Western Civilization

contained all the knowledge anyone needed. Others,

however, thought it was not possible to separate Chris-

tian thought from classical traditions and education and

encouraged Christianity to absorb the classical heritage.

As it spread in the Eastern Roman world, Christianity

adopted Greek as its language; the New Testament was

written in Greek. Christians also turned to Greek

thought for help in expressing complicated theological

concepts. In many ways, then, Christianity served to

preserve Greco-Roman culture.

THE WORK OF AUGUSTINE The work of Augustine (354–430)

provides one of the best examples of how Christian

intellectuals used pagan culture in the service of Christi-

anity. Augustine came to be revered as one of the Latin

fathers of the Catholic Church, intellectuals who wrote

in Latin and profoundly influenced the development of

Christian thought in the West.

Augustine’s most famous work,The City of God, was

a profound expression of a Christian philosophy of

government and history. In it, he theorized on the

ideal relations between two kinds of societies existing

throughout time—the City of God and the City of the

World. Those who loved God would be loyal to the City

of God, whose ultimate location was the kingdom of

heaven. Earthly society would always be uncertain

R

hon

e R.

Alps

IRELAND

BRITAIN

GAUL

GERMANY

(^) M
edite
rrane
an (^) Sea
Black Sea
Caspian Sea
Atlantic
Ocean
North
Sea
THRACE
ASIA MINOR
ARMENIA
EGYPT
SPAIN
Whitby
Canterbury
Cologne
Paris
Aachen
Tours
Lyons
Marseilles
Milan
Córdoba
Toledo
Rome
Naples
Syracuse
Corinth Athens
Ephesus
Antioch
Damascus
Alexandria
Jerusalem
Memphis
Cyrene
Carthage
Caesarea
Rhodes Cyprus
Crete
Sicily
Sardinia
Corsica
Monte
Cassino
Nicaea
Constantinople
(^)
(^) Co
nver
ted to
(^) Islam, 7 th
century
IRISH
ANGLO-SAXONS
(597–670) FRISIANS
(690–739)
SAXONS
(797–805)
Rhi
ne
(^) R.
(^) Danub
e (^) R.
(^) Taurus Mts.^
(^) Caucasus
Mts.
(^) Eu
phrates
(^) R.
(^)
(^) Ti
gri
s
(^) N
ile
R.
Eb
ro
(^) R.
Volg
a (^) R.
NORTH AFRICA Red
Sea
Pyrenees
(^) Po R.
R.
0 300 600 Miles
0 300 600 900 Kilometers
Christian areas, ca. 300
Areas Christianized, 300–600
Areas Christianized, 600–800
Centers of Christian diffusion
Dates indicate period of conversion to Christianity
MAP 7.3The Spread of Christianity, 400–800.The Christian church had penetrated much of the
Roman Empire by the end of the fifth century. After the fall of the empire, the church emerged as a
major base of power and pushed its influence into new areas through the activities of missionaries.
Q What aspects of geography help explain the relatively late conversions of the Anglo-
Saxons in Britain and the Frisians and Saxons east of the Rhine River?
Development of the Christian Church 161
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