Introduction
It never ceases to amaze, how desperate the world’s efforts to diminish Christianity and its teachings. In How Christianity Changed the World, Alvin Schmidt researches and coherently presents a solid case for the vast influence Christianity has had in various areas and disciplines throughout history. From sexuality to science, literature to labor, education to economics, Schmidt weaves the teachings of Jesus through the fabric of the centuries.
The three areas that affect my ministry the most are: (1) The Sanctification of Human Life, (2) Christianity Elevates Sexual Morality, and (3) Women Receive Freedom and Dignity. Schmidt addresses these issues in the order they are listed, however my personal convictions dictate that the proper order is in the reverse. It is in this order that I will address the three topics beginning with women, followed by sexual morality, and ending with the sanctity of life.
Show what relevance Jesus’ view of women has for life among Christians today.
There is a fine line between oppression and objectification when it comes to women. Whereas the Jewish women were oppressed in role in one extreme, the Greco-Roman women were largely objectified as evidenced by practices such as temple prostitution and sexual immorality. Both are forms of slavery. The devaluation of women as equal to men diminishes their worth and ability to function as a whole and healthy individual. Women learn that their minds are neither trustworthy nor sufficient to exercise authority over her body. When the mind is removed from the process the emotions and body of an individual run rampant. Since this type of individual cannot function rationally in society, men find themselves intervening and stepping out of their individual spheres to exercise mental authority over processes that do not belong to them. When this occurs, the functions of women’s emotions and their bodies become subject to the whims of men. If women are asserted that they are indeed rational creatures and their minds are worthy of expression then they also learn to properly exercise authority over their own emotions and bodies.
Jesus discipled women as well as men and we see this in the instance of Jesus teaching Mary. Mary grasped Jesus’ purpose with such profundity that she was led to anoint him for his approaching burial. The matter of primary importance to Jesus was that he came to die and that his death would cover the sins of all mankind. Jesus’ purpose was about the cross, not about gender. We cannot champion masculinity at the expense of femininity; neither can we amplify femininity to diminish masculinity. Was Jesus a feminist? No, Jesus was a spiritual liberator of people.
Explain what relevance Jesus’ view of women has to radical feminism.
While Jesus clearly offered a discipleship of equals, there is no corresponding evidence that Jesus attempted to overthrow any earthly social system. Jesus did not abolish slavery neither did he abolish any patriarchal order. The freedom that Jesus offered is a spiritual freedom of the Spirit. The abolition of societal ills is an outworking of the spiritual freedom we have in Christ. If we believe in the words of Jesus that our desire is to see the kingdom of heaven instilled on earth then we must follow his example of freeing the oppressed and offering healing to the wounded. Jesus freed mankind spiritually and it is man’s obligation as steward of the earth to implement that same freedom in the physical realm by freeing men and women alike wherever oppression exists.
The usurpation of authority is a delicate matter, but one in which sensitivity is demanded of us as Christians. If the established order of a realm is patriarchal then that authority must be adhered to until release is offered. As with institutions such as the slave trade, biblical admonitions offer guidance in how to function as a believer under the oppressive situation. There is no doubt in the minds of many men and women that to this day women continue to live as oppressed both in the objectification of their sexuality and in the inequality and perception of their aptitude to function as highly as their male peers. The attempts of radical feminism while just in their existence and intent, qualify as a usurping of authority and because of this quality they cause more harm than good. The implementation of true change must occur at the heart of those who oppress. The laws of nature dictate that for every action there is an equal and opposing reaction. In light of this law it is easier to understand why the inception of feminism was closely followed by an astounding reaction in her objectification through areas such as pornography, birth control, abortion and the looming threat of infanticide. When the life giver steps forward to assume her place of equality, the enemy goes after her image and the life of her offspring.[1] The protection and affirmation of men as an accompaniment to this process is essential to the effective release of women into mental and spiritual equality.
Explain how today’s secular norm of “consenting adults” conflicts with what the early Christians believed and practiced in regard to sexual behavior.
Born from Jewish roots, Christianity placed a great amount of emphasis on sexual morality as did those who adhered to the Law prior to Christ. The early Judeo-Christian perspective of women and their equality as ministers in the Church greatly healed the sexuality of those who believed in Christ. A clear connection existed of a mutual respect between men and women and the ability not to abuse one another for personal sexual gratification. Principles such as submitting to one another and serving one another altered the marital relationship to one of greater fullness and intentionality.
