Christian Churches and Christian Imagination Reflection

Entering my first academic study of medieval history, I was eager to discover what the methodology and writing styles would be like in comparison to that of the empirical readings from our methods course. I was somewhat unsurprised to find that they indeed follow the structure of a more literary narrative, as Stephen Davies had claimed; however, I was also quite pleased to note that R.W. Southern’s work was a hybrid of the two approaches. While Southern wrote in a strong sense of literary narrative, telling the story of a providential history, he also is clear in presenting the skepticism of an empiricist approach.

More importantly than the methodology, for me, was the story being told. Having never studied medieval history, I was unsure of whether or not I could really immerse myself in the historiography. What I found, was quite the opposite of my expectations – I could. Southern’s assertion that the church and society were not mutually exclusive, but rather two halves of a whole that continued to evolve together presented the ‘church as a state’ argument in a whole new light.

Of particular interest to me, was the discussion of baptism as a contract to the church, and its relation to birth as a social contract. I, personally, had never seen birth as entering a social contract; however, find the assertion fascinating. It is an interesting point of view to consider that one never chooses to be held to a set of standards that are formed by the society in which they were born. Similarly, it is decided while in an individual’s relative youth to enter into a contract with the Catholic Church to uphold the virtues belonging to the faith. Furthermore, Southern asserts that these contracts were irreversible and unable to be renounced.

Southern seemed to join the historiography of the Church as an oppressive entity. Focusing on the view of the outsider, attempts at attaining an ideal, Jews in perpetual servitude and the harsh treatment of heretics all reinforced this outlook. It appears that the literature on the 6^th Century also joins in this outlook and harkens back to the idea presented in Davies’ study on empirical history when he depicts medieval history as a literary narrative of providence leading to a pre-determined end. It is almost apparent that the informed of the time who were writing were of the belief that the descriptions of the Book of Revelations was the path that the world was on and they were witness to the progressing steps towards this end. I am looking forward to seeing how the writings evolve over the course and, as my understanding grows, the sort of “deconstruction” of the medieval societies.

-Sterling