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Understand where we came from.Whether you're an avid student of the Bible or a skeptic of its relevance, The Book That Made Your World will transform your perception of its influence on virtually every facet of Western civilization.Indian philosopher Vishal Mangalwadi reveals the personal motivation that fueled his own study of the Bible and systematically illustrates how its precepts became the framework for societal structure throughout the last millennium. From politics and science, to academia and technology, the Bible's sacred copy became the key that unlocked the Western mind.Through Mangalwadi's wide-ranging and fascinating investigation, you'll discover:What triggered the West's passion for scientific, medical, and technological advancementHow the biblical notion of human dignity informs the West's social structure and how it intersects with other worldviewsHow the Bible created a fertile ground for women to find social and economic empowermentHow the Bible has uniquely equipped the West to cultivate compassion, human rights, prosperity, and strong familiesThe role of the Bible in the transformation of educationHow the modern literary notion of a hero has been shaped by the Bible's archetypal protagonistJourney with Mangalwadi as he examines the origins of a civilization's greatness and the misguided beliefs that threaten to unravel its progress. Learn how the Bible transformed the social, political, and religious institutions that have sustained Western culture for the past millennium, and discover how secular corruption endangers the stability and longevity of Western civilization. Endorsements:"This is an extremely significant piece of work with huge global implications. Vishal brings a timely message." (Ravi Zacharias, author, Walking from East to West and Beyond Opinion)"In polite society, the mere mention of the Bible often introduces a certain measure of anxiety. A serious discussion on the Bible can bring outright contempt. Therefore, it is most refreshing to encounter this engaging and informed assessment of the Bible's profound impact on the modern world. Where Bloom laments the closing of the American mind, Mangalwadi brings a refreshing optimism." (Stanley Mattson, founder and president, C. S. Lewis Foundation)"Vishal Mangalwadi recounts history in very broad strokes, always using his cross-cultural perspectives for highlighting the many benefits of biblical principles in shaping civilization." (George Marsden, professor, University of Notre Dame; author, Fundamentalism and American Culture.)… (more)
Publication
Thomas Nelson (2012), 464 pages
Pages
464
Similar in this library
ISBN
1595555455 / 9781595555458
Collections
Language
Original language
English
Physical description
464 p.; 5.98 inches
Library's review
Although I’m familiar with how the Bible has shaped Western Civilization, particularly the culture of America, Mangalwadi introduced me to the depth of its effect and contrasted it with his homeland, India, and other developing nations that lack early biblical influence. The contrast between the
In college, I took a course on the cultural history of China and Japan. Often, I wondered why China’s technological progress stagnated. I figured its society became so caught up in memorizing Confucian ideas to pass the civil service exams that all other intellectual development was stifled. I sometimes would imagine how our world would have been different if China had not been so ethnocentric and had explored the lands to its west. (Only one emperor sent ships to East Africa. Beyond that, the Chinese didn’t consider the outside world worth exploring.) What if Western explorers, when rounding the Cape of Good Hope, had found a formidable Chinese armada ruling the Indian and China seas? That would have changed the course of the British Empire and world history.
Technological Advancement
In his book, Mangalwadi clarified that although many cultures developed some technologies, such as the Chinese creation of paper, the printing press, and gun power, much earlier than the Europeans, their worldviews failed to nurture inventions. Any scientific or technological pursuits accomplished by these cultures were merely to satisfy intellectual curiosity. The European monasteries, on the other hand, strove to invent time-saving machines to minimize toil and to have time for prayer. With the arrival of the Reformation, Christian compassion sought to lift men out of a life of drudgery because all men reflected the image of God and thus had dignity. “Necessity is the mother of invention” became a proverb in the West but not in the East. The non-Western cultures didn’t even see the need to help their fellow man through the development of medicine or just governments. This theme of the West's caring culture and how this attitude led to improving Western cultures was new to me.
For years I’ve wondered why developing nations inefficiently used their natural resources to make their country prosperous. Why did it take the Western powers to harvest the natural resources of Asia and Africa? When the Western powers gave these nations their independence, why did so many of them allow the infrastructure built by the Westerners to collapse? As a young teen in the 1980s, I heard a missionary say that within about a decade after Belgium pulled out of Zaire (now the Congo), the roads crumbled to the point that only ten percent of those that existed under colonial rule were usable. The century-old buildings in New Delhi are crumbling. Is the loss of a “caring” influence the source of this decay?
Honesty and Caring
A caring culture values honesty. During our process to adopt our daughter, I became profoundly aware of how Westerners hold honesty at a much higher level than other cultures. Many international adoption processes require bribe payments. A family who adopted from China needed to pay various in-country “fees” in cash. A family member, who adopted children from Ukraine, also had to carry cash to pay off officials. We didn’t bring much cash to India though we were expected to give money gifts to the orphanage caretakers. However, we had no idea how the Indian government spent the $7,000 country fee. I suspect a few government bureaucrats received money to keep the adoption process moving. That’s the way several governments seem to work. In the U.S., and some other Western nations, bribes are still looked down on. Author Mangalwadi points out that Western honesty surprises people from non-Western countries.
