A Medley of Potpourri

Monday, July 3, 2023

Catholic Church and the Age of Discovery

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_Church_and_the_Age_of_Discovery

The convent of San Augustin, a mission centre established at Yuriria, Mexico in 1550

The Catholic Church during the Age of Discovery inaugurated a major effort to spread Christianity in the New World and to convert the indigenous peoples of the Americas and other indigenous peoples. The evangelical effort was a major part of, and a justification for, the military conquests of European powers such as Portugal, Spain, and France. Christian missions to the indigenous peoples ran hand-in-hand with the colonial efforts of Catholic nations. In the Americas and other colonies in Asia, and Africa, most missions were run by religious orders such as the Franciscans, Dominicans, Augustinians, and Jesuits. In Mexico, the early systematic evangelization by mendicants came to be known as the "Spiritual Conquest of Mexico".

Antonio de Montesinos, a Dominican friar on the island of Hispaniola, was the first member of the clergy to publicly denounce all forms of enslavement and oppression of the indigenous peoples of the Americas. Theologians such as Francisco de Vitoria and Bartolomé de las Casas drew up theological and philosophical bases for the defense of the human rights of the colonized native populations, thus creating the basis of international law, regulating the relationships between nations. Important contemporary ecclesiastical documents taking a strong stance on enslaving or despoiling the indigenous peoples of the Americas was the ecclesiastical letter Pastorale officium and the superseding encyclical Sublimis Deus.

In the early years, most mission work was undertaken by the religious orders. Over time it was intended that a normal church structure would be established in the mission areas. The process began with the formation of special jurisdictions, known as apostolic prefectures and apostolic vicariates. These developing churches eventually graduated to regular diocesan status with the appointment of a local bishop. After decolonization, this process increased in pace as church structures altered to reflect new political-administrative realities.

Background

La Virgen de Candelaria, Patron of the Canary Islands

In 1341, a three-ship expedition sponsored by King Afonso IV of Portugal, set out from Lisbon for the Canary Islands. The expedition spent five months mapping the islands. This expedition became the basis of Portuguese claims to the islands.

In 1344, the Castilian-French noble Luis de la Cerda (Count of Clermont and Admiral of France), and French ambassador to the papal court in Avignon, proposed to Pope Clement VI, conquering the islands and converting the native Guanches to Christianity. In November 1344, Clement VI issued the bull Tu devonitis sinceritas bestowing upon Luis de la Cerda the title of sovereign "Prince of Fortuna". Clement also urged the kings of Portugal and Castile to provide assistance to Cerda's expedition. The Portuguese king Afonso IV immediately lodged a protest, as did Alfonso XI of Castile. Preparations were delayed and no expedition was mounted before Cerda's death in 1348.

The raids and attacks of the Reconquista created captives on both sides, who were either ransomed or sold as slaves. During the dynastic wars of the 1370s, between Portugal and Castile, Portuguese and Castilian privateers made for the Canaries for shelter or slaving raids.

In 1415, the Portuguese captured the city of Ceuta and continued to expand their control along the coast of Morocco. Portuguese ventures were intended to compete with the Muslim trans-Sahara caravans, which held a monopoly on West African gold and ivory. In 1418 the Portuguese began to settle the Madeira Islands, at first prized for their wood and later cane sugar. By 1427 they had reached the Azores. Portugal and Spain continued to dispute control of the Canary Islands.

Age of Discovery

Creator omnium

The Castilian conquest of the islands began in 1402, with the expedition of Jean de Béthencourt and Gadifer de la Salle, on commission of Henry III of Castile. The expedition included two Franciscan friars. Lanzarote, and later Fuerteventura and El Hierro were occupied, and the Bishopric of the Canaries was established.

In 1434, Prince Henry of Portugal attempted to invade Gran Canaria. When a landing was repulsed by the Guanches, the native Berber inhabitants, the expedition then plundered the Castilian missions on Lanzarote and Fuerteventura. A complaint was lodged by Fernando Calvetos, the Castilian bishop of San Marcial del Rubicón in Lanzarote, supported by the archbishop of Seville. Calvetos informed the pope of the pillaging carried out by the Portuguese "pirates". Pope Eugene IV issued Regimini gregis on 29 September 1434, and Creator Omnium, on 17 December 1434, forbidding any further raids on the Canaries and ordered the immediate manumission of all Christian converts enslaved during the attack.

While Creator omnium was issued in response to Portuguese depredations on Castilian settlements in the Canaries, the following month Pope Eugene issued the broader Sicut Dudum, indicating that Castilian slavers were not exempt and requiring that residents of the Canary Islands who had been enslaved were to be set free within fifteen days of publication of the bull upon penalty of excommunication.

Dum diversas

According to Stanley G. Payne, "[T]he expansion of the faith was inextricably intertwined with military glory and economic profit. Because of this it is idle to ask, as is frequently done, whether the Portuguese pioneers and Castilian conquistadores were motivated more by greed or by religious zeal. In the Hispanic crusading expansionist ideology, the two went together.

When Islam presented a serious military threat to Italy and Central Europe during the mid-15th century, Pope Nicholas V tried to unite Christendom against them but failed. He then granted Portugal the right to subdue and even enslave Muslims, pagans and other unbelievers in the papal bull Dum Diversas (1452). The following year saw the Fall of Constantinople to Muslim invaders. Several decades later, European colonizers and missionaries spread Catholicism to the Americas, Asia, Africa and Oceania. Pope Alexander VI had awarded colonial rights over most of the newly discovered lands to Spain and Portugal. Under the patronato system, however, state authorities, not the Vatican, controlled all clerical appointments in the new colonies. Thus, the 1455 Papal Bull Romanus Pontifex granted the Portuguese all lands behind Cape Bojador and allows to reduce pagans and other enemies of Christ to perpetual slavery.

Later, the 1481 Papal Bull Aeterni regis granted all lands south of the Canary Islands to Portugal, while in May 1493 the Spanish-born Pope Alexander VI decreed in the Bull Inter caetera that all lands west of a meridian only 100 leagues west of the Cape Verde Islands should belong to Spain while new lands discovered east of that line would belong to Portugal. A further Bull, Dudum siquidem, made some more concessions to Spain, and the pope's arrangements were then amended by the Treaty of Tordesillas of 1494 negotiated between Spain and Portugal.

After the discovery of the Americas, many of the clergy sent to the New World began to criticize Spain and the Church's treatment of indigenous peoples. In December 1511, Antonio de Montesinos, a Dominican friar, openly rebuked the Spanish rulers of Hispaniola for their "cruelty and tyranny" in dealing with the natives. King Ferdinand enacted the Laws of Burgos and Valladolid in response. However enforcement was lax, and the New Laws of 1542 took a stronger line. This caused a revolt among the Spanish colonists, and the alarmed government backed down, softening the effect of the laws. Some historians blame the Church for not doing enough to liberate the Indians; others point to the Church as the only voice raised on behalf of indigenous peoples. The issue resulted in a crisis of conscience in 16th-century Spain.The reaction of Catholic writers such as Bartolomé de Las Casas and Francisco de Vitoria led to debate on the nature of human rights and the birth of modern international law. (French, English, and Dutch reactions against the maritime monopolies granted to Portugal and Spain, meanwhile, culminated in Hugo Grotius's work articulating the doctrine of freedom of the seas.)

