Christianity and European Identity

The European Union’s future has never been bleaker than it is today. For the past decade, this region has faced crisis after crisis testing its long-term resilience and whether it will survive or not. Starting from the demographic crisis which was followed closely by the financial crisis which saw certain members face recession surviving only after they got bailed out, the Europeans have been left wondering where the rain started beating them. But Britain has seen worse times including the thirty years of war and the inter-state conflicts that have dogged it for centuries. The problems of the EU had started barely two decades after its formation and this very union is facing disintegration with the Brexit vote. One aspect of the European Union in crisis is that it is entrenched in secularism (Higgins, 2013). As one would remember, the level of success of the European in the 19th and 20th century begun in the backdrop of continued religious influence, something that shaped it into a very powerful region economically even going out to conquer the world in the advent of imperialism. Could the absence of Christianity be the root of all the problems facing it? The EU has grown to be a liberal world and a melting pot of all cultures, while it has shunned its original culture of Christianity to secularism leading to the thought that the decline of Christianity could be the root of this loss of direction. This paper, while putting special emphasis on the history Europe and the centrality of Christianity in it will go on to present the argument that the decline of religion and uptake of secularism could have had a hand in the disaster that European has grown to be.

A walk down memory lane into the depths of the history of Europe reveal a conceivable pattern of Christianity prints all over the place. The question of whether it was a necessary component of the European identity what is disturbing. Before the rise of the Germanic tribes and their conversion into Christianity, Europe seemed to have been a jungle of randomness. The region of Europe started taking shape after the disintegration of the Frankish dynasty and the entry of the Carolingian period which saw the rise of Charlemagne, a man who is honored as the father of Europe to this day. A keen look at the changing scene of European development and the decline of Christianity in the advent of the industrialization period was the beginning of the end of Europe’s supremacy. It would seem now that Europe has seen the best of its days and is now on a nose dive and it will be just a matter of time before it completely crumbles under the weight of its negligence of the principles which inspired its growth in the first place. The proposition that Europe is going to change dramatically after centuries of blood, sweat and tears can only be discovered by revisiting its history to dig up its past and compare it to the present Europe and what this will mean for its future.

Christianity had been springing up before it finally emerged at around 30 A.D. It took five years before it started taking root among the Jews of Jerusalem. In these early years, being a Christian would have attracted persecution by stoning to death (Jones, 1966). This was seen especially in Stephen’s preaching of the gospel making Christians disperse to the regions around Palestine and Syria. When they went to these regions, the Christians spread the word leading to the uptake by both the Jews and Gentiles. The over-arching concern especially for the Gentiles was whether their conversion to Christianity would demand they convert into Jewish culture or that Christianity was a religion that was open to all mankind as they were (Jones, 1966). It was only when it had been established that Christianity was in fact open to everyone that the way was paved for the explosion of catholicity in these regions. Two influential figures in this regard were Peter and Paul.

Saint Peter was regarded as the leader of the disciples of Jesus and a good friend of Jesus Christ. In history circles and especially in the Roman catholicity he was regarded as one of the popes who served the church. Peter’s role in the spread of Christianity is therefore one of the most important and that eventually entrenched Christianity in Europe. Initially born Simeon, a Hebrew name, Peter died in 64 A.D.in Rome (Jones, 1966). Another figure that had a strong bearing on the direction of the gospel Paul. Born Saul of Tarsus, the bible documents that he had an epiphany on his way to Damascus which made him convert to the Christian faith. Saul is said to have been a Christian persecutor given the high frequency of Christian persecution in those times (Jones, 1966). The initial proponents are said to have faced great opposition in their spread of the gospel. Paul is said to have begun his expedition as an apostle in Antioch in Syria before branching out westwards towards Greece and Turkey before getting back to Jerusalem again. His mode of spreading Christianity was through preaching and writing letters leading to the wide spreading of Christianity around the regions he visited. The notion that Christianity was an open religion for all and that Gentiles didn’t need to take up Jewish ways to get accepted stands as the greatest factor that might have led to widespread acceptance of Christianity. But in the times of Paul and Peter, Christian persecution was rampant at around 64 AD in Rome. Even Peter and Paul are reported to have been recorded to have met their deaths around this period due to their beliefs in Christianity (Jones, 1966). Paul having been executed because of charges laid against him and Peter hanged upside down during the reign of Nero right after the fire of Rome. Both Paul and Peter played a huge role in setting up Christianity in Europe with Paul spreading the word extensively while Peter was regarded as the one who underpinned the subsequent status of papacy and its growth of influence in Rome in the following years.

