This book addresses something I think is important to know: how the way we think has changed over the centuries right up to the present day. In fact I once fantasized briefly about writing this book myself, but the thought went away when I realized how much research I'd have to do to lay it all out correctly. Fortunately Dr. Glenn Sunshine, who as a history professor has a better background for this book anyway, had been compiling the research for a few years already and chose to put it in book form. I've gotten to know Glenn over the past couple years, and have learned to appreciate his insights as a historian, a thinker, and a Christian.
In this book Sunshine describes what the dominant worldview in the West has been, starting with the Roman Empire. He explains that the well-known decadence of the Romans, from slavery to sexual license to infanticide and more, was the result of the basic assumptions about life in the Empire. He also shows how the gradual flourishing of Christianity introduced an entirely different view of life - one based on the Bible - and how this Biblical worldview not only counter-acted many of the evils of Roman society, but became the basis for Western societies into the Middle Ages. He provides a good summary of how Naturalism (the belief that there is no God of any kind; the physical world is all that exists) became such a force in the West just in the last couple centuries, as well as explaining the popularity of postmodern thinking today.
The reason I think it's important for Christians to understand this is basically twofold. First, it helps us understand that all ideas come from somewhere: they come from a worldview. For example, the notion that science has dis-proven God's existence is a one popular today, but it's not a brute fact. Rather, it's a philosophical assumption (ie. an opinion) rooted in the Enlightenment. Learning to recognize the worldview roots of such ideas we encounter increases understanding, helping us sort out fact from opinion. Secondly, knowing why certain ideas have gained traction helps us dialogue more effectively with people who hold other, different worldviews than we do.
This book is written for the layman. It describes the flow of thought in the West for the past 2,000 years as a story, making it easier to grasp. In the process, it explains how Christianity is the foundation for virtually all of the good aspects of Western society, from human rights to science & technology, to personal liberty and representative government. And by implication then, it describes what we stand to lose if Christianity is completely dislodged from the Western worldview by Naturalism and/or postmodernism.
Along those lines, Sunshine ends the book with a list of eye-opening parallels between modern America and ancient Rome. He argues that after two millennia we have come full circle, and that the American worldview is now looking increasingly like the Roman worldview during the decline of the Empire. And he suggests several things Christians and churches can and should do about it. Worth the read.
To get a sense of what's in the book, here's an audio interview with the author.
Book Review - Why You Think The Way You Do by Glenn Sunshine
Politics, Persuading, and the Moral Law
I just saw this article, which is a more thorough, and more eloquent, version of the point I've been making with regard to Christians and politics. It's nice to find someone else who agrees with you, and does an even better job explaining himself! The article is long, but I recommend the read - well worth it.
The main point the author makes is that we concerned Christians need to frame our arguments in terms that are accessible to non-Christian Americans. We're deeply concerned about things like abortion, and the breakdown of marriage & family. So we need to learn how to make the case that abortion & family breakdown are bad for our country, whether you're a Bible-believing Christian or not.
The way to do so is to utilize Moral Law - the innate sense all people have of right and wrong, which is accessible through reason. This is the tool C.S. Lewis used so effectively to impact the thinking of millions of secular people in Book 1 of his classic Mere Christianity. And as I wrote previously, it's the tool William Wilberforce used in his anti-slavery crusade, and it's the tool MLK used with such success during the Civil Rights era.
A sample from the article, which illustrates the difference between making a purely "religious" argument and making a more broadly accessible, moral argument:
"Rather than argue that abortion is contrary to God’s law and that we need to bring the Constitution into conformity with God’s law, social conservatives should argue that as a matter of scientific fact the child in a mother’s womb is a whole, living human being, and that as a matter of moral truth the direct killing of any peaceable human being is gravely unjust..."
"Nor should social conservatives be afraid to argue for maintaining marriage’s structure. If marriage isn’t the union of one man and one woman coming together as husband and wife to become father and mother to any children their marital love may bring, then social conservatives should demand that their opponents explain what marriage is. Is it simply the union of any consenting pair of sexually active adults? If so, then why only two? And why does it have to be exclusive and permanent—why not open or temporary “marriage”? Indeed, if marriage isn’t about a bodily union, then why limit it to sexual relationships at all? How about codependent relatives? How are marriage and children connected? Do children need mothers and fathers, or not? These debates can and, in fact, must be had at the level of reason."
A "Proposer" In Action - Why We're Involved in Politics (part 2)
It's one thing to discuss the differences between imposing and proposing in concept, but real-life examples may make the difference even more clear. The first such example that jumps immediately to my mind is William Wilberforce.
