When Christianity was at its peak, why was it called the Dark Ages?

Question

I know the christians murdered hundreds of thousands of women for being "witches." But why was it called "dark ages?"

Historians put the figure at around 300,000 if you care to READ a book, that isn't the Bible.

Answer 1

The church deemed any form of 'non biblical' learning invalid and made it unlawful to study and kinds of texts, etc that were not directly related to religion.

Universities and other pedagogic insitutes and academies suffered the most and went underground. Text books were burned and free thinking academics were punished in the most brutal ways.

It truly was 'The Dark Ages' and another shining example of the the evils of the church. A waste of time when mankind could have been progressing and advancing through education - but no, that was halted and maligned

PS - You are right - it was hundreds and thousands of women, but also men and children

Answer 2

_________


The Dark Ages

The Discovery Channel program “Three minutes to Impact” provided another piece of information that should be of great interest to Bible students. Most Christians know about the period of time called “the dark ages.” History teaches that during the dark ages, the Roman Empire faded as a political force, even though the religious structure that remained, controlled the lives of the common people and made life very difficult. Most contemporary scholars prefer to call this period of history, the middle ages, since they do not appreciate the religious overtones that accompany the term “dark ages.” Regardless of the attempt by some scholars to alleviate the use of the term, there are a number of reasons why the dark ages are labeled in this manner. Reasons include the surrogacy of the peasant people to their masters, the absolute control exercised by the Roman church and the associated martyrdom during that period. People believe that the powers of darkness (Satan) attempted to control and eliminate true Christianity through the Universal Christian Church of Rome.

However, another reason for the term “dark ages” that I had never heard before was presented on a recent Discovery channel program, which should also be of special interest to students of Bible prophecy. The program revealed that scientists have discovered evidence supporting a meteor impact in Northern Europe in A.D. 538. This impact darkened the skies, causing crop loss and weather changes for eighteen months after the impact. Therefore, the Dark Ages literally started out as the title suggests.

A.D. 538 is an important prophetic date in light of Revelation’s story. Revelation 12:1-14:5 describes a story of two beasts. The story begins with Satan trying to kill the baby, Jesus, and extends through His second coming. A key time period in this story is Revelation 12:14, which states, “The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the desert, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent’s reach.”

The period of “a time [one year], times [two years] and half a time [1/2 year] “ describes a period of 3 ½ years or 1,260 days (3.5 years times 360 days in a year). Since this time period falls within the time frame of the Jubilee Calendar, the 1260 days represent 1260 years of Earth’s history. This period of 1260 years ended when the pope of the Roman Catholic Church was imprisoned by the order of Napoleon in A.D. 1798. In fact, Bible students of that era were predicating that the Catholic Church would fall before 1800 based on this prophecy. If we subtract 1260 from 1798, we return to A.D. 538. Typically, Bible students who accept this 1260 day time prophecy have used 1798 and subtracted the 1260 years to document the 538 date. However, there has never been a separate event identified that marked A.D. 538 as the beginning of the dark ages. Now, historians and scientists alike have inadvertently confirmed the greatness of God. What better way could God mark the beginning of the dark ages than an asteroid impact which triggered a literal period of darkness at just the right time?

Answer 3

Christianity has more members now than ever before in its history. And the church DID NOT kill hundreds of thousands of women for being witches. That era was called the Dark Ages because of all the death from all the plagues....probably a punishment for not killing those hundred thousand or so witches.

Answer 4

Petrarch, the great Italian humanist, is believed to be the one who coined the phrase "Dark Ages". The term would continue to be used throughout the modern age. Edward Gibbons, in his "The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire", also used it to express his contempt for these dark times filled with superstition.

Petrarch said that "amidst the errors there shone forth men of genius, no less keen were their eyes, although they were surrounded by darkness and dense gloom". He coopted the often used Christian metaphor that used light v. dark to symbolize good v. evil and he reversed the symbolism. He considered the Classical Age to be one of "light" and the Age of Christiandom (The Middle Ages) to be one of "darkness" because of its lack of cultural achievements and the general state of fear and ignorance (to anything other than the Bible) that the Church generated. The negativity apparent in his use of the term "Dark Ages" is still apparent today, some seven centuries later.

Answer 5

Only the wealthy could read and write.the common people coldn't and had to make a mark of some kind to identify themselves. the arts were at a stand still. The Catholic Church used a heavy hand to determain what was good and evil. a time of lawlessness and senseless killing and brutality.

Answer 6

BTW: in recent times we dodge calling center an prolonged time 'dark an prolonged time' - there substitute right into a brilliant lifestyle and there substitute into, to boot to "souvenir mori" and theocentrisme, different thinking relating to the person. So - the fall substitute right into a fall, yet no longer... into darkness... i might say...

Answer 7

nope way off. burnings as witches were not hundred of thousands. and the dark ages are caled tat because there are very few written records of those days and because people developed almost backwards from where they had developed earlier.

Answer 8

Because the christians is the wrong religion and they killed human being. They create their own group to kill people and start conquering the territory. They were evil on their side and telling people to obey. They were the demon on the mask of christianity.

Answer 9

Because that period of time is the time they are ashamed of. They didnt call it the 'dark ages' while it was the 'dark ages'. Its so christians think there isnt much knowledge from that period of time available.

Answer 10

Christianity was not at its peak, Catholicism was at its peak, unfortunately Martin Luther was not around yet.