The Hellenic world majorly depicted by Hellenic influence that took root after the death of Alexander the Great who had been successful in conquering different city states of Greece and then going on in a spirited campaign to capture Macedon including India, Persia and Egypt. After his death, the Empire was divided among his successors, the Diadokhoi , a Greek word for successors and they included Lysimachus, Cassander, Ptolemy and Seleucus. The Hellenistic influence had a strong bearing in the development of Christianity since it brought about the spread of its renown libraries, Greek dedications, statues, architecture and inscriptions to different places when the four generals of Alexander the Great conquered different places leaving Greek influence everywhere they went. It is the meeting of Greek influence with scriptures of Judaism that proved to be a turning point in the spread of Christianity. This happened in Palestine and this blend was greatly exacerbated by the establishment of flourishing centers of learning by Ptolemy I. At the time this was the best learning center in the world. At the onset, Paul had expressed concerns over the Hellenistic influence on the established Christianity since Hellenistic learning comprised mostly of Greek mythology. Other studies at the time included stoicism and Platonism. These philosophies, especially stoicism and Platonism would later be incorporated into Christianity and its ethical teachings adding to the body of knowledge on Christian doctrines and thoughts

The political vicissitudes at the time that led to proliferation of upheavals and wars after the collapse of the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire fell in 476 when Romulus Augustus surrendered to the Germanic king (Simons, 1968). The fall of the Roman Empire has been attributed to numerous factors, Christianity turning out to be one of the major reasons why they were conquered. At the time, Christianity had taken root in Rome and was peddling the notion that there was better life after death in heaven. This coupled with the fact that the Romans had grown to take the backseat in their defense of their Empire and outsourced Barbarians to do this on their behalf. When Barbarians had outnumbered them, the conquest of the Roman Empire was well underway (Simons, 1968). The influence of Christianity in these train of events comes out quite clearly depicting the role it played in shaping the politics of a region that had grown to be quite volatile politically. As time, would go by, the influence of Christianity would continue to be felt even with the Germanic take over and the welcoming of a new dawn. At the turn of the first millennium, Christian churches introduced the dramatization of bible stories to improve resonance and participation in them. 

The conversion of the Germanic tribes had quite a lot to do with the Roman Empire’s prestige before it declined. They had been converted to Christianity well before the fall of the Roman Empire with exceptions of the Saxons, the Lombards and the Franks. Germanic Christianity arose later again with the conversion of the Germanic tribes from Arianism by the Christian missionaries (Simons, 1968). The Germanic conversions that would later determine the direction that the region took from that point on was the conversion of Anglo-Saxons and the Franks who later went on to determine the place of Christianity in medieval Europe. 

The rise of papacy is believed to have begun with Peter as Christ had regarded him as the rock on which Christianity would be built. Just like Peter the first popes of the Roman Empire suffered persecution and ended up being martyred. The Pope, derived from the Greek word, Pappas meaning father. They represented the leaders of the faith at the time when being a Christian came with a lot of risk of being jailed or killed. In the first three centuries, popes faced a lot of problems besides persecution including differing views on Christian doctrines since those early times (Herrin, 1987). The wave of change came at around 313 when papacy was intertwined with political power, a move that would give Christianity the firepower it needed to rise to unprecedented levels just a few centuries before. This change happened during the short-lived pontificate of Miltiades between 311 and 314. It is around this time that places of worship started springing up in Rome. Given the history of persecution, the Christians had been known to pray secretly in their private houses. It is some of these private houses that were transformed into big churches which were also regarded as public buildings given their new status. The first leader who showed great potential in leading the Roman Catholic Church was Leo the Great who is said to have been in power for 21 years (Herrin, 1987). Under Leo, the notion of debate on doctrines was ended especially with the review of the power of the keys. This power which had been granted by Jesus to Peter stated that the pope would have the key to heaven and that what the pope forbid on earth would be forbidden in heaven and what the pope allowed on earth would be allowed in heaven in the same measure. What we were seeing here was the continued increase in the power of the pope and a growing influence in Rome. 

