In fact, in comparison, Christianity did more to elevate the quality of human life throughout its history than nearly every other worldview and philosophy. Early on, this was seen in the tendency of early Christians to render assistance to those suffering outbreaks of contagious disease whereas the pagans often fled from such situations (Sunshine, 44). This was the result of Christ's ethic of compassion combined with the Christian's more fully developed view of a rewarding afterlife which softened the instinctual fear of death.
Likewise, Christianity also contributed overall to making life better here in this world as well. Though the primary function of the Church is to spread the good news of the Gospel in teaching what men must do in order to be saved, the principles flowing from that message and institution coalesce into a comprehensive worldview that impacts all of life. Unlike Gnosticism which taught that the natural world in which humanity finds itself is a realm inherently inferior to the realm of the spirit in which man was intended to dwell and to which a select elite will one day eventually return, the Biblical tradition held that the creation itself possessed a goodness according to the opening chapter of Genesis.
This realization coupled with the notion that all are created in the image of God inspired the notion, prominent among reformers and innovators from a variety of Christian perspectives and traditions throughout history, that efforts should be undertaken to understand the world that God created so as to more fully worship Him as well as to ease the suffering and ignorance of man. The world might be marred by sin, but it still possessed a significant degree of wonder. As a result, Christians played a pivotal role in establishing institutions that the contemporary world takes for granted today and has nearly forgotten the initial religious motivations for establishing such as hospitals, universities, and publishing.
Presenting the Christian worldview in such a positive glowing light might spark one to observe that, if the system of belief is all that wonderful, then why is not that the end of the story with history having reached a triumphal conclusion? If anything, from what we see around us in terms of the culture and morality prevailing in the most influential of social institutions, Christianity's best days seem to be behind it with a slide underway back down into what more resembles the debaucheries and excesses of the pagan world. G.K. Chesterton once remarked that the one fundamental Christian doctrine that is alone proved by the headlines of newspapers and the pages of history is that of the depravity of man. Though the fulfillment of man is to be found ultimately in Christ living in one's heart and adhering to the principles of a Biblical worldview, as fallen creatures even the redeemed are unable to do so perfectly so long as they trod this earth.
Unless there is a conscientious effort to place a check upon and correct the errors that accumulate over time in both individual lives and governing social structures, eventually this unrecognized sin accumulates and skewers the trajectory of entire civilizations. This can be to such an extent that even actions undertaken in the name of the correct worldview can end up countering the principles espoused by the worldview. One is reminded of Isaiah 64:6 which reminds that our righteousness is as “filthy rags”.
Christianity went from the time of its origins as the religion embraced by the downtrodden and outcasts of society to not only being that of the respectable establishmentarians but also the conceptual framework and justification through which entrenched elites often maintained a hold on power at nearly any cost. One of the profound strengths of the Christian worldview is the belief that an infinitely powerful, wise and just God created the universe with such a degree of order that everything within the cosmos has been assigned its place and function by no less than God Himself. This idea was especially applied to society and the individual human life.
Within the ideal Christian kingdom or empire, one was divinely placed within one of three broad classes or estates. Those who fought were the nobility, those who prayed were the clergy, and those who worked consisted of everybody else that either toiled the soil such as the serfs and peasants legally bound to the land or a number of craftspeople belonging to certain guilds. Since God in His wisdom had placed the individual where He had intended them to be, it was considered a scandalous affront towards the Almighty to aspire to a station in life other than the one into which one had been born.
Though the system might even seem romantic in theory with each level protected by the one above it in exchange for loyalty and everyone striving together to fulfill their role in the great master plan, its overemphasis on the authority of intermediary hierarchies at the expense of the individual proved to be part of its undoing. The system would come to be challenged by two responses that each thought the best way to bring about renewal and advancement was through first going back to what would be considered original sources. It was just that each was differing in what they considered the ultimate source. The intellectual currents that would rise to challenge the assumptions of the Medieval world were the Renaissance and the Reformation.
By Frederick Meekins