In 1524, Franciscan missionaries known as the Twelve Apostles of Mexico arrived in what is New Spain, followed by the Dominicans in 1526, and the Augustinians in 1533. They worked hard to convert the Indians and to provide for their well-being by establishing schools and hospitals. Because some people questioned whether the Indians were truly men who deserved baptism, Pope Paul III in the papal bull Veritas Ipsa or Sublimis Deus (1537) confirmed that the Indians were deserving men.Afterward, the conversion effort gained momentum.

School of Salamanca

An early visitor to California sketched a group of Costeño dancers at Mission San José with their bodies painted to resemble the patterns in Spanish military uniforms.

The School of Salamanca, which gathered theologians such as the Dominican Francisco de Vitoria (1480–1546), and later theologians, such as the highly influential Jesuit Francisco Suárez (1548–1617), argued in favor of the existence of rights to indigenous peoples. For example, these theologians thought that it was illegitimate to conquer other peoples for religious reasons, or even to force the baptisms of non-Christian subjects. Their views on non-believers had been already established by medieval discussions of Jewish and Muslim subjects of Christian princes. Although this view was not always prevalent, it was the traditional Dominican and Thomist view, and reflected the practice of late antiquity and the early Middle Ages. However, while such theologians limited Charles V's imperial powers over colonized people, they also mentioned some legitimate reasons for the conquest. For instance, on their view, war might be justified if the indigenous people refused free transit and commerce to the Europeans; if they forced converts to return to idolatry; if there come to be a sufficient number of Christians in the newly discovered land that they wish to receive from the Pope a Christian government; if the indigenous people lacked just laws, magistrates, agricultural techniques, etc. In any case, title taken according to this principle must be exercised with Christian charity, warned Suárez, and for the advantage of the Indians. More traditional theologians legitimized the conquest while at the same time limiting the absolute power of the sovereign, which was celebrated in others parts of Europe under the developing notion of the divine right of kings.

Conversions and assimilation

The conquest was immediately accompanied by evangelization, and new, local forms of Catholicism appeared. The Virgin of Guadalupe is one of Mexico's oldest religious images, and is said to have appeared to Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin in 1531. News of the 1534 apparition on Tepayac Hill spread quickly through Mexico; and in the seven years that followed, 1532 through 1538, the Indian people accepted the Spaniards and 8 million people were converted to the Catholic faith.Thereafter, the Aztecs no longer practiced human sacrifice or native forms of worship. In 2001 the Italian Movement of Love Saint Juan Diego was created, and launched evangelization projects in 32 states. A year later, Juan Diego was canonized by Pope John Paul II.

Guadalupe is often considered a mixture of the cultures which blend to form Mexico, both racially and religiously. Guadalupe is sometimes called the "first mestiza" or "the first Mexican". Mary O'Connor writes that Guadalupe "bring[s] together people of distinct cultural heritages, while at the same time affirming their distinctness".

One theory is that the Virgin of Guadalupe was presented to the Aztecs as a sort of "Christianized" Tonantzin, necessary for the clergymen to convert the indigenous people to their faith. As Jacques Lafaye wrote in Quetzalcoatl and Guadalupe, "as the Christians built their first churches with the rubble and the columns of the ancient pagan temples, so they often borrowed pagan customs for their own cult purposes".

Such Virgins appeared in most of the other evangelized countries, mixing Catholicism with the local customs:

The Basilica of Our Lady of Copacabana was built in Bolivia, near the Isla del Sol where the Sun God was believed to be born, in the 16th century, to commemorate the apparition of the Virgin of Copacabana.
In Cuba the Virgin named Caridad del Cobre was allegedly seen in the beginning of the 16th century, a case consigned in the Archivo General de Indias.
In Brazil Our Lady of Aparecida was declared in 1929 official Patron Saint of the country by Pope Pius XI.
Our Lady of Luján in Argentina.
La Negrita in Costa Rica.

Religious orders

Dominicans

Franciscans

Jesuits

The Altar of St. Francis Xavier Parish in Nasugbu, Batangas, Philippines. St. Francis is the principal patron of the town, together with Our Lady of Escalera.

The first attempt by Jesuits to reach China was made in 1552 by St. Francis Xavier, Navarrese priest and missionary and founding member of the Society. Xavier, however, died the same year on the Chinese island of Shangchuan, without having reached the mainland. Three decades later, in 1582, led by several figures including the prominent Italian Matteo Ricci, Jesuits once again initiated mission work in China, ultimately introducing Western science, mathematics, astronomy, and visual arts to the imperial court, and carrying on significant inter-cultural and philosophical dialogue with Chinese scholars, particularly representatives of Confucianism. At the time of their peak influence, members of the Jesuit delegation were considered some of the emperor's most valued and trusted advisors, holding numerous prestigious posts in the imperial government. Many Chinese, including notable former Confucian scholars, adopted Christianity and became priests and members of the Society of Jesus.

Between the 18th and mid-19th century, nearly all Western missionaries in China were forced to conduct their teaching and other activities covertly.

Elsewhere, Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier introduced Christianity to Japan. By the end of the 16th century tens of thousands of Japanese followed Roman Catholicism. Church growth came to a halt in 1635 under the Shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu who, in an effort to isolate the country from foreign influences, launched a severe persecution of Christians. Japanese were forbidden to leave the country and Europeans were forbidden to enter. Despite this, a minority Christian population survived into the 19th century.

Location of the most important Jesuit Reductions in the Southern Cone, with present political divisions.

In South America, the Jesuits protected native peoples from enslavement by establishing semi-independent settlements called reductions. Pope Gregory XVI, challenging Spanish and Portuguese sovereignty, appointed his own candidates as bishops in the colonies, condemned slavery and the slave trade in 1839 (papal bull In supremo apostolatus), and approved the ordination of native clergy in spite of government racism.

Many buildings erected by the Jesuits still stand, such as the Cathedral of Saint Paul in Macau and the Santísima Trinidad de Paraná in Paraguay, an example of a Jesuit Reduction.

Empires and missions

Spanish missions

In Las Californias Province of New Spain in the Americas, the Catholic Church expanded its missions in cooperation with the Spanish government and military to colonize California, coming about in response to news of Russian and British trappers and merchants in the region. Junípero Serra, the Franciscan priest in charge of this effort, founded a series of mission stations which became economic, political, and religious institutions. These missions brought grain, cattle, and a changed homeland for the California Native Americans. They had no immunity to European diseases, with subsequent indigenous tribal population falls. However, by bringing Western civilization to the area, these missions and the Spanish government have been held responsible for wiping out nearly a third of the native population, primarily through disease. Overland routes were established from New Spain (Mexico) that resulted in the establishment of a mission and presidio (fort) — now San Francisco (1776), and a pueblo (town) — now Los Angeles (1781).

French missions

The French colonial effort began later than that of the Spanish or Portuguese.