The concept of “consenting adults” was not possible as we see it manifest today until the introduction of birth control to our society. Never before could sexual relations be severed from the act of procreation. With birth control came the idea that we were no longer required to produce fruit and that it need not be a part of the intimate sexual relationship. Jesus’ teachings and the practices of the early Church contradict this notion however. The idea that a believer would join together as one with Christ as His Bride and yet respectfully decline to bear the fruit of the Spirit because it was (a) poor timing, (b) difficult and uncomfortable to cultivate, or (c) an inhibition to one’s ability to pursue their own desires and goals, would be ludicrous. But this is a reality of our present day culture. Self gratification without the natural consequences of actions became the norm and gradually permeated the philosophy of many other disciplines. This should not be turned into a legalistic sanction dictating that all sexual activity is for reproduction, but it must be understood that all sexual activity has the design and intent to procreate of its own accord. The inception of birth control as a norm necessitated further measures to ensure that the joining of two as one did not result in any “inconvenience” to personal gratification and pleasure, thus, abortion.
Using the early Christians as examples, how might people today counter sexually deviant behavior?
With the removal of the procreation of life from the equation of man and woman joined together for a purpose, there are no longer any inhibitors to sexually deviant behaviors. Since we do not intend to procreate and it is merely an unfortunate consequence of our main pursuit, pleasure, then there is nothing that should dictate how we pursue that pleasure. Homosexuality, pedophilia, bestiality, and many other forms of sexually deviant behavior become logical since the only pursuit is self gratification. However, if we reintroduce the idea that God designed the sexual union between man and woman as a triune equation that includes the begetting of life then we counter all forms of sexually deviant behavior. Men cannot reproduce together, women cannot reproduce together, and children cannot reproduce before arriving at puberty.
The modern day Church shot herself in the foot by embracing the lure of birth control; we did not recognize the slippery slope we approached. What we have ended up with is marriages far more sexually abusive and demanding than ever before in history. Adultery and divorce tear unbridled through the Church. The impact of this “pleasure only” mentality seeps into our spirituality as we find we can no longer derive pleasure from bonding with our Creator and we must introduce various foreign stimulators to enhance and enjoy our worship. We must continually be entertained by fresh and new practices. Our fidelity to fellow believers is a mockery of faithfulness as we slink from congregation to congregation searching for the right feel and what best suits our own personal needs and theology. Self-gratification rules in place of servitude.
Explain what modern Christians can learn from their early Christian ancestors with regard to abortion today.
Schmidt identifies five categories under the mores of human life: (1) Infanticide, (2) Child Abandonment, (3) Abortion, (4) Human Sacrifices, and (5) Suicide.[2] The nature of these mores is progressive in intensity and does not begin with an initial devaluation of life, but an initial degradation of the conception of life – our sexuality – which follows the devaluation and a lack of genuine equality of women as part of the image of God. Abortion and the overall devaluation of human life is a natural consequence of a sexually sickened society. When we do not treasure the means by which we create life, we can no longer place value on the resulting life. The process begins with the view of women as objects. Jesus abolished this notion with his discipleship of equals and affirmation of women as worthy of his sacrifice and salvation. When men and women teach each other to love and care for their own sexuality as precious in the sight of God, we learn also the beauty of giving pleasure and serving others and we reap the joy of new life.
God creates all life with intent and purpose. If we are truly created in His image then we must take seriously our responsibility to intentionally create life as well. The key component of sexual immorality is the ability to view human beings as objects devoid of personhood and sentience. The result of such an outlook towards our fellow man will always be an insatiable need to kill life, whether it is in the womb or on the deathbed. When we forsake the Son, who is quite literally the divine representation of all life, we forsake our own reflection in His image as being worthy of life. The early Christians placed equal value on the life-givers (women), the life-giving process (sexual intercourse), and life itself. We would do well to refocus our efforts likewise.
Early Christianity stood for the sanctity of human life. Show how some of that sanctity is present in the world today.
