Re-Visioning "Things": Part 2

Earthly, Physical, Temporal Things: Worthless

Before we Westerners re-visioned our view of “things” to “it-objects” worth our attention and money, we viewed physical things as ultimately worthless. We did so under the dominance of Christianity.

Under Christianity’s dominance, we saw “things” in two categories: earthly and heavenly. Earthly things were physical, corruptible, and temporary. Heavenly things were metaphysical, incorruptible, and eternal. Only heavenly, metaphysical, incorruptible, eternal things were worthy of our attention, study, and development. We viewed earthly things as ultimately worthless.

Church authorities encouraged us to devote our earthly lives to heavenly things. They encouraged us all to follow the example of Christ: to deny ourselves, bear our crosses, and endure suffering. They encouraged obedience to God and his ordained clergy, poverty, begging for alms, sexual abstinence, celibacy, virginity, and childlessness. They encouraged suppressing all physical desires and needs, receiving the sacraments, praying, fasting, keeping vigils, working, avoiding play, and going on pilgrimages to holy sites.  

The best way to devote our life to heavenly things was to forsake secular life and join a monastic order. As a monk or nun, we could live apart from the world, fully devoted to heavenly things, and begin living now as we would in Heaven.

The second-best way to devote our life to heavenly things was to join in life-long, monogamous, heterosexual marriage. But even in marriage, sex was fraught with danger. Having sex in the missionary position to have children, to raise as Christians, was the only approved form of sex. Any hints of lust or pleasure were sinful and required confession to and absolution from a priest.

Church authorities promised heavenly rewards for denying ourselves and devoting ourselves to heavenly things. By pursuing heavenly things in this fallen world, we could rise above it, draw near to heavenly things, live a higher life, please God, receive his blessings, and avoid his wrath.

They promised that, if we devoted our earthly lives to heavenly things, heavenly rewards awaited us after we died, endured Purgatory, and went to Heaven. If we did not, we were damned to the eternal punishment in the flames of Hell.

Church authorities strongly discouraged pursuing earthly, physical, corruptible, temporary things. Such pursuits meant giving up heavenly things for earthly things. Those devoted to earthly things not only received their rewards in this life, they tempted those devoted to heavenly things to follow them. Church authorities shunned, punished, and killed them. They also granted pardons to those who confessed their sins, did penance, and turned correctly to pursuing heavenly things.

Consequently, Western culture was a Christian theocracy, Christendom. Its public language was Latin, the language of the Church. Its politics, economy, and laws enforced the theocracy of Christendom. Its clergy justified wars in Biblical terms as defending the faithful and spreading the one true faith. Christendom’s music, painting, statuary, architecture, and calendar of holy days celebrated heavenly, metaphysical, incorruptible, eternal things. Its clergy controlled its science, medicine, and healing (what little there was).

Even after the Renaissance, Protestant Reformation, Religious Wars between Roman Catholics and Protestants, and the Enlightenment ended Christendom, the influence of Christianity on Western culture remained.

Part Three of this series discusses the lingering affects in Western culture of both Newtonian physics and the Christian religion.