Another instance or situation which greatly improved the status of the pope in ancient Rome was the collapse of Imperial authority. After the decline of the Roman Empire, besides the Germanic take over, there were the Visigoths, the Vandals and the Huns who were seen to move around with no clear direction paving the way for systems to be put in place to position Papal influence and authority in the handling of temporal affairs (Herrin, 1987). At this point, the story goes on how Leo the Great had faced two seemingly powerful leaders from the Hun and the Visigoth fronts in Attila in 452 and Gaiseric in 455 respectively. He was credited with convincing them to spare Rome in their quests and therefore made a mark on the position of Papacy. With this establishment, Leo created a great platform that welcomed Gregory the great, another pope that would make his make on the direction of Catholicism and Christianity in the Roman Empire. Picking up from where Leo the Great left off, the pope is credited to have also engaged in fruitful diplomacy for the city of Rome and even went further to dispatch missionary to spread the gospel in England. These qualities were just a few that defined Gregory and the power he accorded to the papacy during his reign. The most memorable achievements of Gregory include the diplomatic gesture he undertook on behalf of the city when he convinces the Lombards at the gates of Rome to spare the city in return of an annual tribute (Herrin 1987). This above all the noble acts that he undertook during his reign must have convinced people of the power he held and the influence he could make if given the reins of power. Apart from being active outside of church, Pope Gregory showed great commitment in the faith being recognized for his exceptional strides in tweaking Roman worship and his numerous writings which led to the advent of formal education as in the modern educational system, as opposed to the then popular culture of apprenticeship. He ended up ruling the church between 540-604 making a great mark of papal supremacy in Europe. From the efforts made by Pope Gregory even in this early period of Papacy, we the influence of Christianity in the building and development of Europe starts taking shape. Encompassing the realm of religion, diplomacy and human welfare we see the papacy positioning itself to deliver this region into a new era of growth under a different kind of dispensation.

The fall of the Roman Empire had been brought about by smaller tribes which had had contact with Romans before and therefore had been Romanized. A good number of them had tried to restore the original Roman ideals under their regime to no avail. The Germanic tribes namely the Visigoths, Vandals and the Ostrogoths were thrown into disarray when they were reconquered by the Justinians disorganizing them and giving way to the weaker Germanic tribes to take the reins of power. One such tribe comprised of the Franks who came to form the base of the medieval European society. The first of their reputable kings was Clovis who rose to the throne at the tender age of 15 going on to make a great mark in the Christianity sphere by eventually converting to Christianity. This conversion was in part influenced by his conquest of the Alemanni after he had prayed to the god of Christians and vowed to get converted in case of a victory. What set apart the Frankish rule was their closeness with the Christians. In the long run this association gave them an edge that made them by far the greatest of the Germanic states that had grown to influence the Roman Empire in the west in 600 C.E. The Frankish realm suffered a major setback in the early 700s in the wake of Clovis’ death. Steeped in the Germanic tradition that property of the kingdom belonged unquestionably to the king, the kingdom was divided amongst the three kingdoms leading to the decentralization of power and the influx of political turmoil and unrest (Herrin 1987). These kings were also viewed to be functionally useless as they sat back and watched their kingdoms descend into further uncertainty and strife. It is after these events that arose the mayors who strove to rebuild these kingdoms finally ushering them into the rule of Carolingians whereby Charlemagne which translated to Charles the great arose. 

Charlemagne is known to have taken up leadership of the Frankish dynasty of Western Europe in the late 700s after the death of Clovis in the early 700s and the transition made by the mayors. His place center of power was Western Europe of which comprised of the present-day Belgium, France, Netherlands, Luxembourg and Western Germany (Herrin, 1987). Referred as the father or grandfather of Europe his immediate goal was to unite the whole of Europe or at that time the Germanic states into one kingdom and then convert all his subjects. These two factors in his vision would later be the defining parameters that lead to the formation of Europe in the later years. Taking great strides to accomplish these goals, Charlemagne got embroiled in incessant battles in a quest to get more Germanic states under one kingdom. Perhaps the thing that is most conspicuous about Charlemagne’s rule was the way he centered his rule on Christianity and papacy. He continued with Clovis’ belief in Christianity even going on to fund the church, allocate them vast amounts of land and protecting them. Here we see another great influence that a leader exerts in Christianity, positioning it to play a greater role in the growth of Europe. Given the support that Charlemagne had displayed and his commitment to the people of Rome, Pope Leo the third rewarded him by crowning him the first emperor of the Romans in 800 according him more power and influence but most importantly indicating the power that the Papacy had grown to acquire to make it the institution that determined his emperorship. He also was a driving force behind Carolingian renaissance that comprised of a blend of learning, writing and culture that was a great addition to the learning sphere at the time (Herrin, 1987). So, with Charlemagne we saw a temporal leader who rose to acknowledge the power of Papacy and strive to unite this wide geographical region spreading the influence of Christianity all over Europe.

