In this talk to his Chinese high school students, Jiang Xueqin explains why Europe experienced the Dark Ages.
After Rome was sacked in 410 CE, Europe experienced a crisis of faith. Were the Pagan Gods taking vengeance? Did Christianity preach a religion of meekness?
In response, the Catholic theologian Augustine wrote “The City of God,” in which he proposed to take the Catholic Church “out of history.” From now on, kings would fight for control of Rome, but the Catholic Church would always reside in Jerusalem, offering eternal salvation to those who obeyed it.
Augustine argued that we were born in sin, and so our actions could only lead to evil. Passivity was the best path to salvation.
