How could Christianity be kept as powerful as Islam is to this day?

[Musadutoe]

It would be interesting to see a TL in which Protestantism is stillborn. The line of separation between church and state prior to the Reformation, when it existed at all, was fuzzy. I could see a more politically powerful "church" in which the line of separation is ill-defined and Europe is "unified" (whatever unified might mean to the writer of the TL) under the Catholic church.

Combine the above with an enlightened RCC controlling spiritual and intellectual education. If the RCC had maintained the education of future clergy, royalty, merchants, soldiers and statesmen; then the message would be unified.

The other element would be for the RCC to allow parish / village clergy to marry and have families like many of the Asia Minor Churches allow.

 

[funnyhat]

Have it convert Arabia?

If those who OTL became Moslems become Christians instead, they will bring their attitudes with them into the Church.

Some in the Middle East are Christian OTL, but Westerners don't seem to look to them for inspiration.

 

[Mikestone8]

Some in the Middle East are Christian OTL, but Westerners don't seem to look to them for inspiration.

Not enough of them. Had their version of Christianity conquered Arabia and spread as wide as Islam has OTL, they'd be respected all right.

 

[H.Flashman(VC)]

Islam powerfull?? Some islamic people desperately tries too make it look like that, but is in an even worse crisis than Christianity.

 

[Beausoleil]

Make Saint Thomas Aquinas's texts better known and received. Have him live another fifteen years to finish his commentary on the Politics of Aristotle and defend his metaphysical ideas to the University of Paris, avoiding the condemnation of 1277, such that Aristotelian Thomistic realism flourishes in the 14th and 15th centuries and nominalism and neo-Platonism do not.

The entirety of the nominalism, absolutism, Protestantism, Cartesian dualism, the Enlightenment, and similar controversies would be avoided. Meanwhile, scientific inquiry and fuel-powered manufacturing would not be meaningfully impeded. We would have an entirely different historical trajectory without any of the tropes with which we are familiar for Western history but likely with most of the same technological discoveries.

It would be a great timeline, but it's a lot of work (more than I have time for, before anyone suggests such).

 

[funnyhat]

Not enough of them. Had their version of Christianity conquered Arabia and spread as wide as Islam has OTL, they'd be respected all right.

Before the Islamic conquest, Christianity was the main religion of the Middle East, other than Arabia and Persia. But the centers of the faith were still Rome and Constantinople.

 

[wtw]

See the current state in the freshly converted regions of the world the Americas, Africa and parts off the Asia-Pacific they are having witch burnings

 

[raharris1973]

Henry VIII doesn't survive split from Rome ?? Object lesson ensues...

Not sure how this affects much beyond England and its dependencies. These are an important part of Christian civilization, but not the be-all/end-all of Protestantism.

Before the Islamic conquest, Christianity was the main religion of the Middle East, other than Arabia and Persia. But the centers of the faith were still Rome and Constantinople.

Actually, the thing about the pre-Islam Middle East is that it had *so many* centers of the faith. Rome and Constantinople were just the only patriarchates left standing under Christian temporal power after the initial Muslim expansion. The other three out of five patriarchates, Antioch, Jerusalem and Alexandria, were overrun by the Muslims and been under Muslim temporal power with only temporary exceptions.

It would be interesting to see a TL in which Protestantism is stillborn. The line of separation between church and state prior to the Reformation, when it existed at all, was fuzzy. I could see a more politically powerful "church" in which the line of separation is ill-defined and Europe is "unified" (whatever unified might mean to the writer of the TL) under the Catholic church.

Many things contributed to christianities loss of power. The fracturing into countless denominations. The loss of control oc countries by the catholic pope.

I don't think that preserving Catholic monopoly is a direct way to have Christianity be more similar to Islam. To some extent, Islam was *born* more similar to Protestantism than Catholicism. Islam had no priests and fragmented into many sects early in its history.

 

[Eivind]

By which I mean either clerical direct rule over parts of Europe like in OTL Iran, or indirect rule but a lot of power behind the scenes like in the Arab countries.

You forgot the most important part in the question, the earliest allowed POD. Your question might be interpreted as meaning that Islam should also exist in the ATL, although this is not the only possible interpretation, it might simplyt mean that the ATL development of Christianity is compared tro the OTL development of Islam. If we choose the latter interpretation, the POD might ve very early, although on order to wank the influence, it should at leasst be after Constantine. Probably, the best POD would be some time during the middle ages, with the conflict between secular powers and the papacy. If so, the question would be how to wank the influence of the papacy.

 

[CountPeter]

Completely spitballing here, but what about if the catholic church embraced socialism?
Probably prolonging conflict between protestantism and Catholicism, such conflict might do more to entrench catholic identity and perhaps give it tangible authority in Latin america.