Charlemagne’s reign was a big defining factor of the high medieval period and his undertakings are the ones that came to shape the nature of this period. The Carolingian era had brought back the emphasis on scientific and philosophical principles and alongside these advancements there was the rise of Christian kingdoms and even universities. Christianity and its power was at its peak in this period that began in the year 1000 (Herrin, 1987). The stability of the Carolingian era was a determining factor in great intellectual, religious and artistic improvements at the time. Christian scholarship was boosted by the rise of universities including the University of Bologna amongst others. Teachings from the Hellenistic period and Aristotle’s which had been recovered by Thomas Aquinas were compiled into Scholasticism, were bundled together to be taught alongside Christian doctrines. This period also saw the growth and building of the infamous gothic cathedrals and the development of the artistic field. Different forms of literature were also taken up including Medieval Latin literature and Middle English literature. Mathematics was also borrowed by the Arabs and incorporated into their scholarship structure. In the wake of the stability of this period, the Christians sort to expand their geographical coverage. This zeal was manifested through military crusades involving the rallying of different states to form the crusade states that formed the front against Seljuk Turks in the wake of growing strength of the Catholic Church (Herrin, 1987). These crusaders also sort conquests in the Iberian Peninsula. These are the activities that hand a hand in broadening the reach of the church in those times.

The Christianity in the East side of Europe was based in Constantinople and had great influence in the East. This influence was so strong that the faith was spread to Italy in the west and to parts of North Africa (Herrin, 1987). Just like their Western counterparts, the eastern Christians were growing in stature at a fast rate and there was a difference in structure that arose in this growth. This led to the rise of the two divides of Greek orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism in the east and the west respectively. 

During the year 381, the priest of Constantinople had grown in stature just like the pope in Rome to gain equal status. But the difference between Orthodoxy and Catholicism was in small doctrine difference involving who was to be ordained priest and the practices of giving the sacrament to the laity. Orthodoxy allowed married men to be ordained to priesthood while the Roman Catholic only allowed celibate men to be ordained as priests. Orthodoxy also gave out wine and bread to its laity while the Roman Catholic only gave out bread, well until the 20th century when this changed.

The Bulgars also known as the Bulgarians were a people that were found in East Europe in the middle ages. Known to have been originally from the west Eurasian and European populations, the Bulgars had been attracted to the East by the Byzantine Empire which had attracted their interest and that they had striven hard to conquer. At around 560, the Bulgarians were threatened by the Avars and had to retreat after one of their tribes was conquered. After they had retreated, they submitted to be ruled under Kurt from 605-642 in the then called Great Bulgaria (Herrin, 1987). This entity would later be marred by conflict following its division into five entities representing the five sons of Kurt. From these divisions, arose the Byzantine Empire that came to be in habited by the Vlachs who would later conquer the Bulgars. At around the 800s the conversion of the Bulgars was well underway with the rule of Boris the first. But the volatility of this region would later lead to the internal divisions that would lead to the formation of the second Bulgarian Empire. Continued war in the region later led to the erosion of this kingdom to following attacks from the Mongols attacks before it finally fell under the rule of Ottoman Turks. The Christian influence and their stubbornness in the Bulgarians would save them from been completely merged to the Turks who were predominantly Muslim.

The missions in the northern part of Europe comprised the northern areas comprising of present day Russia as in the Kievan Rus, an east Slavic state. It emerged and had grown along the Dnepr River in the trade route between the Scandinavian and the Byzantine Empire. There are known to have adopted Christianity from the Byzantine kingdom which came to define their religious affiliations in the following years (Herrin, 1987). This culture mainly comprised of the Byzantine Christianity and the Slavic cultures that had been predominant in the Kievan Rus before. The Kievan Rus would later decline in the wake of the attacks by the Mongols in the 13th century which served to be the last straw that broke this region’s back. The civilization established by the Kievan Rus would go on to be taken over by the Muscovy state that would later define the future of the Russian region and its politics.

Constantinople was the capital of the Byzantine Empire at the time of its conquest in 1453. Their fall was exacted by an increasingly strengthened Ottoman Empire which laid a siege on the city at and butchered its inhabitants in a quest for control. The Ottoman Turks who were predominantly Muslim dealt Christendom in this attack a fatal blow that would mark the end of the Roman Empire and to an extent the infringement into an area that was mainly made up of Christians. Before its fall, the Byzantine Empire had turned out to be resilient holding out attacks from many quarters including Avars and Bulgarians. In this regard, it had grown to be flourishing near self sufficient capital ideal for a center of expansion into other areas. This is what had made it so attractive and the victim of the various attacks it experienced over its days. After these attacks, a certain number of Greeks are said to have fled to Italy and positioned themselves in readiness for the renaissance. 

When the Mongols had invaded the Kievan Rus, what was to grow into Moscow was an outpost that would later be a sort of sheltered place safe from incessant Mongol attacks. This seemingly insignificant outpost would later be expanded by the princes who went on to rule it expanding its borders and growing in from obliterate by the Mongols in the 13th century to a bustling state in the 16th century. Given the influence of the Byzantine Empire on the Kievan Rus and its then attractiveness, the development of Russia took this precedence thus separating or isolating itself from the intellectuality of the western Empires of Europe including Roman Catholicism. This isolation is said to have had an influence on the isolated location of Russia. This is what would enable them to carry on with the leadership of grand princes for four centuries. This area would move to the upper Volga area that would later grow in stature to be the bustling metropolis that attracted revelers from Italy, the Germans, the Dutch and the English.

