Amaros
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Joined: 7/25/2005
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Whatever Jesus was, I believe one thing Christians in general wrestle with is the whole notion of service - Christian Europe was pretty distinct from Judean culture, Christianity promoted the Great Chain of Life as a paradigm of systemic order, caste based and hierarchical, the notion pervades Catholicism, and all were considered Servus i.e., the Pope is the "head" of the church and serves Jesus, who serves god, etc., on down the line.
Check it:
quote:
Political Implications of the Chain of Being
The fear of "disorder" was not merely philosophical--it had significant political ramifications. The proscription against trying to rise beyond one's place was of course useful to political rulers, for it helped to reinforce their authority. The implication was that civil rebellion caused the chain to be broken, and according to the doctrine of correspondences, this would have dire consequences in other realms. It was a sin against God, at least wherever rulers claimed to rule by "Divine Right." (And in England, the King was also the head of the Anglican Church.) In Shakespeare, it was suggested that the sin was of cosmic proportions: civil disorders were often accompanied by meteoric disturbances in the heavens. (Before Halley's theory about periodic orbits, comets, as well as meteors, were thought to be disorderly heavenly bodies.)
The need for strong political rule was in fact very significant, for the Renaissance had brought an end for the most part to feudalism, the medieval form of political organization. The major political accomplishment of the Renaissance, perhaps, was the establishment of effective central government, not only in the north but in the south as well. Northern Europe saw the rise of national monarchies headed by kings, especially in England and France. Italy saw the rise of the territorial city-state often headed by wealthy oligarchic families. Not only did the chain of being concept provide a rationale for the authority of such rulers; it also suggested that there was ideal behavior that was appropriate to their place in the order of things. It is no wonder then that much Renaissance literature is concerned with the ideals of kingship, with the character and behavior of rulers, as in Machiavelli's Prince or Shakespeare's Henry V.
Renaissance
These notions was gradually replaced by humanism, the concept of universal rights and the rule of law, but one still finds it being promulgated in various Christian sects to different degrees.
< Message edited by Amaros -- 10/1/2009 11:02:36 PM >
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RE: Christian Dominants - 
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