quote:

Originally posted by KSGM:
Coincidentally, in performing other research, I saw that celibacy was one of the primary factors in "the great schism" of 1054.

Interesting.

My knowledge of history is mostly about the “West,” including the Roman Church, and I don’t know much about the Eastern. The Western Church has, however, been much more successful in terms of its spread and influence than the Eastern, and your comment prompted me to ponder that.*

There have been a number of books that explore how the people and nations of Western Europe have had a vastly outsized influence on the rest of the world at least since the days of the Roman Empire. Victor Davis Hanson discusses that in detail in Carnage and Culture (original title How the West Has Won), a great book about the history of warfare, and there have been discussions of other influences such as How The Scots Invented the Modern World: The True Story of How Western Europe's Poorest Nation Created Our World & Everything in It by Arthur Herman.

Now I’m wondering if any of the factors that contributed to the West’s influence and successes across the globe affected the differences between the Eastern and Western Churches. Thoughts?

(By anyone; I don’t want to limit the discussion about this question. And I do of course realize that the Western Church’s initial spread was often by following military expansion and I’m being a little sloppy with some of this, but what has kept it successful?)

* Yes, this is off the original topic, but it’s my thread, so I can do that.

I also know that my comments above implying that Western culture is (was?) superior to the rest of the world’s might prompt challenges and discussions, and that’s okay, too. I am, however, most interested in the differences between the Eastern and Western Churches.