Thread: If athiests ruled the world

Originally Posted by sycld

Still though, is there any basis for tolerance of difference and of moral law treating all subjected to it equally, regardless of state or esteem? These two things are the cornerstone of modern humanism, and yes, Stoicisim and Epicureanism (Stoicism in pariticular) held viewpoints that pointed in this direction, but none to with the same degree of influence nor with the same enduring power as Christianity.

They didn't have the same influence as Christianity, or they didn't have the same influence with regard to free thought as Christianity?

Speculative history is always a dangerous and quetionable practice to engage in, but it's not so clear to me that humanism would have been successfully developed under some alternative religion than Christianity.

Of course it wouldn't have. It wouldn't have even been relevant had Christianity not been dominant. A lot of the central tenets of humanism (development, human endeavour etc) were already evident in classical Greek thought. The most progressive part of renaissance humanism was that it brought Christianity out of its self-imposed isolation in intellectual terms.

Also, even though it's rather off-topic, it's possible that without Christianity's strong uniting power, Europe might have beome Islamic in the 7th century or later, or maybe some other mystery religion would have filled in the gap (Mithraism, anyone?). It's entirely possible, nay even probable, that the stodgy old system of gods which few had any love by the time of Constantine's peace would have found much vitality among Europe's people after the fall of the Roman Empire.

Christianity's uniting power was limited. England and France have been at war for years, and Charlemange's union of Gaul and Germania didn't last very long thanks to the Holy Roman Empire. The various Italian city-states were also Catholic, yet warred almost constantly. It's easy to overstate Christianity's unifying influence, but between the varying Christian states it did very little.

edit: although it is interesting to note the power of Islam in some parts of Mediterranean Europe. It should also be noted that in many respects, Islam was more advanced than Christian Europe at the time. But, as you say, speculative history is pretty dodgy.