Hawaii: The French Incident (1839)

Under the rule of Kaʻahumanu the newly converted Protestant widow of Kamehameha the Great, Catholicism was illegal in Hawaii and chiefs loyal to her forcibly deported French priests onto the Artemise. Native Hawaiian Catholic converts were imprisoned and Protestant ministers ordered them to be tortured. The prejudice against the French Catholics missionaries remained the same under the reign of her successor, the Kuhina Nui Ka'ahumanu II. In 1839 Captain Laplace of the French frigate Artémise sailed to Hawaii under orders to

"... destroy the malevolent impression which you find established to the detriment of the French name; to rectify the erroneous opinion which has been created as to the power of France; and to make it well understood that it would be to the advantage of the chiefs of those islands of the Ocean to conduct themselves in such a manner as not to incur the wrath of France. You will exact, if necessary with all the force that is yours to use, complete reparation for the wrongs which have been committed, and you will not quit those places until you have left in all minds a solid and lasting impression.^"

Secularization and decolonization

Decolonization in Central and South America began with the revolutions in the 1820s, with all countries becoming independent then, except Puerto Rico and Cuba in 1898. Leaders were inspired by the American Revolution and the French Revolution of the late 18th century.

Emergence of the American Catholic Church

In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the Roman Catholic Church experienced unique difficulties within the United States of America. "Unlike all Protestant churches in America, the Roman Catholic church depended for its identity upon keeping doctrinal and administrative unity with a European-based authority." The papacy was cautious of the freedom found in the United States as it showed similarities to the attitudes behind the French Revolution. The papacy wanted to preserve the hierarchy of the church in the United States. At this time, Catholics were chiefly located in Pennsylvania and Maryland and were greatly influenced by their Protestant neighbors. They, too, wanted a church that empowered the laity. In 1788 John Carroll was appointed the first Bishop of the United States. He struggled to balance the desires of the US trustees to adapt and empower the laity and hold church property with the requests of the bishops and hierarchy oversees to preserve the doctrine. This controversy ran from approximately 1780 to 1850. In the end, the power and authority were too differential and the bishops won. This marked the creation of the "American Catholic Church with the laity subordinate to priest and bishop". This system remained until the mid-20th century.

Beginnings of the American Catholic school system

In the early-to-mid-19th century, schools in the United States were greatly influenced by Protestantism. This created difficulties with American Catholics. They challenged the singing of Protestant hymns and reading of the King James Bible in the classroom. Some school boards made changes to be more non-denominational. Tensions were great during this time period as Americans were already fearful of immigration and Catholics. After a number of struggles, for a variety of reasons, American Catholics began creating their own schools in the 1840s. Archbishop at the time, John Hughes, insisted that Catholic education was the primary way to preserve proper Christian teaching. He cited education at a young age promoted the reason and experience necessary for a strong religious background. He called American Catholics "to multiply our schools, and to perfect them". By 1852 the bishops recommended "Catholic children should attend only schools that were under church control".

20th century

Map indicating countries visited by John Paul II.

Sanctuary dedicated to the Difunta Correa, a semi-pagan saint, located in Uruguay, between the Tacuarembó and Paso de los Toros cities.

The Catholic faith also became integrated in the industrial and post-industrial middle class as it developed, in particular through the lay movements created following the 1891 Rerum novarum encyclical enacted by Pope Leo XIII, and which insisted on the social role of the Roman Catholic Church. New ceremonies appeared throughout the 20th century, such as Fidencio Constantino Sintora (known as the Niño Fidencio) (1898–1938) in Mexico, the Santa Muerte in Mexico (who has been attacked by the Catholic Church as being a pagan figure) or Difunta Correa in Argentina. The latter's pilgrimage site was visited by 700 000 persons in 2005.

Legacy and issues

20th-century missions

Much Catholic missionary work has undergone a profound change since the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965), and has become explicitly conscious of the dangers of cultural imperialism or economic exploitation. Contemporary Christian missionaries try to observe the principles of inculturation in their missionary work. In the 1970s, the Jesuits would become a main proponent of the liberation theology which openly supported anti-imperialist movements. It was officially condemned in 1984 and in 1986 by then-Cardinal Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI) as the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, under charges of Marxist tendencies, while Leonardo Boff was suspended. Proselytism has continued however throughout the 20th century, with Latin America accounting for the largest Catholic population in the world. But since the 1960s, Protestant evangelism and new religious movements have begun to strongly compete with Catholicism in South America, while various approaches to evangelism have been developed. In response, Pope John Paul II made frequent travels to this continent, visiting among other countries Chile during Pinochet's rule. He also supported Catholic Charismatic Renewal movements against rival Charismatic movements, and groups such as the Neocatechumenal Way (which has close to 20,000 communities in Latin America and 600,000 members alone), Focolari, Comunione e Liberazione or the Opus Dei, which are main vectors of Roman Catholicism in the region. In the 1990 encyclical Redemptoris Missio (subtitled On the permanent validity of the Church's missionary mandate), John Paul II stressed "the urgency of missionary activity" and in which he wished "to invite the Church to renew her missionary commitment".

Ethnocide and challenges

After a journey among the Bari in South America, the ethnologist Robert Jaulin called for a convention on ethnocide in the Americas at the Congress of Americanists, and, in February 1970, the French Society of Americanists convened for that purpose. Jaulin criticized in particular the role of Christian missionaries towards non-Western cultures.

Pope Francis positions

On August 9, 2019, Pope argued that isolationism and populism lead to war and stated that "the whole is greater than the parts. Globalization and unity should not be conceived as a sphere, but as a polyhedron: each people retains its identity in unity with others. While 'sovereignism' involves closing in upon oneself, sovereignty is not, the Pope argued. The Pope stated that sovereignty must be defended and relations with other countries, with the European Community, must also be protected and promoted." This will be addressed as part of Synod on the Amazonia, which involves land in South America that was explored during the Age of Discovery.

Christianity and other religions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_and_other_religions

Christianity and other religions documents Christianity's relationship with other world religions, and the differences and similarities.

Christian groups

Christian views on religious pluralism

Western Christian views

Some Christians have argued that religious pluralism is an invalid or a self-contradictory concept. Maximal forms of religious pluralism claim that all religions are equally true, or they claim that one religion can be true for some people and another religion can be true for others. Some Christians hold the view that such pluralism is logically impossible. Catholicism believes that while it is the fullest and most complete revelation of God to man, other Christian denominations have also received genuine revelation from God.

Although Calvinists believe that God and the truth of God cannot be plural, they also believe that those civil ordinances of man which restrain man from doing evil and encourage man to do good, are ordinances of God (regardless of the religion, or the lack of it, of those who wield that power). Christians are obligated to be at peace with all men, as far as it is up to them, and they are also obligated to submit to governments for the Lord's sake, and pray for their enemies. Calvinism is not pacifistic, and as a result, Calvinists have been involved in religious wars, most notably, they were involved in the French Wars of Religion and the English Civil War. Some of the first parts of modern Europe where religious tolerance was practiced had Calvinistic populations, most notably the Netherlands.

Evangelical Christians believe that religious pluralism is heresy and contradicts the Bible.

Eastern Orthodox views

Modern (post-Enlightenment) Christian views

In recent years, some Christian groups have become more open to religious pluralism; this has led to many cases of reconciliation between Christians and people of other faiths. The liberalization of many seminaries and theological institutions, particularly in regards to the rejection of the notion that the Bible is an infallible document, has led to a much more human-centered and secular movement within Mainline Christian denominations, particularly in the United States. Some Mainline churches no longer hold to exclusivist views on salvation.