The growth of the stature and power of the Catholic Church brought with it some undesirable practices that sparked controversies leading to the calls for the reformation of the church. The sale of reprieves from penance and the exchange of worldly possessions for less time in the purgatory are some of the practices that rubbed the growing populace of enlightened Christians to question the practices of the Catholic Church. The lecturers and professors like Martin Luther and Thomas Wycliffe were spreading the notion that Christianity was more about the people and not the institution of the church as in the leadership (Herrin, 1987). They went on to reckon that religion should have been more appropriately practiced if it refereed from the bible and not from set of traditions governed by the church. This disruption of the undisturbed Christian order of the day led to a reactionary act by the church involved wars and persecutions which were forceful but couldn’t stop the wave of change that was in the offing. The Protestants advocated for the distribution of the bible to the people and the revoking of the power from the church to the kingship as conducted by Henry. The different denominations set to have been formed included Calvinism in Switzerland, Lutheranism in Germany and the English version which was somewhat in between Catholicism and Calvinism (Herrin, 1987). The reformation is one of the events of the 16th century that led to the liberalized thinking of the European people and the later emergence of different factions with different beliefs that would be the defining factors of the modern age.

The thirty years of war were because of the counter-reformation and the struggles that ensued after that. In as much as the church grew to be more literate and enlightened in the wake of these accusations and calls for change, there were still wars that came with these reformations that brought about great political changes to Europe. In the period following the emergence of Protestants and the reclamation of property that had been allocated to the Roman Catholic Church, there arose the holy Roman emperor Ferdinand 2. The rise of Ferdinand led him to initiate persecutions and curtailing of his subjects’ freedoms leading to public outcry and consultation of the Protestants to help the situation. Given the protestants were opposed to the ways of the Catholic Church, they rose to the occasion but were handed painful back to back defeats. These wars pitted the protestant states including Great Britain, the Dutch republic and Denmark against the German Catholics, Spain and the papacy (Herrin, 1987). The first victory by Ferdinand was at the White Mountain before he went on the offensive against the Bohemian Protestants of Germany who despite the support from the protestant allies lost again. Riding on the wave of these victories, Ferdinand issued the Edict of Restitution in 1629 which initiated the reclamation of former catholic lands that had been secularized. It was until 1630 that the protestant forces got gainful reinforcements from the Swedish army under Gustavus Adolphus with the aid of German protestant groups drove the imperialists out of Germany. These victories had a ripple effect on the region and the war environment was soon in most areas. France declared war on Spain and later the Holy Roman emperor in 1635 and 1636. This war which had originally involved the German states in Germany had therefore evolved into a regionwide war of the big states waged in Germany. The war ended with France’s conquest of Spain and the victory of Sweden over the imperialist states leading to concessions and finally peace. The aftermath of the 30 years of war was of course massive destruction in Germany and the loss of almost a fifth of its entire population. The war on the other hand led to the handing over of the protestant grievances to the Lutheran church. The most notable achievement of this war was the recession of the church’s influence on the affairs of European politics which led to the inevitable decline of the Holy Roman Empire.

The decline of papacy begun during the papal reign of Pope Boniface the eighth. The decline of papacy is credited to a blend of factors ranging from arrogance to the revolutionary ideas of John Wycliffe, an English professor of oxford. At the beginning of the 14th century, there arose differences in opinion between Pope Boniface and King Phillip the fourth. At this period, the power of kings had grown back to their previous status before the unprecedented rise in stature and influence of papacy. Pope Boniface was constantly opposing the temporal rulers of the time by claiming that the clerics weren’t to be subject to taxes and shouldn’t be tried in secular settings (Herrin, 1987). Papal pride and arrogance was growing and the temporal authorities were growing fed up of these antics. Another factor at the time was the growing unethical practices of the church including immorality and corruption that bordered on greed. These practices must have led to the church and the papacy losing its previous glory as attractive and powerful leading to its marginalization and finally its decline. Pope Boniface is said to have fled when he had a whiff that he being targeted by King Phillip to Avignon close to the French border. Some historians claim that he was in fact. Captured by the king and treated so badly that he died within a month. The papacy from then on was taken over by a string of popes of French descent. At the time, the honor and prestige associated with popes had gone down to levels from which it would never recover. Another factor that is said to have greatly contributed to the decline of papacy was the rise of monarchs which had increasing loyalty from the public.

