Contributions of Gregory the Great
Many different people have shaped the formation of the church in positive and negative ways.
Examine contributions of Gregory the Great upon the church in the Middle Ages
Write a 2-3-page paper summarizing the contribution Gregory the Great made to the history of the time. Address the following points.
- Identify what interests you about this individual’s life.
- Discuss the impact he or she had on the history of the time.
- Discuss this person’s strengths and weaknesses.
- Connect what you have learned about his or her to how you may more effectively live your life for Christ.
- What about his life might encourage you to more effectively live your life for Christ?
The Roman Catholic developed in the Early Middle Ages under the influence of the Popes among them Gregory the Great who died in 604. His life as a missionary has had great impacts on the growth of the church and development of the Christian virtues. This paper summarizes his contribution to the history of the time and also addresses his strengths and weaknesses.
Gregory the great existed in the times when the catholic papacy was being introduced. His life sets an example of how Christian leaders should behave. What interests me about his life is his level of humbleness. Unlike many other Christians who fight for leadership, he hesitated to assume the papal office when Pope Pelagius II died (Timmermann, 2015). Although he was later elected as the pope, he remained humble and even focused on serving others with the mind that a God’ servant is called to serve the servants of God. In addition, he shirked a luxurious life despite the fact that he was born in a rich family, which further depicted his humility (Timmermann, 2015). This becomes one of his strengths considering the fact that he went further to give his property to the poor and assumed a poor life just as Jesus commanded his followers, and unlike many other Christian leaders who find it difficult giving away their properties.
Gregory had great impacts on the growth of the church through his writings. For instance, “On Pastoral Care” is a book he wrote to guide the Christian leaders on their faith and how to influence others (Demacopoulos, 2015). In this book, he encouraged the Christian leaders to exhibit humility in their exercise for authority in order to administer justice. He also cautioned the Christians to balance their internal and external lives to ensure that they mingle in sympathy to those in need.
He also reconciled the roman bishops through humble appeals while defending the rights of the institution and not his own. In such doings, he acted as a peace-maker and is remembered for his ability to bring the society together. Another impact he made is the initiation of the monasticism life which he assumed at the age of thirty years (Demacopoulos, 2015). He used most of his properties to establish monasteries and which facilitated the spread of such kind of life which was meant to heighten the service to God. He disposed of his property and devoted himself to serve God in submission, poverty, and chastity (Demacopoulos, 2015). This kind of life drew the picture that Christians should strive to please God at all cost even if it means giving all their belongings for His service.
Although Gregory is termed as a great contributor in the development of the Roman Catholic, his texts appear to have some weaknesses in the sense that they lack innovative skills and hence appear to be the typecast of John Cassian and Augustine of Hippo’s writings (Demacopoulos, 2015). I also hesitate to buy his idea of encouraging more people to lead a monastic life. In any case, people do not have to become nuns and monks in order to serve God, and in this regard, I aspire to lead a life which I feel free to serve God without any human influence. It would have been better if he used Paul’s teachings to the Corinthians that whether married or not, one should strive to reach the goal which is attaining eternal life through service to God.
References
Demacopoulos, G. E. (2015). Gregory the Great: Ascetic, pastor, and first man of Rome.
University of Notre Dame Pess.
Timmermann, J. L. (2015). Beati patres: uses of Augustine and Gregory the Great at
Carolingian church councils, 816-836 (Doctoral dissertation, University of British Columbia).