Schmidt focuses a fair amount of effort on the topic of cremation. While a hope in bodily resurrection is identified as the driving force behind anti-cremation sentiments, the fear of preclusion on the basis of cremation seems illogical in light of the fact that God can form man from the dust of the earth. Disregard for the sanctity of life can be observed in other areas such as the entertainment industry and its obsession with violence and gore. While the mature mind is capable of compartmentalizing the real from unreal as we see through the vast usage of pornography, visual stimuli cannot differentiate between the two. Our minds may tell us that the violence is simulated but the windows to the soul cannot filter the information accordingly. This has a profound effect on younger minds incapable of governing the real and imaginary as it pertains to gaming and entertainment. To suggest that this is evidence of a complete lack of regard for sanctity of life does however fall short when we recognize the presence of a rating system. While it is a sad fact that such gruesome and licentious entertainment exists, a fragment of our morality remains in our ability to distinguish what is and what is not appropriate for certain age groups. No such distinction presented itself in the Roman-Greco culture and we have Christianity to thank for its presence today.[3]
A slow trickle in breakdown accompanied a demand for (as opposed to a release into) equality in the women’s rights movement and the induction of birth control as society realized fail-safes must be set in place for the inopportune spawning of life. The legalization of abortion in 1973 started the ball rolling and to this day we battle the progressive infiltration of death into more extreme areas of our life. On a daily basis we hear of occurrences of infanticide, child abandonment, and assisted suicide. Laws are continuously attacked as invasive to privacy if they guard the sanctity of life in any manner. To prevent an all out self imposed holocaust of death we must regress to the issue of women’s bestowed equality to counter this phenomenon. When genuine affirmation is conferred upon woman as equal in the image of God then the life-giver is no longer ashamed by the roles of her body in its ingrained sexuality, birthing capability, sustaining and nurturing functions. Because woman was not appropriately released into equality by men, forced instead to claw her way to the top, she abhors all that men impart to her, to include the very seed of life she is tasked to bear. Her focus, upon functional liberation, becomes one of intentionally creating life in contrast to the tendencies of our culture to affirm only her role of sexual gratification. Service to men becomes a byproduct of her desire to give life just as God’s desire to give us life through the sacrifice of His Son prompted Him to humble himself in service to mankind.
Conclusion
The broad scope of influence Christianity has had in all developments on earth is outlined and documented well in Schmidt’s work. The magnanimity of Christ’s impact in changing the world begs the question as to what will be the repercussions of present-day attempts to eradicate Christianity from the world. It has been my goal in this paper to identify how even the slightest of allowances contrary to God given structures such as authority, sexuality, and sanctity of life have consequences much greater than we could ever imagine. Altering the philosophy of the physical realm, ultimately impacts the spiritual realm as well. We alter our view of ecclesiastical authority and submission to the Word of God. We base our spiritual walk on what is pleasurable and tantalizing to our senses. We revel in the role of Christ’s Bride, but find ourselves devoid of the fruit and evidence of our union with God. In essence, we lose our witness to the world by rendering God’s Word impotent.
How Christianity Changed the World points out that many discoveries and creations were a result of an underlying faith in the God of the Universe. Pursuing truth in any field becomes a cumbersome task when we remove the source of all Truth from the equation. In modern day science, scientists often find themselves at a standstill in progression because of the need to circumvent any indicator of a Creator. A vast majority of literature and art has become mundane and cliché, devoid of inspiration and creativity, because we no longer recognize the Author of our faith. Liberty and justice parade around under the banner of Socialism due to the fact that we no longer require the wisdom offered by the Judge of the earth. Labor has developed into a bothersome nuisance to be avoided at all costs as a result of ignorance to a God that groans and labors to bring forth new life within us every day. Economies topple left and right as we veer into extremes far from the delicate balance between the freedom of capitalism and a God-issued command to care for a fellow man.
At this rate of decline it is a fair assumption that all meaningful developments will come to a standstill within a matter of a few centuries. If Christianity wishes to maintain the glory of her past and its influence on the world, she will need to reassess the areas in which she has conformed to the world. The city and culture we ultimately desire to bring forth here on earth descends from above; it does not rise from below.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Schmidt, Alvin J. How Christianity Changed the World. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House. 2004.
1 comment:
So you are blindly linking infanticide, child abandonment and assisted suicide to that of legalized abortion? You look at this as being nothing more than a legal problem rather than one of lack of education, basic human needs and poverty. As for the latter, there are no laws against poverty that I know except for being arrested for vagrancy. I suggest you engage in a little more research on this subject rather than simply equate it to a woman’s sexuality. The lack of a parent to afford to feed their child is not a “holocaust of death” as you so dramatically state it. Children who can barely fend for themselves are left to their own devices every day and as for assisted suicide do you know that the suicide rate is the highest among the elderly being 1/3 more than teenage suicide in the USA? Yet society constantly ignores this figure due to the fact we see them as a burden to increasing health care cost and that they “pretty much lived a full life.” Again, this has nothing to do with abortion. It’s only when the medical industry that we so glibly trust is killing them off does anyone take notice of this sad and unspoken societal travesty.
And how can you generalize the entire female populace that men abhor her simply for having a womb? The image of the female being reduced to being nothing more than a tool sexual gratification is more of a commercialized appeal rather than a functional one. But this is your psychology of men as I understand it. If you woke up to today’s modern society, its women themselves who don’t mind having this stereotype placed upon them. In fact, many use their sexual power to their advantage; most women in highly educated circles would rather have a BMW, a pair Prada boots and a career with full medical coverage than a child. Materialism, not “service to men” has become the mindset of many a woman and I can already guess that you know quite well on how God feels about materialism. And I don’t see many woman willing to make sacrifices in that area – whether they are believers or not.
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