Editing Christianity (section)

=== Modern era ===
{{Main|Christianity in the modern era}}

==== Protestant Reformation and Counter-Reformation ====
{{Main|Reformation|Counter-Reformation}}
{{See also|European wars of religion|Renaissance Papacy}}
[[File:Luther 95 Thesen.png|thumb|upright|[[Martin Luther]] initiated the [[Reformation]] with his ''[[Ninety-five Theses]]'' in 1517.]]

The 15th-century [[Renaissance]] brought about a renewed interest in ancient and classical learning. During the [[Reformation]], [[Martin Luther]] posted the ''[[Ninety-five Theses]]'' 1517 against the sale of [[indulgences]].<ref name="Simon">Simon. ''Great Ages of Man: The Reformation''. pp. 39, 55–61.</ref> Printed copies soon spread throughout Europe. In 1521 the [[Edict of Worms]] condemned and excommunicated Luther and his followers, resulting in the schism of the [[Western Christianity|Western Christendom]] into several branches.<ref>Simon. ''Great Ages of Man: The Reformation''. p. 7.</ref>

Other reformers like [[Huldrych Zwingli|Zwingli]], [[Johannes Oecolampadius|Oecolampadius]], [[John Calvin|Calvin]], [[John Knox|Knox]], and [[Jacobus Arminius|Arminius]] further criticized Catholic teaching and worship. These challenges developed into the movement called [[Protestantism]], which repudiated the [[papal primacy|primacy of the pope]], the role of tradition, the [[Catholic sacraments|seven sacraments]], and other doctrines and practices.<ref name="Simon" /> The [[English Reformation|Reformation in England]] began in 1534, when [[Henry VIII of England|King Henry VIII]] had himself [[Act of Supremacy|declared head]] of the [[Church of England]]. Beginning in 1536, the monasteries throughout England, Wales and Ireland were [[Dissolution of the monasteries|dissolved]].<ref>Schama. ''A History of Britain''. pp. 306–310.</ref>

[[Thomas Müntzer]], [[Andreas Karlstadt]] and other theologians perceived both the Catholic Church and the confessions of the [[Magisterial Reformation]] as corrupted. Their activity brought about the [[Radical Reformation]], which gave birth to various [[Anabaptism|Anabaptist]] denominations.

[[File:Michelangelo's Pieta 5450 cropncleaned edit.jpg|thumb|[[Michelangelo]]'s 1498–99 ''[[Michelangelo's Pietà|Pietà]]'' in [[St. Peter's Basilica]]; the Catholic Church was among the patronages of the [[Renaissance]].<ref>National Geographic, 254.</ref><ref>Jensen, De Lamar (1992), ''Renaissance Europe'', {{ISBN|0395889472}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Levey|first=Michael|title=Early Renaissance|publisher=Penguin |year=1967}}</ref>]]
Partly in response to the Protestant Reformation, the Catholic Church engaged in a substantial process of reform and renewal, known as the [[Counter-Reformation]] or Catholic Reform.{{sfn|Bokenkotter|2004|pp=242–244}} The [[Council of Trent]] clarified and reasserted Catholic doctrine. During the following centuries, competition between Catholicism and Protestantism became deeply entangled with political struggles among European states.<ref>Simon. ''Great Ages of Man: The Reformation''. pp. 109–120.</ref>

Meanwhile, the discovery of America by [[Christopher Columbus]] in 1492 brought about a new wave of missionary activity. Partly from missionary zeal, but under the impetus of [[Colonialism|colonial expansion]] by the European powers, Christianity spread to the Americas, Oceania, East Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.

Throughout Europe, the division caused by the Reformation led to outbreaks of [[religious violence]] and the establishment of separate state churches in Europe. [[Lutheranism]] spread into the northern, central, and eastern parts of present-day Germany, [[Livonia]], and Scandinavia. [[Anglicanism]] was established in England in 1534. [[Calvinism]] and its varieties, such as [[Presbyterianism]], were introduced in Scotland, the Netherlands, Hungary, Switzerland, and France. [[Arminianism]] gained followers in the Netherlands and [[Frisia]]. Ultimately, these differences led to the outbreak of [[religious war|conflicts]] in which religion played a key factor. The [[Thirty Years' War]], the [[English Civil War]], and the [[French Wars of Religion]] are prominent examples. These events intensified the [[Christian debate on persecution and toleration]].<ref>A general overview about the English discussion is given in Coffey, ''Persecution and Toleration in Protestant England 1558–1689''.</ref>

In the revival of neoplatonism [[Renaissance humanism|Renaissance humanists]] did not reject Christianity; quite the contrary, many of the greatest works of the [[Renaissance]] were devoted to it, and the Catholic Church patronized many works of [[Renaissance art]].<ref name="openuni">Open University, ''[https://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/renaissance2/religion.htm Looking at the Renaissance: Religious Context in the Renaissance]'' (Retrieved 10 May 2007)</ref> Much, if not most, of the new art was commissioned by or in dedication to the Church.<ref name="openuni" /> Some scholars and historians attribute Christianity to having contributed to the rise of the [[Scientific Revolution]].<ref>Some scholars and historians attribute Christianity to having contributed to the rise of the Scientific Revolution:

