Muslim societies lacked Christianity’s church-state conflict driving secularism

Evidence

This is all a very different story, of course, from the early struggles of Christianity: Jesus put to death by Rome as a criminal; his followers, a Christian minority in a pagan empire, persecuted for centuries. No wonder early Christians looked upon political and military power as evil, Rome as a reincarnation of the whore of Babylon. Later Christian authors write Rome into the divine plan (and subsequently, in the case of Isidore, write it out and replace it with the Goths), but there is really no positive image of political power in the New Testament. Medieval Christian kings will look back to the Old Testament for role models: the ancient Jewish kings, especially David. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 232 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Islam never separated religion from the state as Christianity did; European secularism emerged from religious wars Islam never experienced; Christianity lacked Islam’s founding experience of political triumph — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 232 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Christianity lacked Islam’s founding experience of political triumph #complicates (0.85) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 232