The decline of papacy came with the slow but sure creeping in of secularization with the temporal leaders despising the Christian leaders more and more. Secularism was marked by the transfer of property that had been belonging to the church to the temporal leaders. The rise of papacy and Christianity especially in the time of Charlemagne had seen the church being given vast amounts of land making them wealthy and powerful. The secularization of this society symbolized the transfer of this power to the world shifting the basis of development of Europe. The reformation of the church and Protestantism is also alluded to secularism and later enlightment since it brought about a new order that allowed people to move on to form sects and divided religious entities leading to the springing up on non-religious groups in the same (Herrin, 1987). Intellectuality and the peddling of the Darwinian Theory that directly challenged the bible and religious stories of human origin didn’t fare well for the Christian world. At this time the European world was undergoing great transformation thanks to increases trade with different parts of the world putting capitalism and innovation at the center of its growth. As such, enlightenment and secularism was making great strides in the development increasing its attractiveness. Some of the proponents of enlightenment were Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin franklin, men who had great influence in those times. It was not long before the church’s influence in the schools was reduced and secular schools were introduced to give more enlightenment. Because of the increased emphasis on development, the inevitable results of industrialization and urbanization came about further pushing religious doctrines to the shadows of secular influence. It is around this time that Karl Marx emerged with the anti-religious thoughts that was quickly gaining prominence among the people even in the circles of political influence. Secularism came to produce thoughts of nationalism, capitalism and even feminism shunning the retrogressive train of thought that had been long peddled by religion and its doctrines. Add science to these disciplines of secularism and it quickly transformed into an ideology of progressive thinking and improvement. Such was the influence that secularism gained giving it the impetus to triumph over Christian and religious influence on national affairs.

The imperialist period is said to have lasted quite some time from the late 1800s to the early 1900s. It comprised of the time when the European powers extended their influence to different parts of the world leading to the colonialism of different parts of the world. The decline of the Christian influence on temporal issues led to the rapid industrialization of Europe. Christianity and the imperialist tendencies of the European countries are said to have benefitted from each other in some myriad ways. The notable influence of Christianity on imperialism came about in the wake of voyages by the missionaries who went back to their countries and told their people about the last that they had ventured into sparking interest especially from the secular leaders who went out to exert their political influence in these areas increasing their geographical reach and influence

The years preceding the Great War saw the increased nationalism in Europe and this was later described as one of the factors that have been said to have been influential in the proliferation of the war. Besides this, there were military revolutions and improvement of equipment. Another thing that was dominant in Europe at that time was the increase of international organization and organization which paved way for the different alliances that were formed during the war. The European influence all over the world had grown strong and it borrowed a great deal of soldiers from other quarters to fight together in the war. The period after the war saw the signing of a treaty and the beginning of co-operation between the countries that took part in the war. The war is said to have shaped the political direction of the region preparing in for the coming years of prosperity.

The relationship between Christianity and Islam has been one of conflict over the years. Believed to have had a common historical relation, Islam and Christianity have over the years been interlinked with each other even when the link they had was war-like (Fletcher, 2004). From the attacks of the Ottoman Turks to the present-day ISIS terrorist attacks, it has seemed that Islam and Christianity are replaying their past. The 7th century saw the expulsion of the Muslims and their retreat to North Africa from Spain which they had conquered at around the 6th century. The period after this involved the going back and forth of these two religions with Muslims invading Europe from the south-east side in the 17th century and Christians of Europe invading the Muslim lands in the wake of the Crusades of the 12th and the 13th century. The final wave of the attacks of Christians in Muslim Lands was seen in the 19th and 20th century with the industrialization of Europe and the rise of imperialism (Fletcher, 2004). After this period, the Christian versus Muslim scene went quiet for a while before resurfacing with the Muslim extremist attacks that have grown on a global scale making vicious attacks in the US, Europe and parts of Africa all in the name of religious warfare continuation. The major change that has been scene in the world is the uptake of secularism while most Muslims have remained true to their faith. Today, Muslim influence is felt all over the world and especially Europe where the number of Muslim immigrants has grown phenomenally almost threatening to surpass the Christian population. Even the mayor of London today, one of the major centers in Europe, is said to be of Muslim descent adding to the gravity of the situation.

Europe today has seen the adoption of rampant secularism that pays no attention to religion but certain defining values which have been adopted universally. The origin of this secularism has been said to be the French enlightenment which emphasizes the importance of public neutrality while reckoning that any affiliations to religion should be kept to oneself (Higgins, 2013). While this has greatly improved the ability of immigrants to integrate into this community, it has led to the decline of Christianity to such levels that religious influence has become completely imperceptible in public affairs. The influence of papacy has been reclined to the Vatican and the Roman Catholic Church with the church being barred from expressing political leanings. The secular Europe spurred by industrialization forged connection between each other to form the European Union.