In recent years there has been much to note in the way of reconciliation between some Christian groups and the Jewish people. Many modern day Christians, including many Catholics and some liberal Protestants, have developed a view of the New Testament as an extended covenant; they believe that Jews are still in a valid relationship with God, and that Jews can avoid damnation and earn a heavenly reward. For these Christians, the New Testament extended God's original covenant to cover non-Jews. The article Christian–Jewish reconciliation deals with this issue in detail.

Multiple smaller Christian groups in the US and Canada have come into being over the last 40 years, such as "Christians for Israel." Their website says that they exist in order to "expand Christian-Jewish dialogue in the broadest sense in order to improve the relationship between Christians and Jews, but also between Church and Synagogue, emphasizing Christian repentance, the purging of anti-Jewish preliminary attitudes and the false 'Replacement' theology rampant throughout Christian teachings."

A number of large Christian groups, including the Catholic Church and several large Protestant churches, have publicly declared that they will no longer proselytize Jews.

Other Modern Christian views, including some conservative Protestants, reject the idea of the New Testament as an extended covenant, and retain the classical Christian view as described earlier.

Modern views specific to Catholicism

For the Catholic Church, there has been a move at reconciliation not only with Judaism, but also Islam. The Second Vatican Council states that salvation includes others who acknowledge the same creator, and explicitly lists Muslims among those (using the term Mohammedans, which was the word commonly used among non-Muslims at the time). The official Catholic position is therefore that Jews, Muslims and Christians (including churches outside of Rome's authority) all acknowledge the same God, though Jews and Muslims have not yet received the gospel while other churches are generally considered deviant to a greater or lesser degree.

The most prominent event in the way of dialogue between religions has arguably been the 1986 Peace Prayer in Assisi, to which Pope John Paul II, against considerable resistance also from within the Roman Catholic church, invited representatives of all world religions. John Paul II’s remarks regarding Christian denominations were found in his Ut unum sint address. This initiative was taken up by the Community of Sant'Egidio, who, with the support of John Paul II, organized yearly peace meetings of religious representatives. These meetings, consisting of round tables on different issues and of a common time of prayer, have done much to further understanding and friendship between religious leaders and to further concrete peace initiatives. In order to avoid the reproaches of syncretism that were leveled at the 1986 Assisi meeting where the representatives of all religions held one common prayer, the follow-up meetings saw the representatives of the different religions pray in different places according to their respective traditions.

The question of whether traditional Chinese ancestor veneration, consists of worshipping a God or veneration of a saint was important to the Roman Catholic church during the Chinese Rites controversy of the early 18th century. This dispute was between the Dominicans who argued that Confucianism and Chinese folk religion was worship, and therefore incompatible with Catholicism, and the Jesuit who argued the reverse. The pope ultimately ruled in favor of the Dominicans, a decision which greatly reduced the role of Catholic missionaries in China. However, this decision was partially reversed by Pope Pius XII in 1939; after this, Chinese customs were no longer considered superstition or idolatry, but a way of honoring esteemed relatives (not entirely dissimilar to the Catholic practice of praying for the dead).

Relationship with the Baháʼí Faith

The Baháʼí Faith believes that there is one God who sends divine messengers to guide humanity throughout time, which is called Progressive revelation (Baháʼí)—and is different from the Christian belief of Progressive revelation (Christian). They believe in the divine knowledge and essence of Jesus, among other messengers such as Muhammad, Zoroaster, Moses, Buddha, Krishna, and others. Interpretations vary, but the Baháʼí Faith is sometimes considered an Abrahamic faith. The followers of the Baháʼí Faith believe in God, as do Christians, and recognize Jesus' teachings, but they have different views of the Trinity and divinity of Jesus. The Baháʼí view of prophets is that although they have both human and divine characteristics, they are not themselves God, but rather "divine manifestations." They also see the Trinity as symbolic where Jesus and the Holy Spirit are polished mirrors that reflect the pure light from God. Although Baháʼís affirm the Bible as sacred scripture, they do not consider the Bible to be wholly authentic as Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Baháʼí Faith, affirmed that "The Bible is not wholly authentic, and in this respect not to be compared with the Qur’án, and should be wholly subordinated to the authentic Sayings of Bahá’u’lláh."^[3]^[4]

Baháʼís share some views with Christianity regarding moral and immoral behavior. Baháʼís condemn polygamy, premarital sex, and homosexual acts while treating everyone, including homosexuals, with love, respect, and dignity.

Relationship with Buddhism

In the 19th century, some scholars began to perceive similarities between Buddhist and Christian practices, e.g. in 1878 T.W. Rhys Davids wrote that the earliest missionaries to Tibet observed that similarities have been seen in Christianity and Buddhism since the first known contact was made between adherents of the two religions. In 1880 Ernest De Bunsen made similar observations and noted that except for the death of Jesus on the cross, and the Christian doctrine of atonement, the most ancient Buddhist records noted that similarities existed between Buddhist and Christian traditions.

Buddhism and Protestantism came into political conflict in 19th century Sri Lanka and Tibet c. 1904 (the Francis Younghusband Expedition). Various individuals and organizations have helped introduce various strains of Buddhist theology and meditation to several generations of Western spiritual seekers (including some Catholic religious). Relations between both religions are generally good, except in South Korea where Christians have damaged Buddhist temples and engaged in other forms of Christian extremism. The Russian republic of Kalmykia recognizes Tibetan/Lamaist Buddhism and Russian Orthodoxy as its official religions.

Relationship with Druze

The Druze Maqam al-Masih (Jesus) in As-Suwayda Governorate: Both religions revere Jesus.

Christianity and Druze are Abrahamic religions that share a historical traditional connection with some major theological differences. The two faiths share a common place of origin in the Middle East, and consider themselves to be monotheistic. The relationship between the Druze and Christians has been characterized by harmony and peaceful coexistence, with amicable relations between the two groups prevailing throughout history, with the exception of some periods, including 1860 Mount Lebanon civil war.Conversion of Druze to Christianity used to be common practice in the Levant region. Over the centuries a number of the Druze embraced Christianity, such as some of Shihab dynasty members, as well as the Abi-Lamma clan.

The members of the Christian communities (Maronites, Eastern Orthodox, Melkite Catholic, and others) mixed with the Unitarian Druze, led to the presence of mixed villages and towns in Mount Lebanon, Chouf, Jabal al-Druze, the Galilee region, Mount Carmel, and Golan Heights. The Maronite Catholics and the Druze founded modern Lebanon in the early eighteenth century, through a governing and social system known as the "Maronite-Druze dualism" in the Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate.

Druze doctrine teaches that Christianity is to be "esteemed and praised" as the Gospel writers are regarded as "carriers of wisdom". The Druze faith incorporates some elements of Christianity,and other religious beliefs. The full Druze canon or Druze scripture (Epistles of Wisdom) includes the Old Testament, the New Testament, the Quran and philosophical works by Plato and those influenced by Socrates among works from other religions and philosophers, and adopted some Christian elements. The Druze faith shows influence of Christian monasticism, among other religious practices.

In terms of religious comparison, mainstream Christian denominations do not believe in reincarnation or the transmigration of the soul, contrary to the beliefs of the Druze. Christianity teaches evangelism, often through the establishment of missions, unlike the Druze who do not accept converts to their faith. Marriage outside the Druze faith is rare and is strongly discouraged. Similarities between the Druze and Christians include commonalities in their view of monogamous marriage and divorce, as well as belief in the oneness of God and theophany.

