欧洲文化04 The Revolution of Christianity.ppt

An Introduction to European Culture 4- The Revolution of Christianity. We have seen the enormous influence of the Greco-Roman tradition on Western culture. In literature, architecture and philosophy, the Greeks and Romans have shaped the way Europeans live. Today we will see how this tradition was handed down to us, in large part, through the Christian Church. When Christianity came to the Roman Empire it performed perhaps one of the most significant cultural revolutions in the history of the West. In general, Christian values stood directly opposed to those values of classical thought, that is, of the Greco-Roman tradition. The Greco-Roman tradition taught that man ought to seek the good life today in the present world. Christianity taught that our earthly existence was merely a preparation for life after death. Our life on earth was temporary, a stopping off point before the journey into eternal life. For the Christian, the visible world was a world of exile from eternal life. We suffer our worldly existence in order to reach eternal life. Jesus of Nazareth (Jesus Christ), is Christianitys central figure. The primary sources about the life of Jesus are the four canonical Gospel accounts. A canon is a book written during the formative period of the religion and so taken to be central to the religion. The earliest known Canonical Gospel from 3rd century Egypt. The canonical gospels for the Christians are those of four of Jesus’ followers called, Mathew, Mark, Luke and John. These show Jesus as a Galilean (from Galilee) Jewish rabbi (priest) and spiritual healer who often opposed Jewish religious authorities. He was crucified outside of Jerusalem during the rule of the Roman prefect (governor) Pontius Pilate. Crucifixion is an ancient method of execution, in which the victim was tied or nailed to a large wooden cross and left to hang there until dead. It was a common form of execution in Roman times. Crucifixion’s purpose was to provide a particularly painful,