The western civilization period marked one of the tough periods in history. It is a moment where people were compelled to abolish their ways of life and imitate the new form of living. Various parties were established each working to make sure there were enough members following the set denomination. Christianity is evidenced as one of the parties that had a large influence during the period. With its practices proving to have correlation with the existing traditions, it had a greater influence to the people living during this era. One of the problems that individuals faced was the urge to abandon the society’s way of life and joining the new lifestyle. The religion proved to have well defined activities as opposed to the existing ones. This fact made Christianity engage individuals in mental distress as they would be regarded as outcasts by the community(Bahm 464). As an individual, the concept of joining a new religion and leaving the old practices that the new religion referred to as demonic made it impossible to remain in the confines of the society. The major issue that Christianity is characterized with is the ability to change the Western Civilization and making it Medieval Western Civilization. This activity happened through the absorption of cultures, traditions and beliefs of communities leaving in Rome, the Hellenistic States, and Greece. The belief also had influence through its ability to bring harmony among the European Countries through the use of the new religion (Fukuyama, and Federici 105).
It was during this period that a large number of communities lived poor lives. For instance, the Roman government restricted individuals to have equal possession of property. It was during this period (16th century) that the church developed more connection with the political organizations that were in power. The Western Europe political lifestyle ended up with the manipulations that the church extended to the people. The church proved to have increased control in relation to power and wealth. It is as a result of the church’s popularity during this period that parties intrigued its operations. It is possible to claim that the involvement of other parties in the church activities affected the operations. As an individual it was a barrier since the church served as refuge to many(Bahm 467). A large number of people and who had abandoned their traditions to embrace the new lifestyle found it hard to survive the critics imposed to the church. There were abuses such as the sale of indulgences or the spiritual privileges. The popularity of Christianity was also faced with charges of corruption which typically undermined the ability of the church to work. Individuals faithful to the new religion faced similar charges making the followership of the new way of life difficult. The authority of the church as well as its members declined (the spiritual authority). The lives of the new believer and followers of the new faith faced hardships. These instances of engagement with hardships made living to be challenging. As an individual, the fact that the concept of Christianity established new ways of perceiving the supernatural powers alienated made it impossible to agree with the olden ways.
Other problems that existed during the period was the issue of poverty. The Roma government was characterized with corruption. The individuals that owned land was less in comparison to the people who led poor lives. The period can be deemed as one that was faced with many challenges since the various governments were undergoing revolution. The church therefore had the challenge to cope with the new system. Individuals with roles in the new system exploited the poor (Fukuyama, and Federici 120). The system that governed the Roman Empire during the era was characterized with strict social hierarchal rules. There were also a group of aristocratic group of individuals who run the operations in the city and more importantly had control over the wealth. Being among the poor class in the system made individuals bear hardships. The lower class people would be presented with the free grains. The main aim of the activity was to prevent cases of uprisings. The other challenge that prevailed during this period was the fact that the Empire constituted of a polytheistic form of worship. The fact that the worship of different religions existed made the ability to choose the right religion to follow more challenging. The primary reason behind the existence of polytheism during the early times is that people were trying to develop the understanding of the deity (Fukuyama, and Federici 357). The introduction of Christianity tended to introduce an easier way of understanding the supernatural entities. The introduction of Christianity can be deemed as the introduction of a new form of life to the people who lived in the era. It brought fulfilment. To conclude, the era of western civilization can be termed as an era where the society was undergoing numerous changes. There were the various forms of government that tried to establish, the new ways of religious activities among other event. All these activities were characterized with favorable outcomes and more importantly challenges that proved to affect individuals who opted to follow the new ways of life (Bahm 476).
Works Cited
Bahm, Archie J. “World Civilization: Potentialities And Obstacles”. Alternatives: Global, Local, Political, vol 8, no. 3, 1982, pp. 463-478. SAGE Publications, doi:10.1177/030437548200800306.
Fukuyama, Francis, and Silvia Federici. “Enduring Western Civilization: The Construction Of The Concept Of Western Civilization And Its “Others””. Foreign Affairs, vol 75, no. 3, 1996, p. 136. JSTOR, doi:10.2307/20047594.