Christian Church and Druze Khalwa in Chouf District: Historically; the Druzes and the Christians in the Shuf Mountains lived in complete harmony.

Christianity does not require male circumcision, with covenant theology teaching that the Christian sacrament of baptism fulfills the Israelite practice of circumcision, both being signs and seals of the covenant of grace. Most mainstream Christian denominations currently maintain a neutral position on the practice of non-religious circumcision. Male circumcision is commonly practiced in many predominantly Christian countries, and in the Coptic Orthodox Church, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church it is seen as a rite of passage. While male Circumcision is widely practiced by the Druze, the procedure is practiced as a cultural tradition, and has no religious significance in the Druze faith. Some Druzes do not circumcise their male children, and refuse to observe this practice.

Both faiths give a prominent place to Jesus: Jesus is the central figure of Christianity, and in the Druze faith, Jesus is considered an important prophet of God, being among the seven prophets who appeared in different periods of history. The Druze revere Jesus "the son of Joseph and Mary" and his four disciples, who wrote the Gospels. According to the Druze manuscripts Jesus is the Greatest Imam and the incarnation of Ultimate Reason (Akl) on earth and the first cosmic principle (Hadd), and regards Jesus and Hamza ibn Ali as the incarnations of one of the five great celestial powers, who form part of their system. In the Druze tradition, Jesus is known under three titles: the True Messiah (al-Masih al-Haq), the Messiah of all Nations (Masih al-Umam), and the Messiah of Sinners. This is due, respectively, to the belief that Jesus delivered the true Gospel message, the belief that he was the Saviour of all nations, and the belief that he offers forgiveness.

Both religions revere John the Baptist, Saint George, Elijah, Luke the Evangelist, Job and other common figures. Figures in the Old Testament such as Adam, Noah, Abraham, and Moses are considered important prophets of God in the Druze faith, being among the seven prophets who appeared in different periods of history. In the Old Testament, Jethro was Moses' father-in-law, a Kenite shepherd and priest of Midian. Shuaib or Jethro of Midian is considered an ancestor of the Druze who revere him as their spiritual founder and chief prophet.

Relationship with Hinduism

Buddhism, Hinduism and Christianity differ in their fundamental beliefs with regard to heaven, hell and reincarnation, to name a few. From the Hindu perspective, heaven (Sanskrit svarga) and hell (Naraka) are temporary places, where every soul has to live, either for the good deeds which they have done or for the sins which they have committed.

There are also significant similarities between Christian and Hindu theology, most notably, both religions present a trinitarian view of God. The Holy Trinity in Christianity, which consists of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, is sometimes seen as being roughly analogous to the Trimurti in Hinduism, whose members -- Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva—are seen as the three principal manifestations of Brahman, or Godhead.

Christian-Hindu relations are a mixed affair. On one hand, Hinduism's natural tendency has been to recognize the divine basis of various other religions, and to revere their founders and saintly practitioners. In Western countries, Vedanta has influenced some Christian thinkers, while others in the anti-cult movement have reacted against the activities of immigrant gurus and their followers. (See also: Pierre Johanns, Abhishiktananda, Bede Griffiths, Dalit theology.)

The Christian Ashram Movement, a movement within Christianity in India, embraces Vedanta and the teachings of the East, attempting to combine the Christian faith with the Hindu ashram model and Christian monasticism with the Hindu sannyasa tradition. Brahmoism is considered a syncretism of Hinduism with Protestantism or Lutheranism.

Relationship with Islam

The name Jesus son of Mary written in Islamic calligraphy followed by Peace be upon him

Islam shares a number of beliefs with Christianity. They share similar views on judgment, heaven, hell, spirits, angels, and a future resurrection. Jesus is acknowledged as the greatest prophet and venerated as a saint by Muslims. However, while Islam relegates the man Jesus the Christ to a lesser status than God — "in the company of those nearest to God" in the Qur'an, mainstream (Trinitarian) Christianity since the Council of Nicea teaches without question the belief that Jesus is both fully man and fully God the Son, one of the three Hypostases (common English: persons) of Christianity's Trinity, divinely co-equal and co-eternal with the Father and the Holy Spirit.

Both religions share the belief in the virgin birth of Jesus, his miracles and healings, and they also share the belief that he ascended bodily into heaven. However, Jesus is not accepted as the Son of God by Muslims, who strictly maintain the belief that he was a human being who was loved by God and exalted to the ranks of the most righteous by God. They believe that God is a single entity, and do not accept the first person in the Trinity as God as the vast majority of Christians do. Additionally, Muslims do not accept Jesus's literal crucifixion and subsequent resurrection. Since Muslims believe in the worship of a strictly monotheistic form of God the Father who they do not believe assumed human form in the Holy Trinity through Jesus Christ, they do not accept the use of icons to worship God, which they consider shirk (idolatry). Muslim influence played a part in the initiation of iconoclasm and their conquests caused the iconoclasm in the Byzantine Empire. For the same reason, they do not worship or pray to Muhammad, Jesus, or any other prophets; they only pray to God.

Adherents of Islam have historically referred to themselves, Jews, and Christians (among others) as People of the Book since they all base their religion on Abrahamic books that are considered to have a divine origin. Christians, with the notable exception of Chrislam adherents however, neither recognize the Qur'an as a genuine book of divine revelation, nor agree with its lowly assessment of Jesus only as a prophet, on par with Muhammad, nor for that matter accept that Muhammad was a genuine prophet of God. In the 7th century text Concerning Heresy, Saint John of Damascus named Islam as Christological heresy, referring to it as the "heresy of the Ishmaelites" (see medieval Christian views on Muhammad). The position has remained popular in Christian circles well into the 20th century, by theologians such as the Congregationalist cleric Frank Hugh Foster and the Roman Catholic historian Hilaire Belloc, the latter of who described it as "the great and enduring heresy of Mohammed."

Most Muslims, for their part, believe that parts of the Gospels, Torah and Jewish prophetic books have been forgotten, misinterpreted, or distorted by their followers. Based on that perspective, Muslims view the Qur'an as correcting the errors of traditional Judeo-Christianity. For example, with the exception of Messianic Islam and sometimes Koranism, Muslims in general on an anti-Catholic basis reject belief in the Trinity or any other expression of the divinity of Jesus as incompatible with monotheism.

Not surprisingly, the two faiths have often experienced mutual controversy and conflict (an example being the Crusades, fought in response to Islamic conquests and attitudes to non-Muslims, in the near and Middle East). At the same time, much fruitful dialogue has occurred with the Catholic Church as well, especially since in the wake of the modernizing liberal reforms of Vatican 2 regarding proper Catholic relations with many other major world religions. The writings of Catholic theologian Thomas Aquinas frequently cite those of the Jewish philosopher Moses Maimonides, as well as Muslim thinker Averroes ('Ibn-Rushd).

On May 6, 2001 Pope John Paul II, the first pope to pray in a mosque, delivered an address at Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, saying: "It is important that Muslims and Christians continue to explore philosophical and theological questions together, in order to come to a more objective and comprehensive knowledge of each other's religious beliefs. Better mutual understanding will surely lead, at the practical level, to a new way of presenting our two religions not in opposition, as has happened too often in the past, but in partnership for the good of the human family." This Mosque of Damascus is famous for containing the head of John the Baptist.

