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Religion, rights, and civil society - Christianity becomes a global faith

14 important questions on Religion, rights, and civil society - Christianity becomes a global faith

Which groups are there in Christianity?

Catholics formed the most numerous faith community within this tradition, with approximately 1.25 billion people identifying themselves with the Roman Church, while a wide variety of Protestant denominations, together with Orthodox Christians and Pentecostals, rounded out the total.

How did Christians in Nazi Germany do?

A handful of Christians in German-occupied Europe attempted to protect their Jewish neighbors - at great personal risk to themselves and their families - but the majority of Christians in the Nazi empire dutifully carried out their wartime orders with little sense of remorse.

What became the focus of Christianity after the war?

It was very difficult to claim the ethical superiority of Christianity as practiced in the West. After the war, leaders within the various Christian denominations, including even the Roman Catholic Church, became less certain that theirs was the final truth or that salvation was available solely within the confines of one tradition. Under these circumstances, dialogue and empathy across traditions became the compelling focus of Christianity.

What prompted a renewed effort to heal the wounds of institutional division?

Although there had been earlier efforts to unite the various Christian communions, the decline in postwar church attendance in the West prompted a renewed effort to heal the wounds of institutional division that were now some 400 years old.

What shift was witnessed in the second half of the century in Christianity?

The second half of the century witnessed a decided shift toward interdenominational service partnerships, common liturgical reform, and intercommunion.
And in some cases the ecumenical movement led to formal union: the Church of South India, for example, was formed in 1947, joining Methodists, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, and Anglicans in one Protestant communion.

What was the "Syllabus of Errors" about?

The church's predicament was first made manifest when an embattled Pope Pius IX (r.1846-78) promulgated an official "Syllabus of Errors" in 1864. The pontiff condemned upwards of 80 modern teachings, including rationalism, liberalism, socialism, and religious pluralism.
Five years later, Pope Pius called 744 bishops (mostly Europeans) to the First Vatican Council in Rome. There the assembled delegates reaffirmed the centrality of revelation to the knowledge of God, and declared that when speaking on matters of faith and morals, the pope was infallible.

What did the Vatican not want to get to terms with?

Vatican I was the face of Roman Catholicism in crisis, its leadership unwilling to come to terms with the implications of modern science and industry, the political empowerment of the working class, the legitimacy of alternate religious traditions, and the appeal of secular nationalism.

What became the demographic center of Christianity? What became more important?

As the demographic center of Christianity shifted away from Europe to Africa, Asia, and Latin America - the poorest regions of the world - theological viewpoints stressing the importance of social commitment, gender and racial equality, and economic justice became more important to ministers and laity alike.

What three trends marked the immediate postwar period in Latin America?

A troubled political and economic relationship with the US.
An unprecedented rise in population and the movement of people from rural to urban settings.
A drift toward more authoritarian forms of government, often with the support of the Roman Catholic Church until the 1960s, and then in opposition to a reform-minded and socially activist church during the 1960s and 1970s.

What did many bishops do for the first time?

For the first time, many bishops began to challenge the legitimacy of authoritarian rule in Latin America. They condemned human rights abuses and widespread poverty, and called for the restoration of democratic politics.

What role did the Catholic Church have in Ireland?

Since the imposition of Protestantism under Henry VIII in the mid-sixteenth century, the majority Roman Catholic population in Ireland looked to the church as a symbol of Irish identity.
The island nation was divided, and under the South's constitution of 1937 the Catholic Church was officially recognized as holding a "special position ... As the guardian of the faith professed by the great majority of the citizens."
In practical terms this meant that the Church controlled public education and wielded enormous influence over the national political agenda.

What dissipated achievements in the view of many critics?

Papal encyclicals and church policies against contraception, the ordination of women, lay preaching, remarriage of divorced persons, and abortion (even in the case of incest or rape) alienated increasing numbers of communicants, especially in the developed West.

What was the problem with John Paul?

While highly respected for his erudition, his lifelong opposition to communism, and his deep sense of personal piety, John Paul had a church vision that was out of step with the views of many Catholics.
In the US, a 1992 Gallup poll indicated that the majority of Catholics favored freedom of choice regarding birth control and supported the idea of married priests and the ordination of women, the election of bishops by the priests and people of the diocese, the admission of divorced persons into full communion, and the legalization of abortion.

What did Huston Smith say? Was this confirmed?

In a 2002 work titled Why Religion Matters: The Fate of the Human Spirit in an Age of Disbelief, Huston Smith observed that "the finitude of mundance existence cannot satisfy the human heart completely."
The decline of traditional institutional religions in the postwar West seemed to belie Smith's point, but the rapid growth of alternative religious movement suggested that the individual quest for the transcendent remained strong.

The question on the page originate from the summary of the following study material:

A Concise History of the World Since 1945 | 9781352010206 | W M Spellman

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