Pope of the Hill

Another essay for school, this one about religion.

“Every dogma has its day.” – H.G. Wells. Here in the United States, where there is no official religion and where there are boundless faiths, cults, and sects, it’s hard to imagine the bygone days where typically a single religion dominated over any particular people or nation, sometimes even continents. But in nearly every other nation and culture there is/was/has been a particular religion that shaped and led its people for generations. But there has never been a single religion that has ever united, or dominated, the world completely; instead, faiths seem to take turns, each starting with a small following, then slowly growing, then heading a whole people, then eventually being replaced by a newer, more controversial religion. This pattern has shown itself many times throughout history, beginning with basic polytheism, and eventually leading to monotheism and its two main champions, Christianity and Islam.

The most ancient theological view man started with was polytheism, the belief in the existence of many powerful spirits, typically referred to as “gods,” that govern all aspects of nature and man. In nearly every culture, if one were to trace back the people’s theological beliefs back to the very beginning, they would most likely have been a polytheistic society. As far as western civilization is concerned, the most ancient of these would be the Mesopotamians and the Egyptians. In their day, though the pantheon might differ from people to people, nearly all were polytheists. Indeed, most of what we know about ancient cultures has been derived from the remains of ancient places of worship. In Egypt, there are the pyramids, great tombs meant to ensure successful and happy passage into the afterlife, and temples. Mesopotamians had their ziggurats, which allowed the gods to come down to earth. The ancient Greeks, and later, the Romans, had a great many gods and goddesses, the names of whom have been passed on to the planets of our solar system. The myths of ancient Greece and Rome have inspired thousands of years of art as well.

This would all change, however. The unique and, given the culture of the day, bizarre faith of the small tribe of the Israelites would spark the beginning of a religious fervor that would engulf the entire world to come. In a world of hundreds, even thousands, of typically indifferent and/or cruel gods and goddesses, each possessing power over a facet of the universe, this new, and incredibly warmer belief in one god that loved mankind, was exceedingly strange. For thousands of years monotheism never really caught on to any besides the Jews, and Judaism to this day remains entirely monopolized by the Jewish people. But with the death of Jesus, a new scion of Judaism appeared: Christianity, named after the Christ, or “anointed one.” Like their predecessors, they were persecuted by the largely polytheistic majority. Yet, by a strange twist of fate, Christianity would come to dominate the whole of the Roman Empire, the largest empire of its time. During the reign of the Emperor Justinian, Christianity was made the official religion of the now Byzantine Empire. This change in policy was incredibly sudden and didn’t correspond to a sudden change of heart with the Byzantine people. Up to Justinian’s change of code, it was perfectly legal, in fact endorsed by the government, to hunt down Christians, who were “known” to be disturbers of the peace and conspirators against the government. Captured Christians became martyrs for their faith in prisons and in spectacles in the Coliseum. So why this miraculous change of heart by the Byzantine people? The Emperor Justinian’s own mother had converted to Christianity. Under Byzantine law, she would have had to have been killed. To the relief of Christians everywhere, familial ties were more important than the law, and so the law was changed, though the consequences of this colossal change have been disputed ever since.

Thus began the era of total Church control, with the head of the Christian Catholic Church, the Pope, pulling strings from Rome. Just as in nearly every culture before, politics and religion went hand in hand; one could almost say Europe resided in a theocracy out of Egypt or Sumer. All knowledge came to rest in the hands of the Church; priests and monks were the only members of society able to read or write, and all historical texts, if one could call them that lay in the vaults of the Vatican. Even the very Scripture was kept secret, shrouded in religious rites and the mystical quality of the Latin tongue. Common people were kept at the mercy of God, through the Church.

It would not be until the Black Death and its aftermath that people would begin to question the power of the established authority of Rome. And after the invention of movable type, people would no longer simply question it- they would resist it. Men like William of Occham, John Wyclffe, and Jan Hus paved the way for Martin Luther’s eventual establishment of the Protestant Church. And in the increasing gap between Lutheranism and Roman Catholicism, many new forms of Protestantism would arise. Monarchs, like Henry VIII, would assert their rights, and government would begin to push away from the controlling grip of the church. England would found the Anglican Church, setting itself apart with the Act of Supremacy. Not only new faiths would find their way into this religiously fractured Europe- science and inventions, some new, some recently rediscovered, would trickle into this newly open minded population. And not only science, but a different, albeit not entirely new, religion- Islam.

According to the Koran, Islam and Christianity are sister religions, both stemming from Judaism. However, Islam claims to be the final word of God, whereas the Bible asserts that it is the only word from God. Both recognize the Jews as predating them, but neither have been historically loyal to them. Christians blame them for the death of Christ (which is ironically the source of salvation in Christian dogma), whilst the Muslims have blamed them for taking their Holy Land (which was ironically the Hebrews’ for hundreds of years before Muhammed was even born). Both religions have been guilty of killing Jews since their respective foundings. But while the Christians were busy conquering Western Europe, the Muslims had been slowly amassing the largest Empire since the time of the Romans, one that would hold until the end of World War I.

Compared to Christianity during the Middle Ages until the Renaissance, Muslims were considerably less concerned with making converts of everyone and more concerned with amassing wealth and knowledge. While it would not necessarily be true to say that Islam has ever overshadowed Christianity at any point in time, it would be safe to say that Islam has more members, and more influence, now (as then) than any one specific denomination of Christianity. Through the Muslims, Christian Europe obtained vast amounts of knowledge in the fields of physics, chemistry, mathematics (algebra), medicine, navigation, nautical and fortification construction, paper-making, and art. During the Renaissance, the Arabic world was the most advanced society on Earth, with the exception of China. Whereas Christendom ruled with an iron fist and Inquisition, the Islamic world thrived through trade and knowledge.

Christianity, having fallen from its seat at the top, will never again dominate as it once did, but finds itself accompanied by a bitter rival. The true power of Islam lies not in brute force, but in its popularity through knowledge. While Christianity held sway through the ignorance of the masses, Islam seems to appeal to the educated. But popularity does not necessarily mean wholesomeness. Despite corruption, the Church held Western Europe together through its most troubled times. It united all with a common faith, and has always been well-intentioned. Modern Islam, however, seems to harbor more terrorists in its congregation than Christianity had crusaders. But even now, the butting of heads between Christianity and Islam continues through the largely Christian United States and the largely Islamic nations of Iraq and the rest of the Middle East.

“Every dogma has its day.” No one idea, faith, or world/universe view can rule forever. It is an endless game of “king of the hill,” wherein everyone is trying to push their own agenda and have everyone follow suit. But even if an idea or religion at last succeeds in doing so, it will not last. Something else will conquer it and take its place. Society changes to suit the ever changing knowledge of the people- in the Middle Ages, people “knew” the Earth was flat, and was at the center of the universe. Their religion was made to confirm it; God had made Man in His own image, and so the Earth was the most important of all worlds, and thus at the center of creation. And then the truth changed, and so did the religion, and technology, and everything else. However, all these things are merely the trappings and garments that human civilization changes to suit its current needs. Human nature never changes, and that is why what is true today may not be true tomorrow.

Author's Note

Don't take this too seriously; especially from a religious angle.