Relationship with Judaism

The relationship between Christianity and Judaism has been strained. In the past, Christians were often taught that "the Jews" killed Christ, for whose "murder" they bear a collective guilt (an interpretation which most major denominations now reject). Meanwhile, Jews have tended to associate Christianity with various pogroms, or in better times, they have tended to associate it with the dangers of assimilation. Anti-Semitism has a long history in Christianity (see Antisemitism in Christianity), and it is far from dead (for example, it exists in contemporary Russia). However, since the Holocaust, much dialogue which is aimed at Christian–Jewish reconciliation has taken place, and relations between Jews and Christians have greatly improved. Today, many conservative evangelicals support Christian Zionism, much to the irritation of Arab Christians, partly based on the Millennialist belief that the modern state of Israel represents the fulfillment of Biblical prophecy.

The phenomenon of Messianic Judaism has become something of an irritant to Jewish / Christian relations. Messianic Jews—who generally seek to combine a Jewish identity with the recognition of Jesus—are rejected by mainstream Jewish groups, who dismiss Messianic Judaism as little more than Christianity with Jewish undertones.

The Jewish conception of the messiah (משיח mashiach in Hebrew) holds certain similarities to that of Christians, yet there are substantial differences. According to Jews, the Hebrew Scriptures contain a small number of prophecies concerning a future descendant of King David, who will be anointed (Hebrew: moshiach) as the Jewish people's new leader and will establish the throne of David in Jerusalem forever. In the Jewish view, this fully human and mortal leader will rebuild the land of Israel and restore the Davidic Kingdom. This subject is covered in the section on Jewish eschatology. Some Christians have a different understanding of the term messiah, and believe that Jesus is the messiah referred to in the Old Testament prophecies; that the kingdom in these prophecies was to be a heavenly kingdom, not an earthly one; and that Jesus' words and actions in the New Testament provide evidence of his identity as messiah and that the remainder of messianic prophecy will be fulfilled in the Second Coming. Other Christians acknowledge the Jewish definition of messiah, and hold that Jesus fulfills this, being 'fully man' (in addition to being 'fully God'), and believe that the Second Coming will establish the Kingdom of God on earth, where Jesus, as messiah and descendant from David, will reign from Jerusalem.

Relationship with Mithraism and Sol Invictus

There are many parallels between Mithraism, the religion of Sol Invictus, and Christianity. Aurelian is believed to have established the Dies Natalis Solis Invicti (Day of the Birth of Sol Invictus) as an annual festival held on the day when the sun's daily declination visibly starts rising again after the winter solstice, namely on December 25; the birth of the central figure was thus celebrated on the day which Christians later used to celebrate Jesus' birth (having always celebrated this on Epiphany). Other similarities include the stories of Christ and Mithra as children being visited by shepherds, the trinity, and the immortal soul. Sunday itself was imposed as the official day of rest by Constantine, who referred to it as the Day of the venerable Sun. (Although Christians worshiped on Sunday from at least 150 years before Constantine)

The earliest attestation of Mithraism is Plutarch's record of it being practised in 68BC by Cilician pirates, the first mithraists. Tertullian, a Christian writer who lived between the 2nd and 3rd centuries, admitted there was a strong similarity between the practises of the two faiths:

the devil, ... mimics even the essential portions of the divine sacraments...he baptises some, that is his own believers, ... he promises the forgiveness of sins... Mithraism, .... also celebrates the oblation of bread, and introduces a symbol of the resurrection... - Tertullian,

Justin Martyr, an earlier 2nd century Church Father, agreed that the similarities existed, claiming that Mithraism had copied the Eucharist. Justin argued that the devil had invented Mithraism to mock Christianity. Christian apologist Ronald H. Nash stated:

allegations of an early Christian dependence on Mithraism have been rejected on many grounds. Mithraism had no concept of the death and resurrection of its god and no place for any concept of rebirth -- at least during its early stages...During the early stages of the cult, the notion of rebirth would have been foreign to its basic outlook...Moreover, Mithraism was basically a military cult. Therefore, one must be skeptical about suggestions that it appealed to nonmilitary people like the early Christians.

Relationship with Paganism

Relationship with Scientology

In the 2008 book Vintage Jesus: Timeless Answers to Timely Questions, authors Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears write: "According to Scientology, Jesus is an "implant" forced upon a Thetan about a million years ago", and Jack Huberman writes in 101 People Who Are Really Screwing America that in Scientology Jesus is seen as having been "implanted in humanity's collective memory", by the character Xenu from Scientology space opera.

Professor Paul Blankenship of the Memphis Theological Seminary studied Scientology and commented on this view, saying "They do not do a lot of talking about God or Jesus. It's more getting your mind cleared, and I could see how they could say that that could be compatible. Scientology has not really developed into a complete religious tradition. They may very well develop."

The Church of Scientology claims that their belief system is different from Christianity because it is based “solely on reason” and that its members “possess a practical system of ethics and justice.” The church likewise claims that “anything religious teachers said or Buddha promised, even the visions of Christianity, are attained in Scientology as a result.” Muck, Netland and McDermott emphasize that this clearly shows that Scientology is incompatible with Christianity.

In the book New Religions and the Theological Imagination in America (1995) by Mary Farrell Bednarowski, the author comments that "In the game of life as Scientology understands it, sin does not call for repentance as much as it does the eradication of error, and that must come through the technology, the auditing process, sometimes referred to as pastoral counseling. In fact, in regard to getting rid of sin, Scientology sees parallels between the goals of its technology and Jesus's saving action." Bednarowski quotes from the Scientology publication The Scientology Catechism in noting these parallels between the stated mission of Scientologists and the teachings imparted by Christ to his disciples. She notes that Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard is not regarded in Scientology as a "divine savior", but rather a "loved friend and teacher". Writing in Signs of the Times: The New Religious Movements in Theological Perspective (1996), John A. Saliba cites Mary Bednarowski, and goes on to note "Helle Medgaard asserts that Scientology also misunderstands Jesus and repudiates the key Christian doctrine of the forgiveness of sins." In his book The Sociology of Religious Movements (1996), William Sims Bainbridge cites the research of Roy Wallis, in noting "Scientology ... has no discernible connection to Christianity".

Possible relationship with Zoroastrianism through Judaism

Many scholars believe that the eschatology of Judaism and the idea of monotheism as a whole possibly originated in Zoroastrianism, and it may have been transferred to Judaism during the Babylonian captivity, and it eventually influenced Christian theology. Bible scholar P.R. Ackroyd states: "the whole eschatological scheme, however, of the Last Judgment, rewards and punishments, etc., within which immortality is achieved, is manifestly Zoroastrian in origin and inspiration." However, the theory is questioned by other mainstream historians and scholars. The Oxford History of the Biblical World states "There is little if any effect of Zoroastrian elements on Judaism in the Persian period." Nevertheless, scholars such as Soloman Nigosian contend, in regarding the similar ideas of Zoroaster and later Jewish writers, that "the ideas were indigenous to Iran...it is hardly conceivable that some of the characteristic ideas and practices in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam came into being without Zoroastrian influence." The new faith (Zoroastrianism) emerged in larger Persian empires. " Zoroastrianism reflected the cosmopolitan society of the empires". During this time Zoroastrianism profoundly effected the beliefs and values of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam ("Traditions & Encounters: A brief global History", Jerry H. Bentley. pg. 93). It is also possible that Zoroastrianism and later Jewish theology came from a common source.