Wilberforce was the British member of Parliament in the late 18th and early 19th century who is best known for abolishing the slave trade, and later slavery itself, throughout the British empire. He joined Parliament as a young man, and his charisma and powerful rhetorical skills all but guaranteed him a long career of power, success, and self-indulgence. That all changed when God interfered, and Wilberforce committed his life to Jesus. Over the next few years his priorities and goals in life all radically shifted, and it is instructive to see how this career politician lived out his faith as a legislator. (A great brief summary of Wilberforce's life and what made him unique can be found here).
Two things stand out to me about Wilberforce's life. First, he was a passionately committed Christian. In today's parlance Wilberforce was a "conservative evangelical," and many of his opponents would label him with the modern-day term "fundamentalist." Wilberforce's book Real Christianity is a head-on, no-holds-barred assault on the shallow, meaningless Christianity of his day. He lambastes the the fact that almost all 19th century Englishmen called themselves Christians, but in truth they lived secular lives that were guided by secular goals. The book is incisive, biblically accurate, and intelligent, but it is not diplomatic or delicate - Wilberforce minces no words. If an American evangelical wrote that book today he would immediately be pilloried as a narrow-minded bigot. Of course Wilberforce was no bigot. He was simply a (very intelligent) man who had the audacity to believe that the Bible was actually true, and should actually inform our lives and our priorities. And that's the case he proposed to his countrymen.
Which leads me to the second thing about Wilberforce: his faith was not a segregated component of his life, it was the driving force behind everything he did. Wilberforce understood that Christianity is a worldview, and his commitment to Jesus formed the basis of his entire political career. In a 1787 journal entry Wilberforce famously wrote "God Almighty has set before me two great objects, the suppression of the Slave Trade and the Reformation of Manners [moral values]." Wilberforce sought not only to end slavery, but to re-awaken morality in a secular, decadent age. In other words, Wilberforce didn't just intend to end slavery by seizing political power and forcing an end to the slave trade by law (impose). Rather, he recognized that he needed to appeal to the conscience of his fellow countrymen - to persuade them of the evils of the trade, and make his case in their hearts, not just in Parliament (propose).
To this end, Wilberforce and his allies engaged in many public efforts outside the halls of government. They went directly to the British people through speeches and rallies, petition drives, books and pamphlets (one a first-hand account from a former slave). They initiated campaigns which thousands of people joined, such as a refusal to buy or use sugar from slave plantations. They enlisted the help of famous British artistic potter Josiah Wedgewood, who created a medallion that was one of the enduring images of the abolition movement (pictured right).
In all these efforts, Wilberforce and his friends were appealing to the hearts and minds of their fellow countrymen. They were proposing a much better way of life: a humanitarian, life-honoring, compassion-saturated, truth-dedicated way. And it worked.
Wilberforce began his political quest to abolish slavery in 1787, and his first official bill to abolish the slave trade was handily defeated. But on February 23 of 1807, after twenty years of work both inside and outside government, a bill abolishing the slave trade was passed by a whopping 283-16 vote. It was the death-knell of British slavery, and in 1833 (more than 45 years after his quest began) slavery itself was outlawed in the British Empire. Wilberforce died three days later.
In all of this, Wilberforce was a great proposer. He frequently took unpopular stands (even against his own party), and was routinely mocked by his opponents. If job-approval polling had existed back then he would have made the even the least popular American presidents look like rock stars in comparison. In fact his moral stands likely cost him a chance to become Prime Minister. Being a Proposer doesn't mean we're always trying to make the public happy. It often means just the opposite.
Wilberforce was after the truth, not just popularity or re-election. And over time, with perseverance, he was able to persuade the majority of his countrymen of the rightness and justice of his cause, and re-awaken their conscience.
So, my fellow Christians, what about us? How do we become Proposers today rather than merely Imposers? How do we advocate for a better way of life, rather than just try to get our way? On issues of great concern to evangelicals, such as the breakdown of traditional family structures, moral laxity, and other things we believe are hurting our nation: are we making that case? Are those who disagree with us hearing a well-reasoned, passionately-believed, and consistently-lived explanation of why we think what we think about poverty, the environment, abortion, marriage, national security, immigration, etc.? We generally know where we stand on these issues, but we may need to become better at making the case for those issues - making a great Proposal.
One thing this definitely implies is that we can't just sit in our churches and bemoan the sorry state of affairs, emerging only briefly to vote in a given election. We have to engage people, and not just in election years. We have to think carefully about how to make our case in this era where politics and religion are taboo subjects. These are not easy things to do. It wasn't easy to get the British to talk about slavery either, but thank God Wilberforce didn't let that stop him.
If you haven't yet seen the film Amazing Grace which chronicles the life of Wilberforce and his fight against the slave trade, I highly recommend it. It's a high quality and entertaining film, but it also effectively captures the faith and actions of this man who did so much to propose a better way of life based on God's truth... and succeeded like few others have.
Free flowing thoughts on a bittersweet celebration
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed..."
The original Declaration of Independence, the first cry of our nation at it's birth.
