Chapter 10 Christendom

Christendom to me, is the belief or following of the Christian religion. I was always kind of surprised when people considered North America and Latin America as the primary centers for Christianity or Christendom. In an Intro To Islam class I took with professor Lipowitz, we learned very early on about the very beginnings of religion and how their origins of all the major religions took place in what is considered the modern day Middle East. No pun intended, but since learning this I have really considered that area of the world the Mecca and birthplace of all religions. 

It was very interesting to learn in the reading that in the 1500's Christianity grew largely in Europe, but seemed to be quickly replaced by Islam in the African and Asian communities around the world. This is a really interesting point because I feel like the three main religions (Judaism, Islam and Christianity) seem to kind of battle over the history of who was the first religion. I do not feel one way or the other, but to this day, I have friends who will make arguments for which religions came first. I just thought Strayer made an interesting with this point and many others starting on page 411 to page 412. I thought it was really kind of sad how Christianity was so quickly dissolved in Arabia along with  other Middle Eastern territories. In my opinion, people should have the freedom to choose which religion they believe in, and destroying older Christian structures would put pressure on people to stop supporting Christianity. 

I think the most interesting part to read about in this chapter was the expansion of the Christendom to the West, but decline in the East. The Crusades causing religious wars just seemed like such an oxymoron to me. To learn these Crusades were targeting areas which believed Jesus as the leader of Islam, was both worrisome and sickening. I just have a hard time making sense of the battles over religions. It was interesting to read about however, and the Map in our book was really amazing to look at and think about in perspective.


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