* {{cite web |last1=Harrison |first1=Peter |date=8 May 2012 |title=Christianity and the rise of western science |url=https://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2012/05/08/3498202.htm |access-date=28 August 2014 |website=[[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]]}}
* {{citation |last=Noll |first=Mark |title=Science, Religion, and A.D. White: Seeking Peace in the "Warfare Between Science and Theology" |url=https://biologos.org/uploads/projects/noll_scholarly_essay2.pdf |page=4 |access-date=14 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150322013257/https://biologos.org/uploads/projects/noll_scholarly_essay2.pdf |url-status=dead |publisher=The Biologos Foundation |archive-date=22 March 2015 |author-link=Mark Noll}}
* {{Citation |last1=Lindberg |first1=David C. |title=God & Nature: Historical Essays on the Encounter Between Christianity and Science |pages=5, 12 |year=1986 |chapter=Introduction |place=Berkeley and Los Angeles |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-05538-4 |last2=Numbers |first2=Ronald L. |author-link=David C. Lindberg |author2-link=Ronald L. Numbers}}
* {{cite book |last=Gilley |first=Sheridan |title=The Cambridge History of Christianity: Volume 8, World Christianities c. 1815 – c. 1914 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |others=Brian Stanley |year=2006 |isbn=0-521-81456-1 |page=164}}
* Lindberg, David. (1992). ''The Beginnings of Western Science''. University of Chicago Press. p. 204.</ref> Many well-known historical figures who influenced [[Western science]] considered themselves Christian such as [[Nicolaus Copernicus]],<ref>''Pro forma'' candidate to Prince-Bishop of Warmia, cf. Dobrzycki, Jerzy, and Leszek Hajdukiewicz, "Kopernik, Mikołaj", ''[[Polski słownik biograficzny]]'' (Polish Biographical Dictionary), vol. XIV, Wrocław, [[Polish Academy of Sciences]], 1969, p. 11.</ref> [[Galileo Galilei]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Sharratt |first=Michael |year=1994 |title=Galileo: Decisive Innovator |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0-521-56671-1|pages=17, 213}}</ref> [[Johannes Kepler]],<ref>"Because he would not accept the Formula of Concord without some reservations, he was excommunicated from the Lutheran communion. Because he remained faithful to his Lutheranism throughout his life, he experienced constant suspicion from Catholics." John L. Treloar, "Biography of Kepler shows man of rare integrity. Astronomer saw science and spirituality as one." ''National Catholic Reporter'', 8 October 2004, p. 2a. A review of James A. Connor ''Kepler's Witch: An Astronomer's Discovery of Cosmic Order amid Religious War, Political Intrigue and Heresy Trial of His Mother'', Harper San Francisco.</ref> [[Isaac Newton]]<ref>[[Richard S. Westfall]] – [[Indiana University]] {{cite book |url=https://galileo.rice.edu/Catalog/NewFiles/newton.html |title=The Galileo Project |publisher=[[Rice University]] |access-date=5 July 2008<!-- , 2012-02-07-->}}</ref> and [[Robert Boyle]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.stmarylebow.co.uk/?Boyle_Lecture |title=The Boyle Lecture |work=St. Marylebow Church |access-date=18 February 2022 |archive-date=22 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171222051144/http://www.stmarylebow.co.uk/?Boyle_Lecture |url-status=dead}}</ref>

==== Post-Enlightenment ====
[[File:Madonna and Child, Kakure Kirishitan.jpg|thumb|A depiction of [[Madonna and Child]] in a 19th-century [[Kakure Kirishitan]] [[Ukiyo-e|Japanese woodcut]]]]
In the era known as the [[Great Divergence]], when in the West, the [[Age of Enlightenment]] and the [[scientific revolution]] brought about great societal changes, Christianity was confronted with various forms of [[skepticism]] and with certain modern [[Ideology|political ideologies]], such as versions of [[socialism]] and [[liberalism]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Novak|first=Michael|title=Catholic social thought and liberal institutions: Freedom with justice|year=1988|publisher=Transaction|isbn=978-0-88738-763-0|page=63|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7pb1GDmxA1UC&pg=PA63}}</ref> Events ranged from mere [[anti-clericalism]] to violent outbursts against Christianity, such as the [[dechristianisation of France during the French Revolution|dechristianization of France during the French Revolution]],<ref>Mortimer Chambers, ''The Western Experience'' (vol. 2) chapter 21.</ref> the [[Spanish Civil War]], and certain [[Marxism|Marxist]] movements, especially [[Russian Revolution (1917)|the Russian Revolution]] and the [[persecution of Christians in the Soviet Union]] under [[state atheism]].<ref>''Religion and the State in Russia and China: Suppression, Survival, and Revival'', by Christopher Marsh, p. 47. Continuum International Publishing Group, 2011.</ref><ref>''Inside Central Asia: A Political and Cultural History'', by Dilip Hiro. Penguin, 2009.</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Adappur|first=Abraham|title=Religion and the Cultural Crisis in India and the West|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=44DYAAAAMAAJ|year=2000|publisher=Intercultural Publications|isbn=978-8185574479|quote=Forced Conversion under Atheistic Regimes: It might be added that the most modern example of forced "conversions" came not from any theocratic state, but from a professedly atheist government—that of the Soviet Union under the Communists.}}</ref><ref>Geoffrey Blainey 2011). ''A Short History of Christianity''; Viking; p. 494</ref>