(now badly faded due to poor document preservation techniques in the 19th century)
Book Review - The Victory of Reason, by Rodney Stark
Each time I finish a book I like to post a brief review of its contents with some of my thoughts (just click "Book Reviews" in the labels section to the right). I just finished Stark's book, which I blogged about once before early on in my read. This excellent book seeks to answer one of history's more interesting questions: why has the West far outgained other parts of the world in science, technology, wealth, and human rights?
An answer often given by modern scholars is secularism. That is, the belief that once Western societies left Christianity behind and began trusting in human reason alone to pave the way to the future (a period known as "the Enlightenment"), all these great advances soon followed. And it is the rest of the world's adherence to various religions that holds them back.
Stark's reply: nonsense.
In fact, Stark shows just the opposite: that Christian theology led to a worldview which became the seed bed of all these great accomplishments. For example, this biblical worldview valued individuals as made in God's image, which laid the groundwork for individual liberty and private property rights (as opposed to a tyrant king's right to take whatever he pleased from anyone). These freedoms in turn led to the invention of capitalism, and consequently to rising standards of living.
The Christian worldview was also characterized by a belief in Progress. The idea that God gave us our minds to understand, cultivate, and improve the world around us is found in the writings of some of the earliest church fathers. These basic ideas eventually led to the development of modern science: the rigorous, systematic, empirical study of the world which God left us in charge of. And of course science in turn led to the West's vast advances in technology.
The results of all this historically have been increased productivity, greater individual freedom, and longer, happier lives in Western societies compared to the rest of the world. Stark provides many examples to back up his theory. It's a compelling read.
Stark closes his book with a telling quote from a Chinese scholar who set out to understand how the West had succeeded. This scholar said, "...in the past twenty years, we have realized that the heart of your culture is your religion: Christianity. That is why the West is so powerful. The Christian moral foundation of social and cultural life was what made possible the emergence of capitalism and then the successful transition to democratic politics. We don't have any doubt about this."
We live in confusing times. In America today we do not share a common vision of how face our collective challenges, and how to move beyond them into a brighter tomorrow. Can we come to agreement on how to get there from here? Perhaps it would help if we discovered just how we got "here" in the first place. Stark's book can help us do just that.
The "Light Ages" and the "Endarkenment"
A new breed of militant, antagonistic atheists has gained a voice recently. These "anti-theists," as some of them prefer to be called, think that belief in any religion (especially Christianity) is at the root of all that's wrong with the world. Thus, if we can just convince people to give up religion (which is nonsense anyway) the human race will finally be able to achieve great progress.
To be fair, modern "anti-theists" didn't come up with that idea on their own. In fact, they're just taking the latest step in what has been a centuries-long pattern (especially among academic elites) of seeing Christianity as a dead weight that holds humanity back.
For example, most historians refer to the 1,200 or so years between the fall of the Roman Empire and the beginning of the Enlightenment as "the Dark Ages." They believe that the Greeks and Romans achieved very advanced cultures, but that after these empires fell Europe regressed into a crude, barbaric existence that was largely unchanged for centuries. What prevented progress during these "Dark Ages?" It was Christianity, with its superstitious belief in God. In fact, as the thinking goes, it wasn’t until Christianity was abandoned by cultural elites in favor of atheistic reason ("the Enlightenment") that Europe was "freed" from the barbaric "prison" of primitivism known as the Dark Ages. In other words, most academics believe that getting rid of Christianity results in cultural progress.
But not all. A sociologist named Rodney Stark recently wrote a book called The Victory of Reason, in which he shows that in fact, Christianity is directly responsible for the vast successes of the West including the rise of science, technology, capitalism, and human rights.
In fact, Stark shows that the whole idea of the "Dark Ages" is a myth: "…during the so-called Dark Ages, European science and technology overtook and surpassed the rest of the world!" His book details several key advances in science, art, economics, and human rights which took place at this time. Far from being held back by Christianity, Stark shows how these advances were actually caused by Christianity.
So where did the "Dark Ages myth" come from? Stark says, "The idea that Europe fell into the Dark Ages is a hoax originated by antireligious, and bitterly anti-Catholic, eighteenth century intellectuals who were determined to assert the cultural superiority of their own time…" In other words, people just like today's "anti-theists" were eager to justify their own anti-Christian worldview. In the process they claimed Western successes were the result of their own atheistic worldview, when in fact they arose because of the Christian worldview. It's a textbook example of revisionist history -- and this revision has been repeated so often in the past 300 years that most people still believe it despite strong evidence to the contrary.
I'm thoroughly enjoying my read of The Victory of Reason, and I encourage you to read it too. That way, the next time you hear someone claim that religious belief holds back progress in science, human rights, or anything else, you'll be prepared to shed some light. The same light, as it turns out, that brightly illuminated the terribly-named "Dark Ages."
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