Contributions of Church to Society
Instructions
As the governments of Western Europe began to falter and conquering armies from far away created chaos, the people began to turn from government to another source for stability and guidance: the church. In the turmoil of the Early Middle Ages, the church began to fill a larger role in society.
Pay attention to the way the importance and visibility of the church rose during this period.
Discuss the increasing role the church plays in society. Address the following points.
- What are specific ways the church began to provide stability and leadership in society?
- What did you find interesting in the reading?
In the Early Middle Ages, the church played a great role in establishing stability to society. This paper addresses the role of the church in society and the ways in which the church provided stability and leadership to the society.
In the early ages, the church posed as the light of the society whenever the government lacked the means to solve problems facing its people. For instance, the barbarian attacks in Italy, initiated the need for support from any authority by the Ravenna court to bring the empire in the West together. Leo, who was a church bishop, called for the participation of the church authority in settling the attack (Lascelles, 2017). He also indicated leadership to the society during the attempt by the Vandals to finish Rome. When Leo met Gaiseric – the Vandal king, he pled for mercy not to destroy Rome by burning the city. Leo even offered money to Gaiseric who spared the city, which I found interesting as it seemed to be a bribe which is against the Christian values (Lascelles, 2017). From this context, we learn that Leo exhibited the leadership values by intervening to negotiate with the king of barbarians on behalf of the whole city whose people were afraid and hopeless. Additionally, Leo was not interested in self-exhortation regardless of the fact that he saved Rome on two different occasions (Lascelles, 2017). Additionally, Gregory, a great Christian leader, negotiated for peace with the Lombards who attacked Rome and which made him a superior person in Lombard politics, despite being a spiritual leader.
Generally, the church is the pillar of the society which the believers and non-believers turn to in times of physical and social catastrophes. From the reading, the spiritual leaders have special intellectual capacities to solve the problems facing society.
