Editing Western Christianity (section)

== History ==
{{Main|History of Western Christianity}}
[[File:Gustav Vasa Bible 1541.jpg|thumb|upright|Title page of the Lutheran Swedish [[Gustav Vasa Bible]], translated by the Petri brothers, along with [[Laurentius Andreae]]]]
[[File:Jesuites en chine.jpg|thumb|[[Jesuit China missions|Jesuit]] scholars in [[China]]. Top: [[Matteo Ricci]], [[Adam Schall von Bell|Adam Schaal]] and [[Ferdinand Verbiest]] (1623–88); Bottom: [[Xu Guangqi|Paul Siu (Xu Guangqi)]], ''Colao'' or Prime Minister of State, and his granddaughter Candide Hiu]]
For much of its history, the Christian church has been [[Greek East and Latin West|culturally divided]] between the Latin-speaking West, whose centre was [[Rome]], and the Greek-speaking East, whose centre was [[Constantinople]]. Cultural differences and political rivalry created tensions between the two churches, leading to disagreement over [[Eastern Orthodox – Roman Catholic theological differences|doctrine]] and [[Eastern Orthodox – Roman Catholic ecclesiastical differences|ecclesiology]] and ultimately to [[East-West schism|schism]].<ref name="west_christ">[http://www.philtar.ac.uk/encyclopedia/christ/west/westessay.html "General Essay on Western Christianity"], ''Overview Of World Religions''. Division of Religion and Philosophy, University of Cumbria. © 1998/9 ELMAR Project. Accessed 1 April 2012.</ref><!--old reference //<ref>{{cite web |url=http://philtar.ucsm.ac.uk/encyclopedia/christ/west/westessay.html |title=Western Christianity |publisher=Philtar.ucsm.ac.uk |access-date=15 March 2012}}</ref>// -->

Like [[Eastern Christianity]], Western Christianity traces its roots directly to the [[Twelve Apostles|apostles]] and other early preachers of the religion. In Western Christianity's original area, [[Latin]] was the principal language. Christian writers in Latin had more influence there than those who wrote in [[Greek language|Greek]], [[Syriac language|Syriac]], or other languages. Although the first Christians in the West used Greek (such as [[Clement of Rome]]), by the [[Christianity in the 4th century|fourth century]] Latin had superseded it even in the cosmopolitan city of [[Early centers of Christianity#Rome|Rome]], as well as in [[Early centers of Christianity#Southern Gaul|southern Gaul]] and the [[Early centers of Christianity#Carthage|Roman province of Africa]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |dictionary=The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |date=2005 |isbn=978-0-19-280290-3 |title=Latin}}</ref> There is evidence of a Latin translation of the [[Bible]] as early as the 2nd century (see also [[Vetus Latina]]).

With the [[decline of the Roman Empire]], distinctions appeared also in organization, since the bishops in the West were not dependent on the [[Byzantine Empire|Emperor in Constantinople]] and did not come under the influence of the [[Caesaropapism#Caesaropapism in the Eastern Church|Caesaropapism in the Eastern Church]]. While the [[Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople|see of Constantinople]] became dominant throughout the Emperor's lands, the West looked exclusively to the [[Holy See|see of Rome]], which in the East was seen as that of one of the five [[patriarch]]s of the [[Pentarchy (Christianity)|Pentarchy]], "the proposed government of universal [[Christendom]] by five [[patriarch]]al sees under the auspices of a single universal empire. Formulated in the legislation of the emperor [[Justinian I]] (527–565), especially in his [[Corpus Juris Civilis#Novellae|Novella]] 131, the theory received formal ecclesiastical sanction at the [[Quinisext Council|Council in Trullo]] (692), which ranked the five sees as Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pentarchy {{!}} Byzantine Empire, Justinian I & Justinian Code {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/pentarchy |access-date=2024-01-02 |website=Britannica|language=en}}</ref>

Over the centuries, disagreements separated Western Christianity from the various forms of Eastern Christianity: first from [[Church of the East|East Syriac Christianity]] after the [[First Council of Ephesus|Council of Ephesus (431)]], then from that of [[Oriental Orthodoxy]] after the [[Council of Chalcedon]] (451), and then from [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodoxy]] with the [[East-West Schism]] of 1054. With the last-named form of Eastern Christianity, reunion agreements were signed at the [[Second Council of Lyon]] (1274) and the [[Council of Florence]] (1439), but these proved ineffective.

Historian Paul Legutko of [[Stanford University]] said the [[Catholic Church]] is "at the center of the development of the values, ideas, science, laws, and institutions which constitute what we call [[Western culture|Western civilization]]".<ref>{{cite web |title=Review of ''How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization''|author-first1=Thomas|author-last1=Woods, Jr. |url=http://www.nrbookservice.com/products/bookpage.asp?prod_cd=c6664 |work=National Review Book Service |access-date=16 September 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060822150152/http://www.nrbookservice.com/products/BookPage.asp?prod_cd=c6664 |archive-date=22 August 2006 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The rise of [[Protestantism]] led to major divisions within Western Christianity, which still persist, and wars&mdash;for example, the [[Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)|Anglo-Spanish War of 1585–1604]] had religious as well as economic causes.

In and after the [[Age of Discovery]], [[Europe]]ans spread Western Christianity to the [[New World]] and elsewhere. Roman Catholicism came to the Americas (especially South America), Africa, Asia, Australia and the Pacific. Protestantism, including Anglicanism, came to North America, Australia-Pacific and some African locales.

Today, the geographical distinction between Western and Eastern Christianity is much less absolute, due to the great migrations of Europeans across the globe, as well as the work of [[missionary|missionaries]] worldwide over the past five centuries. {{Christian culture}}