For more on this theory, see Jewish history, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism.

In the Younger Avesta, three divinities of the Zoroastrian pantheon are repeatedly identified as ahuric, meaning that each, as Ahura, act together in both representing and protecting Asha, or the divine truth governing the universe. These three are Ahura Mazda, Mithra and Burz, and hence known as the "Ahuric triad." Similarities with the Christian Trinity can be seen between Ahura Mazda and God the Father, Mithra and Christ the Logos, as well as between Burz and the Holy Spirit, both of which are associated symbolically with water. Both Zoroastrianism and Christianity consider themselves to be monotheistic, but like all other monotheisms they have highlighted certain aspects or energies of the divine to emphasize, and these are not meant to be interpreted as separate divinities. In both religions there are guardian angels, or fravashi, which are considered to be created beings and are distinct from the Energies of God or divine emanations. The Zoroastrian term yazata, however, has variously been interpreted as meaning emanations or "sparks" of the divine, or as being roughly synonymous with the term "angels." There have been various theories on the possible relationship between these aspects of Zoroastrianism and ideas of divine emanation in esoteric Christianity, Jewish Kabbalah, Islamic mysticism (Sufism), and other religious systems, such as Gnosticism, Yazidism, and the Druze, among others.

Sociological aspects

The spread of Christianity has been international, in some cases it has entirely displaced the religions of those people who it was proselytized to and it has also altered their customs. At times, this centuries-long process has been met with violent opposition, and likewise, the spread of Christianity has been carried out with martial force in some cases. To some extent, the relationship between Christianity and other faiths has been encumbered by this history, and modern Christians, particularly in the West, have expressed embarrassment over the violence which existed in Christianity's past.

The conversion of adherents of other religions is widely accepted within Christianity. Many Christian organizations believe that they have a duty to make converts among every people. In recent years, ecumenism and dialogue between different religions has been endorsed by many official representatives of the Christian churches, as a way of effecting reconciliation between Christian people and people of other faiths, leading to many cases of reconciliation. In some cases, this endorsement is accompanied by a complete disavowal of all proselytizing efforts under the banner of religious pluralism.

This is specially marked by the inauguration, or installation, of Archbishop of York Dr John Sentamu from Uganda, on November 29, 2005. Dr Sentamu is the first black African archbishop of the Church of England. He is also the first archbishop to beat bongo drums in the cathedral at his own inauguration. The newspaper Guardian, which dedicated the double middle page of the following day's issue to a full picture of the grinning archbishop in full apparel at the porch of the cathedral, said that: "Dr Sentamu's sermon was a stern lecture to the Church of England to grow out of being a 'judgmental and moralising' congregation of 'pew-fillers, sermon-taters, Bible readers, even born-again believers and Spirit-filled charismatics' and go out to make friends in the world. 'We have lost the joy and power that makes real disciples and we've become consumers of religion, not disciples of Jesus-Christ', he said. 'Christians, go and make friends among Buddhists, Hindus, Jews, Muslims, Sikhs, agnostics, atheists, not for the purpose of converting them to your beliefs but for friendship, understanding, listening, hearing.' His remarks were greeted with applause, not with silence as the order of the service instructed."

A special case is the issue of Christian–Jewish reconciliation, in which significant reconciliation has been reached.

Syncretism

Christian converts have often carried some of their former customs into their new faith. On occasion, this has led to syncretisms, that are often not accepted by mainstream Christians:

In Cuban Santería, the West African orishas are venerated in the shape of Catholic saints.
The Chinese Taiping Rebels replaced the Bible with the Confucian classics.
The God's Army of Myanmar mixed Karen traditions with Protestantism.
The Vietnamese syncretic religion Cao Dai locates Jesus in the celestial Council of Great Spirits that directs the universe. It also has a pope with an elaborate hierarchy and its temples are influenced by Catholic churches.
The Lacandon people of Central America acknowledge Äkyantho', the god of foreigners. He has a son named Hesuklistos (Jesus Christ) who is supposed to be the god of the foreigners. They recognize that Hesuklistos is a god but do not feel he is worthy of worship as he is a minor god.

Tillage erosion

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tillage_erosion

Eroded hilltops due to tillage erosion

Tillage erosion is a form of soil erosion occurring in cultivated fields due to the movement of soil by tillage. There is growing evidence that tillage erosion is a major soil erosion process in agricultural lands, surpassing water and wind erosion in many fields all around the world, especially on sloping and hilly lands A signature spatial pattern of soil erosion shown in many water erosion handbooks and pamphlets, the eroded hilltops, is actually caused by tillage erosion as water erosion mainly causes soil losses in the midslope and lowerslope segments of a slope, not the hilltops. Tillage erosion results in soil degradation, which can lead to significant reduction in crop yield and, therefore, economic losses for the farm.

Tillage erosion in field with diversion terraces

Physical process

Conceptually, the process of tillage erosion (E_Ti) can be described as a function of tillage erosivity (ET) and landscape erodibility (EL):

E_Ti = f(ET, EL)

Tillage erosivity (ET) is defined as the propensity of a tillage operation, or a sequence of operations, to erode soil and is affected by the design and operation of the tillage implement (e.g., the size, arrangement and shape of tillage tools, tillage speed and depth). Landscape erodibility (EL) is defined as the propensity of a landscape to be eroded by tillage and is affected by the landscape topography (e.g., slope gradient and slope curvature) and soil properties (e.g., texture, structure, bulk density and soil moisture content).

Tillage erosion occurs as a result of changes in tillage translocation (soil movement by tillage) across the field. Tillage translocation is expressed as a linear function of slope gradient (θ) and slope curvature (φ):

T_M = α + β θ + γ φ

where T_M is tillage translocation; α is the tillage translocation on flat soil surface; β and γ are coefficients which describe the additional translocation resulting from slope gradient and slope curvature, respectively. Tillage erosion, which is the net tillage translocation, is then calculated as:

T_M^Net = ΔT_M = β Δθ + γ Δφ

For a unit area A in a cultivated field, tillage erosion rate for a tillage operation can be calculated as:

E_Ti = (T_M^out – T_Mⁱⁿ) / A = [β (θ^out - θⁱⁿ) + γ (φ^out - φⁱⁿ)] / A

where E_Ti is tillage erosion rate for the tillage operation; T_M^out is the outgoing tillage translocation or the amount of soil moving out from A; and T_Mⁱⁿ is the incoming tillage translocation or the amount of soil moving into A; θ^out is the outgoing slope gradient along the tillage direction, θⁱⁿ is the incoming slope gradient along the tillage direction; φ^out is the outgoing slope curvature along the tillage direction, φⁱⁿ is the incoming slope curvature along the tillage direction.

Spatial patterns

Typical spatial patterns of tillage erosion observed in cultivated field are either local topography related: soil loss from hilltops (convexities) and soil accumulation in depressions (concavities); or field boundary related: soil loss from the downside of a field boundary and soil accumulation in the upper-side of a field boundary. Local topography related tillage erosion is most pronounced in hummocky landscapes with eroded hilltops that often exhibit a light soil color due to the loss of organic-rich topsoil, a phenomenon often mistakenly assumed to be the result of water erosion. Field boundary related tillage erosion is determined by not only topography but also tillage directions and it is responsible for the forming of tillage banks and terraces.

