Christian Influence on Secular Society and Culture
Christianity has profoundly shaped secular society and culture through various avenues, including legal frameworks, ethical norms, and the general influence of the Holy Spirit on humanity. The concept of Christian influence extends beyond explicit religious practice to the underlying principles that govern societal structures and individual conduct [6, 9].
One significant area of Christian influence is in the development of legal systems. In many Western nations, particularly the United States, Protestant Christianity has historically served as a foundational element of common law [6]. This means that legal prohibitions often reflect Christian moral teachings. For instance, practices forbidden by Protestant Christianity, such as polygamy and arbitrary divorce, are also prohibited by civil law [6]. This is not to say that civil law enforces religious doctrine or attendance at religious services, but rather that it upholds certain moral standards derived from Christian ethics [7]. The protection of the Christian Sabbath, for example, by requiring cessation from unnecessary worldly avocations, is seen as a legitimate function of civil government in Christian countries, not to compel religious observance, but to enforce a civil standard that aligns with Christian principles [7]. The principle here is that if a country's laws and institutions are not unjust, cruel, or immoral, then individuals are bound to submit to them, even if they are rooted in a specific religious tradition [11].
Beyond explicit legal structures, Christian influence is also observed in the broader moral and social order. Charles Hodge, a prominent Reformed theologian, attributes "all the decorum, order, refinement, and virtue existing among men" to the general influence of the Holy Spirit, often referred to as common grace [9]. This "repressing power of the Spirit" acts as a universal, powerful, though often unfelt, force that restrains evil, much like atmospheric pressure [9]. This common grace also fosters a general fear of God and religious feeling among people, contributing to a moral sensibility that underpins societal norms [9]. This influence is not limited to those who undergo genuine conversion but extends to all human minds, enforcing moral and religious truths [12].
The concept of Christianity itself, in this context, is understood not merely as a system of doctrine or a form of knowledge, but as a life—specifically, the life of Christ communicated to believers [2, 4]. This life, characterized by the "oneness of Deity and humanity," is meant to transform individuals and, by extension, society [2, 5]. The goal is for all people to recognize Christ as their king, embodying divine majesty and authority, and to emulate His character and conduct [3]. This kingdom of Christ is exercised through His Word and Spirit, reigning in and ruling over believers [3].
The early Christian understanding of obedience to secular authority also laid groundwork for societal order. Thomas Aquinas, a leading Scholastic theologian, argued that faith in Christ does not negate the order of justice but strengthens it [8]. Therefore, Christians are bound to obey secular powers because the stability of human affairs depends on subjects obeying their superiors [8]. This theological stance provided a framework for Christians to participate in and contribute to the maintenance of civil society, even under non-Christian rulers.
The church, as the body of Christ, plays a crucial role in this societal influence. Every Christian is considered a "member of his body," and each member is related to the whole [1]. This collective body, across all ages, is meant to embody Christ's presence in the world [1]. Through the actions and character of its members, the church implicitly and explicitly influences the surrounding culture. The education of the young, for instance, is seen as having an essential religious or Christian element, as humans possess both intellectual and religious natures [10]. This Christian nurture, exercised by Christ through parents influenced by His Spirit, contributes to the formation of individuals who can positively impact society [10].
However, it is important to distinguish this broad influence from attempts to enforce religious belief through civil authority. Christianity does not teach that people can be made religious by law, nor does it demand that civil authority compel adherence to specific doctrines or religious services [7]. Instead, the influence is often more subtle, shaping the moral landscape and providing a framework for ethical behavior that can be adopted and upheld by society at large, even by those who do not explicitly identify as Christian [6, 7]. The presence of the Holy Spirit is understood to be active in all human minds, reinforcing moral and religious truths, which contributes to the general decorum and virtue observed in society [12, 9]. This pervasive spiritual influence, coupled with the historical impact of Christian ethics on legal and social structures, demonstrates the multifaceted ways in which Christianity has shaped and continues to shape secular society and culture.