The European Union formation had begun with the formation of the European Coal and steel Community in 1951 right after the Second World War and the European Economic Community formed in 1958. It originally consisted of six countries including France, Belgium, Netherlands, West Germany, Luxembourg and Italy. The European Union has over the years grown in stature admitting more countries bringing the final number to 28 countries. It was first established and called the European Union in 1993 following the Maastricht treaty. The European Union was developed for trade, economic and political reasons and involved the opening of the borders and eradication of passports around the EU area for most countries. This notion must have been to form the third formidable economic bloc given the USA and the USSR had established themselves as powerhouses owing to their unity. The opening of these borders not only opened the countries to more trade but facilitated cross-cultural exchange between the different countries in the EU. This type of exchange has grown to be perceived mostly secular since most of the European countries have become completely secularized. Consequently, there has been an overall decline in faith in the European Union increasing the levels of secularism in the region. The European region has grown to face a lot of challenges some stemming from a small number of countries and having an impact in the whole region while some have just affected the region. These problems which have come to be referred to as crises have cast Europe into the pit of doubt with undertones of uncertainty of the future being felt everywhere.

In the recent years, Europe has been at the receiving end of different crises which have had a great impact on its current and future economic prospects. The European debt crisis which hit its pinnacle following the collapse of the US mortgage market that had a ripples effect causing a minor recession as an aftermath, is just one of the crises that have dogged this once flourishing democracy. Another crisis facing Europe which keeps increasing and threatening further most economies in Europe is the demographic crisis. A third wave of crises can be seen in the horizon with the recent vote that saw Britain exit the EU leaving the world guessing where the European Union was headed next given the effects of the property bubble that burst in 2009 are still haunting some counties today.

The European economic crisis is said to have originated from the advent of high risk borrowing across continents that came to be called the globalization of finance. The availability of cheap credit during the period between 2002 and 2008 is said to have exacerbated the impact of the mortgage crisis. Perhaps the greatest cause of the explosion of debt was the increased use of leverage in the transactions carried out around this time (Aizenman, Hutchinson and Lothian, 2013). Banks which knew that they would guaranteed by their government took great risks with money which they barely had and suffered greatly when their investments went south. The red flag or the alarm bell that was first seen in Greece whose perceived debt levels turned out to be too great for it to repay. The missing of one payment of their debt to the IMF to the tune of 300 million euros led to S&P labelling their government bonds BB made the investors freeze amid fears of default. The euro currency took a hit given these fears spurring the Greek government into effecting austerity measures which were met by protests by its public

The demographic crisis based on population growth has become a growing concern that has continued to spread around the countries of Europe. After world war 2 there arose the baby boom generation which had a strong influence in the population growth through reproduction. The ushering of the twenty first century has seen unprecedented decline in population growth even descending into negativity. This statistic has been recorded in not one or two but more than five countries which have recorded cases of deaths exceeding birth rates in Europe (Brooks, 2015). These countries including Germany, Hungary. Croatia, Romania, Czech Republic and Bulgaria. The rise of this crisis has made a record number of this demographic surpassing the US which was thought to have been the worst case of the crisis. Most of the European countries have taken to increasing the numbers of immigrants they accept to plug the deficit and make economic salvation of the situation. The crisis has come to be more about the presence of an energetic and working population that would go a long way in sustaining the increasing number of the old people in the society. The subject of refugee acceptance has also brought about the issue of how fast the immigrants can be integrated and incorporated to start working in the countries that host them (Brooks, 2015). The inevitable solutions that have been suggested have been the increase of the retirement age which is still a short-term solution. A more viable proposition has been the provision of attractive incentives to make the women bear children. A disparity has been seen especially in the comparison of Scandinavian countries with the EU countries given the benefits fathers and mothers derive from having children.

The Soviet Union and its fall was one of the land marks of history that that have defined Europe over the years. But this fall led to various concerns being raised by the Russian government on the course that religion was going to take from there going forward. The concern especially was the entry of non-orthodox Christians into the Russian sphere polluted the established status quo that had taken so long to build. The rise of President Vladimir Putin into power has seen the re-emergence of the political leadership which took to importance religion and made it one of its pillars of development. Putin has positioned Russia in a way that would be advantageous to their quest to regain their firmer glory from the chaotic 1990s. Central to Putin’s plan has been the pumping of support to the Orthodox Church giving it physical and financial strength and even incorporating it into government. His final goal as it can now be seen was to unite Russia once again not by any political gimmicks but to place the church at the center of the unity while keeping the church as close as possible to the government. This move, touted to be very strategic in the resurgence of the former Soviet Union has turned out to be very fruitful following the unification of the Russian Orthodox Church outside of Russia and the Russian Orthodox Church. One matter of great importance is the fact that the largest ROCORs are based in New York and Paris, two different locations that symbolize two different sets of great political power that would turn the power struggles of the world on its head (Bennetts, 2015). The issue on whether this entity will be used by Putin as listening posts being a thinly veiled attempt can only symbolize a great future for Russia and a very bleak future for Europe. What is evident though is the use of the Orthodox Church as the channel of diplomacy for Putin and his administration (Bennetts, 2015). One of the things that are most conspicuous about Putin is that he is openly very strongly orthodox, a quality that might be very powerful in the making of connections with other Orthodox churches in other regions. These chains of events are symbolic given the history that has been documented about Russia. The rise of Russia saw them isolate themselves from the Western form of intellectuality and rise under the rule of princes who slowly but surely expanded their territory making them attract immigrants from Italy and England. A careful view of Putin’s actions indicate that this might be the underlying motive in the reunification of the Orthodox Church.