Measurement

Tillage erosion can be measured via the measurement of tillage translocation or the measurement of soil loss and accumulation. Tillage translocation is normally measured with a tracer that is incorporated into the soil in plots. The distributions of the tracer before and after tillage are used to calculate tillage translocation. Two types of tracers, point tracers, and bulk tracers are being used. Whereas point tracers are easy to implement, bulk tracers can provide more information regarding the dispersion of the soil during the translocation process. Soil loss and accumulation by tillage erosion can be estimated from changes in surface elevation. For example, elevation of a tilled field can be compared to an adjacent reference object that has not been eroded such as a fence line or hedgerow. Decreases in surface elevation indicate soil losses while increases in elevation are evidence of soil accumulations. Elevation change can also be determined by taking repeated measurements of the soil surface elevations with high accuracy topographic survey techniques such as RTK GPS, total station and close range photogrammetry. Another way to estimate soil loss and accumulation is to measure the changes in soil properties , such as soil organic matter content. However, soil organic matter can be affected by many factors so it is not a very reliable method. Since 1980s, radioisotopes such as Cs-137 and Pb-210 have been used to provide much more accurate soil erosion estimates.

Modeling

Hillslope model (one-dimensional)

The Tillage Erosion Risk Indicator (TillERI) is a simplified tillage erosion model used to estimate the risk of tillage erosion in agricultural lands at the national scale in Canada. It is one of the erosion indicators as part of the Agri-Environmental indicators developed under the National Agri-Environmental Health Analysis and Reporting Program (NAHARP). Input data include hillslope length, slope gradient of the eroding segment, and the erosivity of the tillage operations (β value). Output data from the model include tillage erosion rate at the erosion segment and the risk level for tillage erosion for that hillslope.
The Tillage Erosion Prediction (TEP) model is designed to calculate net soil movement for individual hillslope segments across a field transect for individual tillage operations. Input data include hillslope segment elevation, slope gradient, and segment length as well as the erosivity of the tillage operations (β value). Output data from the model include tillage erosion rate and elevation change.
The Tillage Translocation Model (TillTM) is used to simulate the tillage translocation process and to predict tillage-induced soil mass and soil constituent redistribution along a transect. It takes into account both the vertical and horizontal mixing of soil during the tillage translocation process.

Field scale model (two-dimensional)

The Water and Tillage Erosion Model (WaTEM) is a model designed to calculate both water and tillage erosion rate at each grid node in Digital Elevation Model (DEM). The tillage erosion component of WaTEM simulates the soil redistribution in DEM using a diffusion-type equation and assumes that all soil translocation occurs in the direction of steepest slope, irrespective of the pattern of tillage.
The Soil Redistribution by Tillage (SORET) model is of the spatial distribution type and can perform 3D simulations of soil redistribution in DEMs on the field scale. It can predict soil redistribution arising from different patterns of tillage in a given landscape via computer simulation of a single tillage operation, and is also able to forecast the long-term effects of repeated operations. It takes into account the tillage pattern (directions) and can calculate tillage translocation in the directions parallel and perpendicular to the direction of tillage.
The Tillage Erosion Model (TillEM) calculates point-tillage-erosion rates on grid nodes of a DEM along the lines both parallel and perpendicular to the direction of tillage, representing forward and lateral tillage translocation, which is very similar to the SORET model. The difference is that the TillEM takes into account the effects of slope curvature variations (γ value) on tillage translocation.
The Directional Tillage Erosion Model (DirTillEM) is an upgraded version of TillEM. The DirTillEM calculates the incoming and outgoing soil in each of the four directions for each cell in a DEM and determines the tillage erosion for that cell by summing up all incoming and outgoing soil. This calculation structure allows the DirTillEM to treat each cell independently so that it can simulate tillage erosion under complicated tillage patterns (e.g., circular pattern) or irregular field boundaries.
The Cellular Automata model for Tillage Translocation (CATT) simulates soil redistribution in a field caused by tillage via a Cellular Automata Model which sequentially calculates the local interactions between a cell and its neighbours due to tillage translocation.

Effects

Soil degradation

Tillage erosion causes loss of fertile top soil from the eroding portion of the field. As the top soil layer is getting thinner, subsequent tillage operations will bring up sublayer soil and mix it into the tillage layer. This vertical mixing results in soil degradation in the eroding portion of the field. Moreover, the degraded soil in the eroding portion of the field will be horizontally mixed into adjacent areas through tillage translocation. Over time, with the vertical and horizontal mixing, tillage translocation will cause the spread the subsoil from the eroding portion to over the entire field, including areas of tillage accumulation.

Loss of crop productivity

Subsoil often has undesirable soil properties for crop growth (e.g., less organic carbon, poor structure). When subsoil is mixed into the tillage layer due to tillage erosion, crop productivity will be negatively impacted. The loss due to such crop productivity loss is enormous given that the damage is long lasting and it takes great effort to restore the soil quality to its original level.

Environmental impact and greenhouse gas emissions

As soil is degraded due to tillage erosion, it can lead to some environmental issues such as increased nutrient losses and GHG emissions. For carbon sequestration in particular, although degraded soil in the eroding portion may reduce carbon sequestration, the burial of top soil in the soil accumulation regions create a large sink for carbon sequestration

Landform evolution and creation of topographic features

Tillage erosion is a dominant process for landform evolution in many agricultural fields. It flattens convexities and concavities and creates tillage walls and banks along field boundaries. With a consistent pattern, it can even create topographic features in flat fields. For example, when a one way throw tillage equipment (e.g., mouldboard plough) is used in a circular pattern over many years, it can create a “>--<” pattern ditch in the middle of the field.

Linkages and interactions with other erosion processes

Cultivated fields are subject to not only tillage erosion but also water and wind erosion. There are linkages and interactions between these erosion processes. Linkages and interactions refer to the additive and non-additive effects, respectively, between different erosion processes. Total soil erosion may be increased or decreased due to positive and negative linkages, respectively, between different erosion processes. Interactions occur when one erosion process changes the erodibility of the landscape for another erosion process, or when one process works as a delivery mechanism for another erosion process. For example, soil degradation caused by tillage erosion likely will increase the erodibility of the soil to water and wind erosion. Another example is the interactions between tillage and water erosion around water eroded channels, especially ephemeral gullies. Tillage is often used to eliminate these channels and ephemeral gullies, in which tillage translocation essentially serves as a delivery mechanism to transport soil to areas most susceptible to water erosion.

Mitigation

Tillage erosion can be mitigated by reducing the intensity of tillage. This includes reducing the frequency of tillage, the speed and depth of tillage, and the size of the tillage implement. However, conservation tillage equipment designed to reduce water erosion may not be able to reduce tillage erosion and field operations traditionally not considered tillage operations may cause significant amount of tillage erosion (e.g., harvesting for potato). Contour tillage will reduce the variation of tillage speed and depth, resulting in reduced changes in tillage translocation across the field. This will also lead to lower tillage erosion. In addition, downslope movement of soil can be compensated by using a reversible moldboard plough to throw the furrow upslope. Physically moving soil from accumulation areas (e.g., depressions) to the eroding portion of the field (e.g., hilltops), a practice termed soil landscape restoration, can mitigate the impact of tillage erosion by restoring soil productivity at the eroding portion of the field.

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