 Western culture is characterized by a host of artistic, philosophic, literary and legal themes and traditions.Christianity, including the Roman Catholic Church, Protestantism the Eastern Orthodox Church, and Oriental Orthodoxy, has played a prominent role in the shaping of Western civilization since at least the 4th century, as did Judaism.A cornerstone of Western thought, beginning in ancient Greece and continuing through the Middle Ages and Renaissance, is the idea of rationalism in various spheres of life developed by Hellenistic philosophy, scholasticism and humanism.