Especially pressing in Europe was the formation of [[nation states]] after the [[Napoleonic era]]. In all European countries, different Christian denominations found themselves in competition to greater or lesser extents with each other and with the state. Variables were the relative sizes of the denominations and the religious, political, and ideological orientation of the states. Urs Altermatt of the [[University of Fribourg]], looking specifically at Catholicism in Europe, identifies four models for the European nations. In traditionally Catholic-majority countries such as Belgium, Spain, and Austria, to some extent, religious and national communities are more or less identical. Cultural symbiosis and separation are found in Poland, the Republic of Ireland, and Switzerland, all countries with competing denominations. Competition is found in Germany, the Netherlands, and again Switzerland, all countries with minority Catholic populations, which to a greater or lesser extent identified with the nation. Finally, separation between religion (again, specifically Catholicism) and the state is found to a great degree in France and Italy, countries where the state actively opposed itself to the authority of the Catholic Church.<ref>{{cite book|last=Altermatt|first=Urs|title=Religion und Nation: Katholizismen im Europa des 19. und 20. Jahrhundert|year=2007|publisher=[[Kohlhammer Verlag]]|isbn=978-3-17-019977-4|pages=15–34|editor-first=Urs |editor-last=Altermatt |editor-first2=Franziska |editor-last2=Metzger|language=de|chapter=Katholizismus und Nation: Vier Modelle in europäisch-vergleichender Perspektive}}</ref>

The combined factors of the formation of nation states and [[ultramontanism]], especially in Germany and the Netherlands, but also in England to a much lesser extent,<ref>{{cite book |last=Heimann |first=Mary |title=Catholic Devotion in Victorian England |year=1995 |publisher=Clarendon |isbn=978-0-19-820597-5 |pages=165–173}}</ref> often forced Catholic churches, organizations, and believers to choose between the national demands of the state and the authority of the Church, specifically the papacy. This conflict came to a head in the [[First Vatican Council]], and in Germany would lead directly to the ''[[Kulturkampf]]''.<ref>''The Oxford Handbook of Modern German History'' Helmut Walser Smith, p. 360, OUP Oxford, 2011</ref>

[[File:Consecration of new pastors.jpg|thumb|[[Ordination]] of new pastors in [[Cameroon]], 2014]]
Christian commitment in Europe dropped as modernity and secularism came into their own,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12811197 | work=BBC News | title=Religion may become extinct in nine nations, study says |date=22 March 2011}}</ref> particularly in the [[Czech Republic]] and [[Estonia]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www2.ttcn.ne.jp/~honkawa/9460.html |script-title=ja:図録▽世界各国の宗教 |publisher=.ttcn.ne.jp |language=ja |access-date=17 August 2012 |archive-date=18 August 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120818064540/http://www2.ttcn.ne.jp/~honkawa/9460.html |url-status=dead}}</ref> while religious commitments in America have been generally high in comparison to Europe. Changes in worldwide Christianity over the last century have been significant, since 1900, Christianity has spread rapidly in the [[Global South]] and Third World countries.<ref>{{cite book |last=Jenkins |first=Philip |author-link=Philip Jenkins |year=2011 |title=The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity |chapter=The Rise of the New Christianity |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rPBoAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA101 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |pages=101–133 |isbn=978-0-19-976746-5}}</ref> The late 20th century has shown the shift of Christian adherence to the [[Third World]] and the Southern Hemisphere in general,<ref>{{cite book |page=2 |title=Christianity as a World Religion |author-last1=Kim |author-first1=Sebastian |author-last2=Kim|author-link=Sebastian Kim |author-first2=Kirsteen |author-link2=Kirsteen Kim |publisher=Continuum|location=London |year=2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Jehu |last=Hanciles |title=Beyond Christendom: Globalization, African Migration, and the Transformation of the West |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vmCDAwAAQBAJ |year=2008 |publisher=Orbis |isbn=978-1-60833-103-1}}</ref> with the West no longer the chief standard bearer of Christianity. Approximately 7 to 10% of [[Arabs]] are [[Arab Christians and Arabic-speaking Christians|Christians]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Fargues|first=Philippe |title=Christian Communities in the Middle East |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-19-829388-0 |chapter=A Demographic Perspective |editor1-last=Pacini |editor1-first=Andrea}}</ref> most prevalent in Egypt, [[Syria]] and [[Lebanon]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Johnson |first1=Todd |title=Christianity in the Middle East |url=https://www.gordonconwell.edu/blog/christianity-in-the-middle-east/ |website=[[Gordon–Conwell Theological Seminary]] |access-date=13 December 2024 |date=26 February 2020}}</ref>