Western civilization
From EvoWiki
| See Western civilization in Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. |
Creationists often claim that Christianity is the foundation of Western civilization. Even though Christianity played an important part in the history of Western civilization, many important features of Western civilisation are not of Christian origin and Christianity has sometimes hindered the development of Western civilization.
Contents |
History
| See Fertile Crescent in Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. |
Fertile Crescent
Agriculture is the basis of any civilization. It was developed indepently in various places around the world. The agricultural center which later became the foundation of Western civilization was the Fertile Crescent. Wheat, barley, flax, cows, goats, sheep, and pigs were all domesticated here.
Another important cultural development took place in the Fertile Crescent, the invention of writing.
The Fertile Crescent was dominated by kingdoms in Egypt, Mesopotamia (Babylonians, Assyrians) and Asia Minor (Hittites).
| See Judaism in Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. |
Judaism
The Israelites were a small people living in Canaan, a part of the Fertile Crescent. Canaan was right in the middle between Egypt, Mesopotamia and Asia Minor, and was culturally influenced and sporadically occupied by the kingdoms in these places. While politically marginal, Judaism, their religion, became very influential.
| See Classical antiquity in Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. |
Classical antiquity
Ancient Greece is considered by most historians to be the foundational culture of Western Civilization. Though politically mostly organised in city states, its culture spread far. Colonies were founded all around the Mediterranean.
Thales from Miletus was the first philosopher. Socrates, one of the greatest philosophers of all time, was accused of atheism. The teachings of Plato, his pupil, later influenced Christianity, especially the Gospel of John. Euclid, a Greek mathematician, living in Alexandria, Egypt, laid the foundation of axomatic work in mathematics with his Elements.
Roman culture was greatly influenced by Greek culture; the Roman alphabet, which we still use today, for example is based on the Greek alphabet. Like the Greek, the Romans were polytheistic incorporating the gods of conquered people into their pantheon.
Christianity spread more and more in the Roman empire. When Theodosius I made Christianity the state religion of the Roman empire, it had already passed its zenith. What followed was the destruction of many pagan buildings and the closing of libraries. In Alexandria, the female mathematician Hypatia was savagely killed by a Christian mob incited by the local bishop.
Much of the ancient wisdom was lost, not only in the Western Roman Empire, which soon collapsed, but also in the Eastern Roman Empire, which became the Byzantine Empire.
| See Middle Ages in Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. |
Middle Ages
In the Middle Ages, Europe was christianised, nevertheless it wasn't a peaceful period. Slavery was abolished but replaced by serfdom. Some knowledge was preserved in monastries.
The Arab world retained much more of the ancient knowledge and was at that time much more civilised. Advances were made especially in mathematics - the numbers we use today were deduced from Arab numbers and the word algebra is of Arabic origin.
| See Enlightenment in Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. |
Enlightenment
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