While waiting to bring our daughter home, I read several books about India. I became amazed that even though India could launch satellites in space, it cannot provide safe tap water even to a five-star hotel! I once asked an Indian immigrant why the Indian government couldn’t capture the monsoon rainwater, like we in Washington save snowmelt, in reservoirs for the dry seasons. He replied that it was not possible to do so. Perhaps that government doesn’t do so because they don’t have a sense of caring for its people, as Manalwadi pointed out.
Moreover, the Indian government, like many other nations, lacks the ability or desire to enforce its laws. National laws provide citizens freedom and protection, but the police and government officials either refuse or lack the courage to enforce them. The woman who supervised the orphanage where our daughter lived said that if a woman reported being raped by a local police officer, she’d more likely be raped by him instead of receiving justice.
This lack of caring perpetuates the spirit of fatalism. Why try improving one’s lot in life when one can’t fight fate? Something terrible will happen. It’s Eeyore on a cultural scale. I was shocked to learn from this author that in India, it is illegal for private parties to fundraise for disaster relief! That is so contrary to the American way of thinking. Whenever a disaster strikes in the US, Americans quickly send aid or go as a helping hand. Despite this national characteristic, so few Americans understand that their desire to help stems from a biblical worldview.
Preserve Our Biblical Heritage
The Western nations have turned their backs on their cultural heritage that laid the foundation for democracy, freedom, justice, and advanced science and technology. I often read about this rejection and wrestle in my mind how to restore the biblical foundations of my nation. When I look at our social-political problems and listen to cultural pundits, I keep asking myself: Why don’t they get it? Why can’t they see they are destroying the very foundations of our society? The epigraph Vishal Mangalwadi gave in chapter 1 explains the dilemma well.
For two hundred years, we have sawed and sawed and sawed at the branch we were sitting on. And in the end, much more suddenly than anyone had foreseen, our efforts were rewarded, and down we came. But unfortunately, there had been a little mistake: The thing at the bottom was not a bed of roses after all; it was a cesspool full of barbed wire . . . It appears that amputation of the soul isn’t just a simple surgical job, like having your appendix out. The wound tends to go septic.
—by George Orwell from his Notes on the Way, 1940
Westerners need to restore, preserve, and value our Judeo-Christian heritage. It’s the only one that provides hope and upholds human dignity. We must stand on the Bible as our firm foundation. All other cultural foundations are shifting sands of dismal fate.
https://lorindasponderings.com/2018/07/05/reading-response-the-book-that-made-yo...
Show More
hope and human dignity of traditional Western thought and the fear and fatalism of non-Western thought firmly stood out to me.In college, I took a course on the cultural history of China and Japan. Often, I wondered why China’s technological progress stagnated. I figured its society became so caught up in memorizing Confucian ideas to pass the civil service exams that all other intellectual development was stifled. I sometimes would imagine how our world would have been different if China had not been so ethnocentric and had explored the lands to its west. (Only one emperor sent ships to East Africa. Beyond that, the Chinese didn’t consider the outside world worth exploring.) What if Western explorers, when rounding the Cape of Good Hope, had found a formidable Chinese armada ruling the Indian and China seas? That would have changed the course of the British Empire and world history.
Technological Advancement
In his book, Mangalwadi clarified that although many cultures developed some technologies, such as the Chinese creation of paper, the printing press, and gun power, much earlier than the Europeans, their worldviews failed to nurture inventions. Any scientific or technological pursuits accomplished by these cultures were merely to satisfy intellectual curiosity. The European monasteries, on the other hand, strove to invent time-saving machines to minimize toil and to have time for prayer. With the arrival of the Reformation, Christian compassion sought to lift men out of a life of drudgery because all men reflected the image of God and thus had dignity. “Necessity is the mother of invention” became a proverb in the West but not in the East. The non-Western cultures didn’t even see the need to help their fellow man through the development of medicine or just governments. This theme of the West's caring culture and how this attitude led to improving Western cultures was new to me.
For years I’ve wondered why developing nations inefficiently used their natural resources to make their country prosperous. Why did it take the Western powers to harvest the natural resources of Asia and Africa? When the Western powers gave these nations their independence, why did so many of them allow the infrastructure built by the Westerners to collapse? As a young teen in the 1980s, I heard a missionary say that within about a decade after Belgium pulled out of Zaire (now the Congo), the roads crumbled to the point that only ten percent of those that existed under colonial rule were usable. The century-old buildings in New Delhi are crumbling. Is the loss of a “caring” influence the source of this decay?
Honesty and Caring
A caring culture values honesty. During our process to adopt our daughter, I became profoundly aware of how Westerners hold honesty at a much higher level than other cultures. Many international adoption processes require bribe payments. A family who adopted from China needed to pay various in-country “fees” in cash. A family member, who adopted children from Ukraine, also had to carry cash to pay off officials. We didn’t bring much cash to India though we were expected to give money gifts to the orphanage caretakers. However, we had no idea how the Indian government spent the $7,000 country fee. I suspect a few government bureaucrats received money to keep the adoption process moving. That’s the way several governments seem to work. In the U.S., and some other Western nations, bribes are still looked down on. Author Mangalwadi points out that Western honesty surprises people from non-Western countries.