Amidst the turmoil, Europe has grown to be dotted by various extremist and intolerant parties which reveal in detail the problems facing this region. Some of these parties include the National Front, UKIP and Pegida (Aisch, Pearce and Rousseau, 2016). The National Front is an extreme far-right party whose ideals are steeped in racial intolerance in the UK. This party calls for racial separatism and the expulsion of non-white immigrants from the country. UKIP on the other hand is the abbreviation of the United Kingdom Independent Party which was founded in 1993 to seek exit of Britain from the EU. The recent Brexit vote that finally achieved this goal, casting doubts on the future of the country and that of the EU. Pegida is a national organization that is against the spread of Islam to other countries citing extremism as one of its reasons. Other parties like the Jobbik party have gone back to their Christian ideals showing the great disparities in opinion that the European region is experiencing today (Aisch, Pearce and Rousseau, 2016). Golden another party said to have Greek Orthodox roots has been touted as being quite xenophobic and racist. The rise of these parties are the true testaments of the dissatisfaction of the European people with the order of things in Europe. But even in the wake of these displays of intolerance, the once most powerful religious post of Europe, the papacy was handed to Pope Francis, a foreigner born in Buenos Aires further cementing the fact of external dominance in the European Union.

The account of the history on how Europe came to be elevates Christianity as the overarching force that shaped it and its values. The question on whether the current turmoil that the EU is in is what presents a challenge and the link is not clearly until one assesses the current power plays in the world today. The growth of enlightenment and secularism at the start of the industrial revolution could be hailed as what made Europe prosper in those times. One thing that is normally overlooked is the influence that unity has in the prosperity in any region. This especially has been seen in the rise of the New World to the powerhouse that the United States of America have grown to be today. Unity. In the advent of the industrial age, Europe was unified as a region by Christianity something that lasted long after the decline of papacy and powerful religious influence on political matters. The power of the unity that was accorded to Europe by the church has continued to be felt today given the fact that the EU is still somewhat intact, for the time being (Smith, 2001). Worth noting too, is the fact that over a century after the decline of religious influence cracks have started emerging in the EU. The more reason why this is conspicuous is the fact that the Arab have stayed true to their religion and are still growing phenomenally. The US whose foundation was somehow secular have also weathered the storms and have remained steadfast.

Europe seems to be suffering from a malaise that can only be attributed to the deviation from the principles that made its foundation. And as common knowledge has it, weak bases lead to the inevitable crumbling of the whole building. The final sign or manifestation of this fact is the way president Putin of Russia has discovered the centrality that religion plays in unifying people and is using it to slowly build back the Soviet Union. The power of Christianity in the building of Europe is depicted succinctly in this sense begging the question, will reverting to the papal order of things save Europe?

References

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Herrin, J. (1987). The formation of Christendom. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Fletcher, R. A. (2004). The cross and the crescent: Christianity and Islam from Muhammad to the Reformation. New York: Viking.

Smith, C. (2001). The end of the world-- as we know it: Clear direction for bold and innovative ministry in a postmodern world . Colorado Springs, CO: WaterBrook Press.

Simons, G. (1968). Barbarian Europe. New York: Willey.

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Jones, A. (1966). The Jerusalem Bible . Garden City, NY: Doubleday.

Aisch, G., Pearce, A., & Rousseau, B. (2016). How Far Is Europe Swinging to the Right? Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/05/22/world/europe/europe-right-wing-austria-hungary.html?_r=0

Brooks, A. C. (2015). An Aging Europe in Decline. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/07/opinion/an-aging-europes-decline.html

Higgins, A. (2013). A More Secular Europe, Divided by the Cross . Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/18/world/europe/a-more-secular-europe-divided-by-the-cross.html

 Bennetts, M. (2015). Putin finds an ally in resurgent Russian Orthodox Church . Retrieved from http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/nov/11/vladimir-putin-finds-an-ally-in-resurgent-russian-/