Three Reasons That Christianity Led To the Success Of the West
When people like Friedrich Nietzsche contend that Christianity is “one immortal blemish on the human race,” how do we respond? Here are three reasons (along with three short videos below) why Christianity was not a blemish but actually the secret to the West’s success:
Because the God of the Bible is rational, His creation is governed by rational laws that can be discovered. Eastern religions did not have this concept.
THE CASE FOR CHRISTIANITY AND WEST’S SUCCESS
CHRISTIANITY LED TO SCIENCE
Description: John Lennox, Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford, discusses how Christianity played a role in the rise of science. In the 16th and 17th centuries science exploded in Western Europe. Why? People believed there was a rational mind behind nature [God], and therefore, nature could be understood by rational minds. Whereas in China, which had technological development, science did not grow because they did not have the unifying concept of a Creator.
Christians do not worship rivers as gods but seek to subdue the natural forces as commanded by the Bible in Genesis 1:28.
THE CASE FOR CHRISTIANITY AND WEST’S SUCCESS
CHRISTIANITY LED TO CAPITALISM
Description: Vishal Mangalwadi explains that he and his wife finished college and went to help the poor in India. They asked the poor villagers, “Do you know why you are poor?” The villagers responded, “We work, but floods come and wipe us out.” However, there was a temple built in the middle of the river 1000 years ago, and it had withstood floods. Why did they not build stone houses as well, instead of mud huts? Why didn’t their ancestors build a dam and canal system instead of a temple? They had the knowledge and technology. The reason: they believed the river was a goddess, which they feared and worshiped. In India they build temples to worship the rivers, not dams. However, when Europeans came to the US (e.g. Minneapolis), they viewed the Mississippi river and decided to harness it, building timber and flour mills, transforming Minneapolis, and generating great wealth.
Christianity led to the abolition of slavery in England, and many Christians were involved in the abolition of slavery in the US.
THE CASE FOR CHRISTIANITY AND WEST’S SUCCESS
CHRISTIANITY LED TO THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY
Description: Author Eric Metaxas joins Michael Coren to discuss the Christian effort that ended the trans-Atlantic slave trade and the current existence of slavery in the Muslim world.
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