On-Air Personality/Senior Producer for D. James Kennedy Ministries
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For several generations, Western civilization has been under attack. But recently, Bill Maher (earlier this month) and Greg Gutfield have made excellent defenses of it in his book. program on Fox News last Friday.
Gutfield said:
“So let’s talk about the death of Western civilization. It’s in trouble, people… Now, before you accuse me of being too pessimistic, let me just say that the West has been tested before and we got through it… in 1940 , when it seemed that the Nazis could conquer all of Europe. , it was the British who stood up to them alone. Sounds familiar with what Israel is doing right now, doesn’t it?
Gutfield continued,
“When the wall and Soviet communism fell, our president did not fall. The West has survived once again… So, if you are a parent, think carefully about where your children will go to school. Make sure they understand that America is unique in its history, as are the achievements and freedoms of Western civilization. »
I really appreciate the comedian’s ideas as far as they go. But I would add that the Judeo-Christian tradition has been the essential foundation of this strength and resilience.
For example, Gutfield rightly praised Winston Churchill for his great rallying spirit. speech when the British army was surrounded at Dunkirk. But it is also important to note that Churchill declared in this speech that they (the British) would fight against the Nazis by all means possible “until, in God’s good time, the New World, with all its power and all his might, comes towards them.” the rescue and release of the old.
Churchill said in another speech June 18, 1940: “I think the Battle of Britain is about to begin. The survival of Christian civilization depends on this battle.
Although many point to the influences of the Enlightenment, Ancient Greece, and Ancient Rome, it is the predominant Judeo-Christian influence that defines Western civilization.
Meanwhile, another comedian recently defended the West. A few weeks ago, Bill Maher said,
“For all the progressives and academics who call Israel an outpost of Western civilization, as if that’s a bad thing…Western civilization is what has given the world just about every (exhaustive) liberal precept that liberals are supposed to love it. Individual liberty, scientific research, rule of law, religious freedom, women’s rights, human rights, democracy, trial by jury, freedom of expression.
He credits Rousseau and Voltaire with giving the world the idea of human rights. There, I would not agree. Rousseau and Voltaire were at war with Western civilization and they helped create the nightmare that was the French Revolution. The streets were red with blood because of their anti-God philosophies.
Maher rightly credited John Locke for the rights “against unreasonable searches and seizures” enshrined in law. Fourth Amendment to the Constitution. But Maher left aside Locke’s Christian worldview – found in his books, including his “Second Treatise on Civil Government,” which contains some 90 references to the Bible to make his arguments. This book was influential on the founders of America.
Additionally, John Locke wrote a book titled: The reasonableness of Christianity. I once took Sunday school classes taught by Greg Forster, Ph.D., now at Trinity International University in Deerfield, Illinois. Forster attributes his conversion to Christ to his study of this book of Locke for his doctoral dissertation at Yale.
What makes Western civilization what it is? A dozen years ago, reports emerged that some Chinese intellectuals were beginning to realize the importance of Christianity to Western genius.
Writing for the Iona Institute for Religion and Society (March 3, 2011), Tom O’Gorman said:
“In the West we are doing our best to destroy our Christian heritage; but in China, Chinese intellectuals are coming to think that it is precisely this heritage that has made the West successful.”
Niall Ferguson of Harvard University quoted a member of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in his book: Civilization: the West and the rest:
“The Christian moral foundation of social and cultural life made possible the emergence of capitalism and then the successful transition to democratic politics. We have no doubt about this.
At D. James Kennedy Ministries, we are preparing to release our groundbreaking document in December documentary based on a book which I co-wrote with Dr. D. James Kennedy, What if the Bible had never been written? This book shows how the Scriptures have transformed our world in many positive ways.
One quote from our book says it all: regarding the scriptural contribution to Western civilization. Author and former Yale professor William Lyons Phelps said:
“Our civilization is based on the Bible. Our ideas, our wisdom, our philosophy, our literature, our art, our ideals come more from the Bible than from all the other books combined.”
