Author Archives: akau

Team 6, question 1

Posted on by under global christianity

Through the violence of colonization and the conquering of the New World, Latin America was brought under the influence of Christianity. Missionaries brought with them death in the for of subjugation and sickness, as well as enslavement and violent conversion. Because of the power initially given to the conquistadors by the Pope, and the distance from Rome and the majority of Christian power, the most influential people, those with control over the state, also had control over the religious activities in their areas. They controlled who was appointed to which office, who had control over the life of the church. This relationship tied together the conversion of the native population with their exploitation for monetary gain. The extortion of the natives was not sustainable, from both a religious standpoint, or a numbers standpoint. The initial wave of ruin very quickly diminished the population, and the religious thinkers of the area decried the abuse of these people. so instead of the enslavement of the natives, they turned to Africa for slaves. Millions of Africans were brought to Latin America, permanently affecting the culture and the people within. With such a huge influx of Africans, the diversity of the land increased. This, and the continued draining of natural resources by the European nations led the people to strive for independence.

Liberation theology emerged during a later time of social unrest and violence. The war between capitalism and communism was in full swing and each nation was pressured in to picking a side. Many dictatorships arose in Latin America were taken because of even a slight sympathy towards communism. Eventually the church had to speak out against these actions, and culminated in even more violence. After the church took an official position on trying to focus more effort on helping the poor live a better life, many priests and bishops spoke out against the military regimes. Many of them were killed. Liberation theology is a social and religious mixture, focused on the betterment of the poor and helping those in need. It requires social action along with understanding of the religious teachings. It has since died down in importance, as it lost steam after the church stopped supporting the ideas, and they became less necessary with the decline of human rights violations.

Latin American Christianity is heavily invested in the well being and uplifting of its people. It is active in social issues and emphasized the necessity to take action and to make change for the better. I think this is something that many churches in Western Christianity do, to an extent, but many more do not. With so many people believing in these causes and religions, they could do much to help those in need, and could do much more then they are already doing. Another thing that I think should be more emphasized is loving thy neighbor. Christianity is diverse in Latin America, and from the reading we get a sense that it is a brotherly diversity, with those from all denominations coming together to enact social reform. Many Americans have a hard time talking about religion, and if you do not go to the same church there is an almost instant undertone of hostility, because they would rather focus on the differences then on the similarities, and the things they can do together.

Team 6, Question 3

Posted on by under deism

Although a believer in God, and many of the same social views most Christians would hold to be ideals, Thomas Paine held a great disdain for Christianity. He thought that Christianity was a negative influence on history, and attacked it mercilessly in many of his writings. In “The Age of Reason”, he denied many of the biblical stories, and denied that God had communicated with humans at all. He said that many, if not all, of the biblical stories were not even true, instead being a collection of fables from many different authors. His views had him cast as an infidel to many, and after “The Age of Reason” many of his followers turned away from him because of how harsh his views were towards religion. He was left then to defend his views to some that he had called friend, or his contemporaries.

Paine says that all national institutions of churches are founded for the explicit out come of enslaving their people, and for the profit and power of those in charge. He viewed Christianity as a barrier for real social reform and moral justice, and throughout his life vehemently defended the separation of church and state.

Paine viewed revelation as a human construction. He states that while he Almighty has the power to be able to communicate with anyone at any time directly, it is foolish to believe that he has just from some second hand accounts of such an event. Revelation, in a religious sense, is the immediate realization of God’s word and instruction. In the revelation texts, we do not even get a first hand account of the prophets revelations, we get a second hand account of a followers conveyance of what the prophets told them. Paine does not view this as revelation anymore, because it is only revelation to the one spoken to by god. We then have to trust the word of some historian or writer from the time period, hoping that their word is good.

To Paine, revelation is a more singular event, that anyone can experience at any time. His revelation comes from simply examining the world around him. God’s word is spoken to him through the awe of the physical world, which he thinks could not exist without God’s power bringing it in to being. He says that “The word of god is the creation we behold.” This is because every man can experience it, it cannot be falsified or changed by another, and it is singular among all. If we behold the world, our understandings of God can be united as we will all see the same phenomena, without need for changing languages or withholdings.

Team 6, Question 3

Posted on by under reformation

In Martin Luther’s The Freedom of a Christian, we find a good example of Luther’s biting wit. On the outside, this letter seems to try and reason with the Pope, and is written in a conciliatory manner. But easily you can see Luther attack the Popes character, through a roundabout fashion. While directly saying he speaks no ill will of the Pope, he does write of the Popes subjects and his surroundings in such a way that it would be impossible not to see them as attacks on the Pope himself. Luther criticizes the Pope’s See, calling it more corrupt than and Babylon or Sodom. In doing so, he is also criticizing the Pope, as it is his ruling that effects his See. If not addressing the Popes own corruption, he is instead addressing the Popes lack of power. He quotes scripture saying that the Pope lives amongst lions, or scorpions. Luther says that the Pope would be powerless against these men, and can do nothing to remedy the situation. Further on, Luther encourages the pope to not listen to those who would hold him up as a demigod, stating he is but a man. If the Pope himself believes he is higher than others, or deserving of whatever he wants, than again this is a criticism of his ways.

Luther goes on to talk of freedom, and the notion of two conflicting ideas in the scripture. The first idea: “A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none.” Conflicts with this second idea: “A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all.” These statements are the basis of his thesis of freedom, in which as a perfectly free lord, each true Christian chooses to serve and be subject to all others. These two ideas are mirrored in the depiction of the man, who is described two fold. On one hand his soul, on the other, his body. On the outside, any man can eat, live well and prosper. Their bodies might be healthy, and they might live a lavish lifestyle, but they can still be sinful. On the inside, even if a man is wholly righteous and dutiful to god, he may still be subject to misfortunes in his daily life. In this worship, and being subject to god, can a man be free. For while an unholy man can do as he please, but in the end this will work against them. Even if a holy man is subject to cruelty, in Gods victories can he find his own victories, and be free along side him.

These ideas so wholly work against the Pope and the established church. At the time, you were dependent on the church. You payed for salvation, and helped keep the priests in good living situations. While you may slave away daily to make scraps, you were still expected to fund the lavish lifestyles of the clergy. This was because, only through the church could you be close to god. They restricted who could read and interpret the scripture. They enforced rituals that were taught to be the only way to cleanse your soul and live a holy life. In this way, they could control the population, because all feared death, and a life without god. The idea that you could only be close to god through the church was constantly reinforced, and many people knew no other lifestyle. Luther’s writings said that none of this was necessary. Your outward lifestyle did not matter, and to an extent the only thing that did matter was your inner person, and your personal relationship with god. You could cast away the different sacraments, and you had no use for the idolatry of the church, when even a man who prayed silently and kept to himself could be close to god as long as he lived a pious inner life. These teachings would undermine the power that the Pope and the church had over people, removing their necessity. If these ideas became mainstream, they would lose their flow of money, and lose their place in society. They would not have power over the masses, because they would not be necessary for the religious health of their subjects.

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