Friday, March 27, 2015

The Christian Faith has Produced Seven Revolutions in Human Life

Map of Chaldean and Persian Empires, about 500 BC
Professor Jim Papandrea, and Mike Aquilina believe that the Christian Faith has initiated Seven Great Changes, or "Revolutions" in human thinking. Their book is How Christianity Changed the World and can Change it Again.

1. God is a God of love. (This was completely new then, as it is now in many places.)

2. This impacted every sphere for individuals: the home, (and gender roles); work (laborers).

3. A new sense of "Community", since "religion" began to take a different course.

4. Building upon a Judaic foundation, the Christian faith introduced proselytism and the concept of all being bound together into "one faith".

5. The concept of religious liberty. Jim argues that the Edit of Milan in 313 AD is a religious document with far-reaching implications.

6. The Role of the State: God is separate from the state, with huge implications for governments and the development of democracy. Modern Constitutions, beginning with the USA Constitution 230 years ago, are social contracts that take God as governor out of the picture.

7. Human dignity, ( leading to views - and conflicts - on labor, family roles, euthanasia, abortion, and infanticide (practices common in the Roman Empire).

Jim believes that modern entertainment, especially focusing on violence and reality TV, which are a modern form of "humiliation", are taking us back to the concept of "entertainment" so widely spread in the Roman - Pre-Christian era and argues that the Christian concept of the dignity of each person is a powerful message for changing the future.

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A summary is found, here

and the pod cast and YouTube links are at the bottom of the page.

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