The discovery of the New World by Columbus. (11) The elevation of women. (12) Benevolence and charity; the good Samaritan ethic. (13) Higher standards of justice. (14) The elevation of common man. (15) The condemnation of adultery, homosexuality, and other sexual perversions. This has helped to preserve the human race, and it has spared many from heartache. (16) High regard for human life. (17) The civilizing of many barbarian and primitive cultures. (18) The codifying and setting to writing of many of the world’s languages. (19) Greater development of art and music. The inspiration for the greatest works of art. (20) The countless changed lives transformed from liabilities into assets to society because of the gospel. (21) The eternal salvation of countless souls. https://verticallivingministries.com/tag/benefits-of-christianity-to-society/ What If Jesus Had Never Been Born?: The Impact of Jesus in the World – D. James Kennedy - video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHLioeL9dYk
Besides society at large, there are also tremendous personal benefits, not only in the life to come, but in this present temporal life: Christians report being much happier than atheists are,
'Believers are happier than atheists' - Jonathan Petre - 18 Mar 2008 People who believe in God are happier than agnostics or atheists, A report found that religious people were better able to cope with disappointments such as unemployment or divorce than non-believers. Moreover, they become even happier the more they pray and go to church, claims the study by Prof Andrew Clark and Dr Orsolya Lelkes. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1581994/Believers-are-happier-than-atheists.html
Christians have significantly fewer suicide attempts than atheists do,
Of snakebites and suicide - February 18, 2014 RESULTS: Religiously unaffiliated subjects had significantly more lifetime suicide attempts and more first-degree relatives who committed suicide than subjects who endorsed a religious affiliation. https://uncommondescent.com/intelligent-design/of-snakebites-and-suicide/
Christians report having greater life satisfaction than atheists do,
Associations of Religious Upbringing With Subsequent Health and Well-Being From Adolescence to Young Adulthood: An Outcome-Wide Analysis Ying Chen, Tyler J VanderWeele - Sept. 10, 2018 Excerpt: Compared with no attendance, at least weekly attendance of religious services was associated with greater life satisfaction and positive affect, a number of character strengths, lower probabilities of marijuana use and early sexual initiation, and fewer lifetime sexual partners. Analyses of prayer or meditation yielded similar results. Although decisions about religion are not shaped principally by health, encouraging service attendance and private practices in adolescents who already hold religious beliefs may be meaningful avenues of development and support, possibly leading to better health and well-being. https://academic.oup.com/aje/advance-article/doi/10.1093/aje/kwy142/5094534
Christians having less mental and physical health issues than atheists do,
“I maintain that whatever else faith may be, it cannot be a delusion. The advantageous effect of religious belief and spirituality on mental and physical health is one of the best-kept secrets in psychiatry and medicine generally. If the findings of the huge volume of research on this topic had gone in the opposite direction and it had been found that religion damages your mental health, it would have been front-page news in every newspaper in the land.” - Professor Andrew Sims former President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists - Is Faith Delusion?: Why religion is good for your health - preface “In the majority of studies, religious involvement is correlated with well-being, happiness and life satisfaction; hope and optimism; purpose and meaning in life; higher self-esteem; better adaptation to bereavement; greater social support and less loneliness; lower rates of depression and faster recovery from depression; lower rates of suicide and fewer positive attitudes towards suicide; less anxiety; less psychosis and fewer psychotic tendencies; lower rates of alcohol and drug use and abuse; less delinquency and criminal activity; greater marital stability and satisfaction… We concluded that for the vast majority of people the apparent benefits of devout belief and practice probably outweigh the risks.” - Professor Andrew Sims former President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists - Is Faith Delusion?: Why religion is good for your health – page 100 https://books.google.com/books?id=PREdCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA100#v=onepage&q&f=false
Christians live significantly longer than atheists do.
Can attending church really help you live longer? This study says yes - June 1, 2017 Excerpt: Specifically, the study says those middle-aged adults who go to church, synagogues, mosques or other houses of worship reduce their mortality risk by 55%. The Plos One journal published the "Church Attendance, Allostatic Load and Mortality in Middle Aged Adults" study May 16. "For those who did not attend church at all, they were twice as likely to die prematurely than those who did who attended church at some point over the last year," Bruce said. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/06/02/can-attending-church-really-help-you-live-longer-study-says-yes/364375001/ Study: Religiously affiliated people live “9.45 and 5.64 years longer…” July 1, 2018 Excerpt: Self-reported religious service attendance has been linked with longevity. However, previous work has largely relied on self-report data and volunteer samples. Here, mention of a religious affiliation in obituaries was analyzed as an alternative measure of religiosity. In two samples (N = 505 from Des Moines, IA, and N = 1,096 from 42 U.S. cities), the religiously affiliated lived 9.45 and 5.64 years longer, respectively, than the nonreligiously affiliated. Additionally, social integration and volunteerism partially mediated the religion–longevity relation. https://uncommondescent.com/intelligent-design/study-religiously-affiliated-people-lived-religiously-affiliated-lived-9-45-and-5-64-years-longer/ Can Religion Extend Your Life? - By Chuck Dinerstein — June 16, 2018 Excerpt: The researcher's regression analysis suggested that the effect of volunteering and participation accounted for 20% or 1 year of the impact, while religious affiliation accounted for the remaining four years or 80%. https://www.acsh.org/news/2018/06/16/can-religion-extend-your-life-13092
On top of all that, Christians are assured eternal life in heaven..
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
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