History and Culture

It was fascinating to learn about the influence of Syriac Christianity, via Anthony McRoy’s book review of Diarmaid MacCulloch’s A History of Christianity. Syriac Christianity is characterised by two strands, Miaphysite (or Monophysite), that is, believing Christ had but one nature, and Nestorian, believing Christ had two natures, one fully human and the other fully […]

Marcus Tullius Cicero was an interesting character, remembered as a great orator. Born in 106 BCE, Cicero was a man who openly and incessantly spoke about his lust for fame. In the Roman law courts, speakers skilled in Roman laws and traditions would argue in full view of passers-by. The best way to make a name for oneself […]

Columbus did much to rationalise the dispossession of islanders, particularly appealing to their nomadis, their lack of grand houses and magnificent cities. Similarly, the way North American Indians moved from place to place depending on the season, was seen as precluding them from any claim to ownership of the land. The same applies, of course, […]

In his book God’s Battalions, Rodney Stark (Professor of Social Sciences, Baylor University) makes it clear that it is ludicrous for Christians in dialogue with Muslims to apologise for the Crusades. Anti-Christian bigotry coupled with historical revisionism has produced a highly distorted popular understanding of the Crusades. For example, anti-Catholicism contributed to the shaping of a […]

Bertrand Russell has an insightful, yet distorted take on the Reformation and its effects. In his A History of Western Philosophy he offers the following analysis:
The Catholic Church was derived from three sources. Its sacred history was Jewish, its theology was Greek, its government and canon law were, at least indirectly, Roman. The Reformation rejected […]

It was fascinating to read about Pompey, the great Roman military and political leader of the first century BCE. In his book The Frenzy of Renown Leo Braudy paints a picture of Pompey as a man with an unquenchable thirst for fame. Pompey loved to identify himself with Alexander the Great:
He wore what was supposed […]

In A History of Western Philosophy Bertrand Russell rightly observes that Christianity stresses the view that a person’s duty to God outweighs duty to the State. However, Russell errs when he reads the period from the end of the fifth century to the middle of the eleventh as on in which the conflict between duty […]

I was reading from David Day’s book A New History of the Modern World this morning. It is sobering to see the way in which indigenous people were viewed by those Europeans who first came into contact with them. Day observes that in general terms the perspective varied depending on the intention of the Europeans […]

In his book Conquest. A New History of the Modern World, David Day has a chapter on “Supplanting the Savages.”
In 1804, in order to pre-empt French occupation of Tasmania, Lieutenant-Colonel David Collins was sent, with accompanying soldiers and convicts, to occupy the island. However, for thousands of years the island had already been settled by Aboriginal […]

In Chapter 2 of Evangelism in the Early Church,  Michael Green attempts to identify the obstacles to evangelism that confronted the early Christian faith:
1. Jewish obstacles to the gospel
(1) The stumbling-block of Christ
The early Christian missionaries were considered nobodies, a handful of men without rabbinic training, who got up the nose of the Jewish religious authorities […]

In the first chapter of his book Evangelism in the Early Church Michael Green identifies three main “Pathways for Evangelism”, that is, three features of the first century world that greatly served to facilitate the spread of the gospel:

Roman Peace
Greek Culture
Jewish Religion

Roman Peace (the pax Romana)
Here Green emphasises the success the Romans had achieved in […]

There is a part of the Antarctic coastline which is universally recognised as belonging to France. Why? Because on 20 January 1840 claim to this particular area was made in the name of France by a French ship commanded by Jules Dumont d’Urville.
The French sailors who made landfall plainly viewed themselves as conquering this land. After […]

At a time when some are making dire predictions about Islam taking over Britain, Europe and beyond it is worth recalling, as Southern recalls, that Martin Luther once “looked forward to the probability that Christendom would be engulfed in Islam. He wrote to strengthen the faith of those Christians who might find themselves in this condition.”
In his […]

I was listening to a Philosopher’s Zone podcast. Alan Saunders was interviewing former professor of history Arthur Herman about a book he had written on the Scottish Enlightenment. I had just been reading Alasdair MacIntyre’s highlighting of the pivotal impact of Scottish thinkers on the Enlightenment. Herman helped me to understand the historical context.
In the […]

African American Howard Thurman’s enslaved grandmother would not read anything written by the Apostle Paul, save for 1 Corinthians 13. Her reason? Because her plantation master would ever quote Paul’s injunction: “Servants, obey your masters” (Col 3:22; Eph 6:5). The black abolitionist, Lewis Hayden, described this same quote, which he heard preached in a Southern […]

Henry Martyn was a great missionary whom God used greatly in many ways. His intense passion and devotion were inspirational for many. Among his many accomplishments his translation of the New Testament into Urdu had enormous influence. Yet Martyn had clay feet, like the rest of us. He shared the views of most of his […]

The famous Jesuit missionary, Matteo Ricci (1552-1610) was known in China as Li Matou. He targeted the most influential groups in Chinese society, especially the emperor and the elite official class. He introduced them to Western mathematics, science and cartography. In return he learned how to read and write Chinese and went on to translate […]

Leaders from the people for the people. It’s a basic principle for effective cross-cultural ministry. And it’s well illustrated by the fate of Nestorianism in China. 
Nestorianism is a heresy which developed in the 5th century. Nestorians do not see Jesus as having two natures but as being effectively two separate people - human and divine. Nestorianism […]

A new era of interaction between Christianity and culture was ushered in by the “conversion” of Emperor Constantine in AD 313. From Vivian Green’s description of this period in her book A New History of Christianity it is possible to identify a number of characteristic interactions:

The mixed relationship with paganism. Paganism had a  long-continuance as a cultural […]

In her A New History of Christianity Vivian Green suggests that in the early church it was in their attitude to sexuality that Christians differed most significantly from non-Christians. The world around them countenanced the exposure of children and abortion. Concubinage carried no stigma. Active homosexuality was socially acceptable and there were no legal restraints […]