Ancient civilizations left many permanent practices that most, if not all, future societies continued to practice. One of the many traditions that survived after the fall of past advancements is religion. Religion has proved to give people something or someone to rely on and worship, but it is discovered and practiced in completely different ways. With the advancements of society also came the advancements of different gods, and how to show where one belongs. The texts from St Augustine’s The Confessions and City of God, as well as Fulcher of Chartres’ A History of the Expedition to Jerusalem are just a glimpse at how important religion was to these past civilizations. The history of religion has, time and time again, proven to persuade people to think a certain way, change their general attitude, as well as guide them down a path of acceptance.
Starting with St Augustine’s The Confessions, the text is a brief excerpt on Augustine’s own conversion into Christianity. “For you converted me to you in such a way that I no longer sought a wife nor any other wordly hope,” (Augustine, The Confessions 243). Here, Augustine makes it clear the impression and impact God has had on his life. By calling out to God himself and telling him that he is the reason he no longer wants marriage, Augustine is giving God the power and showing just how persuasive God is in his own life. God changed the way St Augustine felt about marriage, as he admitted that he no longer wished to have a wife after converting. The power of God had somehow convinced Augustine of this, and who knows how many other things.
One of the other things Augustine also changed his attitude towards were vanities and being materialistic. One could say he no longer craved these “toys”, as he called them, since he claims to blush at the mention of them. “Mere toys of toys, and vanities of vanities– my ancient mistresses, as it were still held me; they plucked at my garment of flesh and whispered softly… But now it spoke very faintly,” (Augustine, The Confessions 242). Throughout the text, his attitude clearly changed due to the influences of God and his conversion to the Christian religion. He talked about vanity highly and slowly transitioned into being hesitant towards them, almost like they were sinful, as he progressed and became deeper in the religion.
Not only his thoughts were changed, but he also developed a different attitude towards life. By Augustine blatantly stating that he no longer wants a life, he is almost giving God that part of himself and allowing his attitude to be all about God. At one point, Augustine mentions a woman who tells him, “Stop your ears against those unclean members of yours, so that they may be mortified. They tell you of delights but those delights can’t compare with the delight in the law of the Lord your God,” (Augustine, The Confessions 242). She is saying that no woman may pleasure Augustine in the same way that worshiping God will. She is preaching the words of the Lord and helping Augustine fully convert to Christianity with these words. Thus changing his overall attitude towards his priorities and his own life.
On the other hand, Augustine mentions God as a superiority in City of God. He opens up this text by saying, “…the supreme and true God, as the author of all created things, the light of knowledge, the Final Good of all activity, and who have recognized him as being for us the origin of existance, the truth of doctrine and the blessedness of life,” (Augustine, City of God 243). The attitude of Christians towards God is not only worshipful, but they also credit him with the creation of Earth and the birth all living things. The Christian religion as a whole has brought on this mindset that God as a being should be worshiped for all of these things. This could possibly be related back to ethics.
Augustine mentions that the Romans, Greeks, and Egyptians were proud of their reputation for wisdom, but still agreed that there is “one God, who is the author of this whole universe,” (Augustine, City of God 244). The mentioned civilizations all worshiped more than one god in their religions, and these gods usually resembled one thing like water or lust. Christianity, however, is monotheistic and only worships God. One would notice from previous quotes that Christianity tends to pride themselves on God, worshiping God, and following God’s set paths. The religions of the Romans, Greeks, and Egyptians all are prided on wisdom, according to Augustine in City of God, then they mention a god as a creator of life. This shows where the attitudes of each religion stands after the conversions, and the morality of the individuals when it comes to their god or gods.
City of God also brings to attention how God guides one down the path of acceptance that conforms to his standards. “Take care that no one leads you astray by philosophy and useless misleading teaching, based on the elements of the world,” (Augustine, City of God 244). Here, Augustine is saying that the Christian religion only has one way of thinking, and one should not worry about the “elements of the world” because they are wrong and not God. The Christian religion is extremely narrow in its explanations for how the world works. One way to interpret their thinking is the only path in life, is the path that God will approve of. And God only approves of your path if you are worshiping him and doing everything in his best interest. “What can be known of God has been revealed among them. God in fact has revealed it to them. For his invisible realities, from the foundation of the world, have been made visible through his created works,” (Augustine, City of God 244). This quote means that God chooses who to share his words with. God, of course, speaks to everyone to help guide them, but only reveals certain words to certain people. The way one can interpret this is that people, similar to priests, can act as a gateway for communication to the people from God. Then, this priest can help guide the people to Christianity’s, more specifically God’s, standards.
The impact of God’s influence can also be seen in Fulcher of Chartres’ History of the Expedition to Jerusalem. “…you have promised Him to keep peace among yourselves and to faithfully sustain the rights of Holy Church more sincerely than before, there still remains for you, newly aroused by Godly correction, an urgent task…” (Fulcher of Chartres 299). The power of God is definitely a strong force that is demonstrated in this excerpt. In this text, the people were about to go to war, and they used the power of God to keep them motivated and focused. The path God wanted these people to take was peace. However, this time God persuaded the people to go to war and defeat the Turks for attacking their territory prior to this. God’s influence does seem to change as the situations change, and his followers are willing to change all of their ways to conform to the changes.
“For all those going thither there will be remission of sins if they come to the end of this fettered life while either marching by land or by crossing by sea, or in fighting the pagans,” (Fulcher of Chartres 299). According to this quote, God is even offering a release of all of one’s sins if they participate in this war. He is telling people to take the path of justice and reclaim whatever they had lost. By God offering this remission of sins, he is persuading people more heavily than ever; especially because since sins would prevent one from getting into heaven after they pass. Allowing these people to be free of their sins for participating in violence, which is usually the opposite goal of God’s preachings, is showing the importance of justice to God and Christians alike. And by the people actually following God’s wishes and altering their paths, they are showing the strength of their following and his influence to the directions of their own lives.
Religion is, and always has been, an important part to societies and developing civilizations. In the Roman, Greek, and Egyptian civilizations, they always found an outside force to rely on and get them through the tough times. Religion has proved to either alter one’s thinking, change one’s attitude, or even guide people down God’s path for the rest of their life. These influences of religion have always been relevant in previous societies, and continue to be relevant in today’s civilization. The power of religion has proven to consistently remain strong and will most likely do so until the end of time.