History Paper

“God as the Great Architect of the Universe” in the “Middle Ages”

People use the phrase “Middle Ages” to describe Western Europe between the fall of Rome in 476 CE and the beginning of the Renaissance in the 14th century. People during the Middle Ages were highly influenced by religion, especially Christianity, in that it reflected their beliefs and moral values. In this era, religion was the foundation of everyday life for everyone, rich or poor. The Catholic Church set the standards and rules of society. The church taught that man was born in sin and the only way to get to heaven was to go through them. Since people couldn't read or write, they depended on the church to teach them the right way to live and to tell them what the bible said. This made the church very powerful and the church became part of the government as well. It told kings what to do and how to do it. The church became very wealthy and powerful which made religion even more important.

The church was where everyone got their information from, their only source of knowledge, which influenced their values and beliefs. There was only so much to believe in at that time. With the huge impact of the role of region in the era, most people valued a God that created the universe. People’s understanding of their self, came from an understanding of the universe as a hierarchy instituted by God.

People’s view of the world was based essentially on Christianity (concept of Christendom). This outlook on life differed from the Greco-Roman and the modern scientific and secular views of the world. In the Christian view, it was not the individual person, but the creator of the world that determined what established the good life. To the Christian during this time, God was the creator of the world.

The concept of God as the Great Architect of the Universe has been used many times in Christianity as a comparison of God to an architect and is one of the best examples of Gothic art. An illuminated manuscript is...