Sources
- 1 Corinthians (Nonconformist/Puritan) “Matthew Henry on 1 Corinthians 12:27: I. Here the apostle sums up the argument, and applies this similitude to the church of Christ, concerning which observe, 1. The relation wherein Christians stand to Christ and one another. The church, or whole collective body of Christians, in all ages, is his body. Every Christian is a member of his body, and every other Christian stands related to him as a fellow-member (Co1 12:27): Now you are the body of Christ, and members in particular, or particular members. Each is a member of the body, not the whole body; each stands related to the body as a part ”
- CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 1, section 42: them, too, the ground and central point of Christianity is the oneness of Deity and humanity effected through the incarnation of God, and deification of man.” 114 114 Studien und Kritiken, 1845, p. 59. Christianity, therefore, is not a system of doctrine; it is not, subjectively considered, a form of knowledge. It is a life. It is the life of Christ. Ullmann again says explicitly: “The life of Christ is Christianity.” 115 115 Studien und Kritiken, January 1845; translated in The Mystical Presence, by Dr. J.W. Nevin. God in becoming man di”
- CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 2, section 123: all men may recognize Christ as their king, invested with divine majesty and authority, and that they should all be like Him in character and conduct. This kingdom of Christ over all his people is exercised not only by his power in their protection and direction, but especially by his Word and Spirit, through which and by whom He reigns in and rules over them. This kingdom of Christ is everlasting. That is, the relation which believers sustain to Christ on earth they will sustain to Him forever. Christ’s Visible Kingdom. As religion is e”
- CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 1, section 42: the subject become as nothing — not, indeed, from its intrinsic insignificance or incapacity of moral action, but by virtue of the infinity of the object to which it stands 175 consciously opposed; and the feeling of dependence must become absolute ; for all finite power is as nothing in relation to the Infinite.” Christianity, as just stated, is the life of Christ, his human life, which is also divine, and is communicated to us as the life of Adam was communicated to his descendants. Morell, rather more in accordance with English modes o”
- CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 3, section 5: Nevin, D. D. Philadelphia, 1846. says that the German mystics in the Middle Ages taught “the oneness of Deity and humanity.” The results reached by the mystics under the guidance of feeling, he says, modern philosophy has reached by speculation. This doctrine of the essential oneness of God and man, the speculative theologians adopt as the fundamental idea of Christianity. To work out that idea in a manner compatible with Theism and the Gospel, is the problem which those theologians have attempted to solve. These attempts have resulted, in”
- CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 3, section 46: basis of the common law of England, and is therefore of the law of this country; and so our courts have repeatedly decided. It is so not merely because of such decisions. Courts cannot reverse facts. Protestant Christianity has been, is, and must be the law of the land, Whatever Protestant Christianity forbids, the law of the land (within its sphere, i.e ., within the sphere in which civil authority may appropriately act) forbids. Christianity forbids polygamy and arbitrary divorce, Se does the civil law. Romanism forbids divorce even on ”
- CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 3, section 46: laws enacted for the protection of the Christian Sabbath. Christianity does not teach that men can be made religious by law; nor does it demand that men should be required by the civil authority to profess any particular form of religious doctrine, or to attend upon religious services; but it does enjoin that men should abstain from all unnecessary worldly avocations on the Lord’s Day. This civil Sabbath, this cessation from worldly business, is what the civil government in Christian countries is called upon to enforce. (1.) Because it is”
- theology (Catholic (Scholastic)) “Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Second Part of the Second Part (Secunda Secundae), Of Obedience, Art. 6: Article: Whether Christians are bound to obey the secular powers? I answer that, Faith in Christ is the origin and cause of justice, according to Rm. 3:22, "The justice of God by faith of Jesus Christ:" wherefore faith in Christ does not void the order of justice, but strengthens it." Now the order of justice requires that subjects obey their superiors, else the stability of human affairs would cease. Hence faith in Christ does not excuse the faithful from the obligation of obeying secular prin”
- CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 2, section 138: general influence of the Spirit (or to common grace), we owe, — 1. All the decorum, order, refinement, and virtue existing among men. Mere fear of future punishment, the natural sense of right, and the restraints of human laws, would prove feeble barriers to evil, were it not for the repressing power of the Spirit, which, like the pressure of the atmosphere, is universal and powerful, although unfelt. 2. To the same divine agent is due specially that general fear of God, and that religious feeling which prevail among men, and which secur”
- CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 3, section 47: that is, not only such as Christ approves and enjoins, but which is truly his, 353 i.e ., that which He exercises by his word and Spirit through the parent as his organ. “Christ is represented as exercising this nurture and admonition, in so far as He by his Spirit influences and controls the parent.” 322 322 Meyer, Commentary in loco. According to the Apostle, this religious or Christian element is essential in the education of the young. Man has a religious as well as an intellectual nature. To neglect the former would be as unreasonabl”
- CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 3, section 46: nothing unjust or cruel or in any way immoral, then those who come to live where it prevails are bound to submit quietly to its controlling the laws and institutions of the country. The principle contended for is recognized in all other departments of life. If a number of Christian men associate themselves as a manufacturing or banking company, it would be competent for them to admit unbelievers in Christianity into their association, and to allow them their full share in its management and control. But it would be utterly unreasonable fo”
- CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 2, section 138: in any measure analogous to the revelation of his presence and power on the day of Pentecost, while many have been truly born of God, more have usually been the subjects of influences which did not issue in genuine conversion. The evidence therefore from Scripture, and from experience, is clear that the Holy Spirit is present with every human mind, and enforces, with more or less power, whatever of moral or religious truth the mind may have before it. The Effects of common Grace. The effects produced by common grace, or this influence of”