Monday, January 28, 2013

Chapter 16: Pgs. 461-477



            In the reading the author talks the out spread of the different religions and how new religions were formed. In the west there was the spread of Christianity. Out of Christianity Protestantism formed. This is because some people like Martin Luther did not agree with what the Roman Catholic Church was practicing. As a result he began the reformation in order to challenge the authority of the church and especially the pope’s power. Because of the growth of Protestantism a war broke out between Catholics and the protestant. This was called the Huguenots. As a result the German population decreased. Soon after, the Council of Trent was formed to fix the corruption and the abuse in the Catholic Church that started the protestant movement.
            Europeans had the greatest success in spreading Christianity especially through the Americas and the Philippines. In order for them to spread their ideals they would use force and in some cases they would destroy the natives’ religious items in order to make them convert. Yet what I found interesting was when Christianity came to China. There were Christian missionaries that would come to China in order to teach the Chinese about Christianity. These missionaries were called Jesuits. They would first have to get permission from the Chinese authorities before entering China. Instead of forcing their religion on to the Chinese, they would first lean the Chinese culture, langue, the Confucian text, and they would dress like the scholars. The Jesuits would respect the Chinese culture by showing them the similarities between Christianity and Confucianism instead of trying to convert them. Even though they were not successful I feel like this was a better way to reach others about the religion rather than forcing it on them. As a result they were able to teach each other about t the religion and culture and exchange ideas. I feel like more people would have converted on their own if all of the missionaries would have used this technique instead of forcing it on the others.    

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