Introductory installment in a brief summary of a “big picture” overview of Western religious and political history, starting with Jesus and moving to the present. Overall thesis: Much of world history has been caused by the illegitimate politicization of Christianity.
This post is the first, introductory installment in a brief summary of a “big picture” overview of Western religious and political history, starting with Jesus and his immediate Disciples/Apostles and moving to the present. Its primary thesis is simple: errors which were introduced into organized Christianity in its early centuries as a result of its politicization were then in the Seventh Century CE either absorbed, modified and absolutized by Muhammad or absolutely rejected by him (and these rejections made pillars of his faith). Then interaction between Islam and Christianity, much of it violent, caused hardened forms of these same errors to grow within organized Christianity, leading to the Crusades, the Reformation and its wars, the growth of modern political states in Europe and the Americas, and many of the problems of the current world.
Because both the period of time and the scope of the ideas involved in this introductory summary are extensive, even this “short” summary will be fairly lengthy. The completion of this introduction will be followed by the completion of an outline already started, and then, God willing, by the completion of articles filling in each point of that outline.
This introduction is in preliminary form, and will be edited, corrected and substantively improved as I finish the outline and the articles discussing the points of the outline. I’m sure it will also be edited and corrected in response to comments from readers more knowledgeable of some of the details than I.
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