Paradoxically, although modernity appeared to be a threat to Essay - 1

Paradoxically, although modernity appeared to be a threat to Christianity, it had been nurtured, in significant part, by Christ - Essay Example Thus, the role Christianity has played towards the realisation of modernity is a matter that has been subject to debate, with some scholars arguing in favour of the rationale that Christianity spurred modernity onwards, while others gainsay the very idea, as shall be seen in the debate that ensues forthwith. Thesis Statement Contrary to what is being peddled against Christianity as a force antithetical towards modernity and having an inimical relationship with modernity, Christianity is poignantly the very harbinger of modernity, even to a global extent. According to Taylor (1989, 132), fundamentally, one of the tenets of Christianity is the belief in, and emphasis of man being made in the image and likeness of God [Genesis 1:26]. As such, since God is self-determinate and absolutely sovereign, man is also a free moral agent. By this, it is meant that man has the capacity to exercise freedom of choice and thereby deciding his destiny on earth and eternal destiny. The same also does not only mean, being self-determinate, but also being rational. Isaiah 1:18, I Pet 3:15, I Thessalonians 5:21 and Luke 9: 62 are some of the portions that call people to reason. This is because, making decisions entails being rational. The relationship between the doctrine of man being a free moral agent and modernity is seen in the fact that the Renaissance Age played, and continues to play an inextricable role in modernisation. In the same respect, Renaissance Age could not have come about in the absence of free or independent thinking. It is not in dou bt that the realisation of the Law of Gravity by Isaac Newton was a culmination of laborious thinking about an apple's fall from a tree. Not only did Isaac Newton [a Christian with great interest in natural philosophy and mathematics, Christian theology, economics, astronomy, alchemy and physics] discover the Law of Gravity, but he also wrote the Philosophie Naturalis Principia Mathematica which laid the foundations for classical mechanics. For instance, the laws of universal gravitation and the law of motion are derived from Isaac Newton's work, Philosophie Naturalis Principia Mathematica. Industrial and physical infrastructure and the development of modern means of transport [such as air transport] rely on the laws of motion and gravity. It is also important to note that Christianity, being a highly philosophical and introspective religion, set the pace for philosophy. For this reason, going through St. Paul's treatise on his Letter to the Romans is highly philosophical, as he exp lains fundamental concepts such as the fall of mankind, the purpose of the law [that was handed to Moses] and its inability to bestow right standing with God, justification by faith, and the inability of the law to help win over the war with the carnal nature of man (Lindberg, 2000, 83). Furthermore, Angold (2006, 11) points out that the highly philosophical aspect of Christianity is underscored by the philosophical controversies which succeeded the Edict of Toleration and the Edict of Milan in 311 and 313 AD, respectively, and thereby ending the Persecution of the Church. Immediately after the acceptance of Christianity as a legitimate religion, the Church had to contend with highly complex philosophical problems and concepts, as it dealt with doctrinal controversies such as Arianism [in the Nicean Council, 325 AD], Apollonarianism [the Council of Constantinople, 381], Nestorianism [the Council of Ephesus, 431], monophysitism [the Council of Chalcedon, 451] and Nestorianism [the Se cond Council of Consta