While waiting to bring our daughter home, I read several books about India. I became amazed that even though India could launch satellites in space, it cannot provide safe tap water even to a five-star hotel! I once asked an Indian immigrant why the Indian government couldn’t capture the monsoon rainwater, like we in Washington save snowmelt, in reservoirs for the dry seasons. He replied that it was not possible to do so. Perhaps that government doesn’t do so because they don’t have a sense of caring for its people, as Manalwadi pointed out.
Moreover, the Indian government, like many other nations, lacks the ability or desire to enforce its laws. National laws provide citizens freedom and protection, but the police and government officials either refuse or lack the courage to enforce them. The woman who supervised the orphanage where our daughter lived said that if a woman reported being raped by a local police officer, she’d more likely be raped by him instead of receiving justice.
This lack of caring perpetuates the spirit of fatalism. Why try improving one’s lot in life when one can’t fight fate? Something terrible will happen. It’s Eeyore on a cultural scale. I was shocked to learn from this author that in India, it is illegal for private parties to fundraise for disaster relief! That is so contrary to the American way of thinking. Whenever a disaster strikes in the US, Americans quickly send aid or go as a helping hand. Despite this national characteristic, so few Americans understand that their desire to help stems from a biblical worldview.
Preserve Our Biblical Heritage
The Western nations have turned their backs on their cultural heritage that laid the foundation for democracy, freedom, justice, and advanced science and technology. I often read about this rejection and wrestle in my mind how to restore the biblical foundations of my nation. When I look at our social-political problems and listen to cultural pundits, I keep asking myself: Why don’t they get it? Why can’t they see they are destroying the very foundations of our society? The epigraph Vishal Mangalwadi gave in chapter 1 explains the dilemma well.
For two hundred years, we have sawed and sawed and sawed at the branch we were sitting on. And in the end, much more suddenly than anyone had foreseen, our efforts were rewarded, and down we came. But unfortunately, there had been a little mistake: The thing at the bottom was not a bed of roses after all; it was a cesspool full of barbed wire . . . It appears that amputation of the soul isn’t just a simple surgical job, like having your appendix out. The wound tends to go septic.
—by George Orwell from his Notes on the Way, 1940
Westerners need to restore, preserve, and value our Judeo-Christian heritage. It’s the only one that provides hope and upholds human dignity. We must stand on the Bible as our firm foundation. All other cultural foundations are shifting sands of dismal fate.
https://lorindasponderings.com/2018/07/05/reading-response-the-book-that-made-yo...
Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member Steve777
This is an excellent overview of the influence of the Bible on the West. Mangalwadi shows with forceful arguments how a biblical worldview and ideas can come into a culture through the translation of the Bible and the working of biblical ideas through a culture.
LibraryThing member wkelly42
Vishal Mangalwadi makes some good points throughout this book. The fact that he's approaching this from an Eastern mindset makes it that much more interesting. But there's really nothing new; much of what is written here could be gleaned from Nancy Pearcey's Total Truth, or just about anything that
I enjoyed the book, though, because of the interaction that Mangalwadi has with Indian thought. THAT is the unique part of this book, and what makes it a worthwhile companion to Pearcey's (and others in the same vein).
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Francis Shaeffer ever wrote. Fitting, because both Mangalwadi and Pearcey studied at L'Abri.I enjoyed the book, though, because of the interaction that Mangalwadi has with Indian thought. THAT is the unique part of this book, and what makes it a worthwhile companion to Pearcey's (and others in the same vein).
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LibraryThing member spbooks
Vishal Mangalwadi's The Book That Made Your World is an ambitious undertaking that is also deeply flawed. Mangalwadi’s thesis is concisely summarised in the Foreword to the book written by J Stanley Mattson:
‘[Mangalwadi’s] arduous research establishes the fact that the Bible and its
In over 400 pages, Mangalwadi provides a sweeping series of historical narratives, entwined with his own personal experiences in India and the United States, which argue that features of Western civilization would not have occurred if it hadn’t been for the Bible. His outline of history includes the development of the valuing of humans as being higher than animals; the commitment to rationality; creative technology and its benefits; the formation of the concept of heroism based in humility and service; and the dramatic impact of the translation of the Bible into various languages. He also argues that literature, universities, and science would not have formed in the way they did without the Bible. For the author, the West is the best because of its higher ideals regarding morality, the family, compassion, true wealth, and liberty that transcend all other cultures because of the Bible’s influence. Ultimately, Mangalwadi wants to call the West back to a commitment to the Bible and its worldview to reverse what he sees as a rapid decline in relativistic morality and its consequential nihilism that results in despair. At the beginning of the book, the author holds up Kurt Cobain as an icon of modern culture arguing that his suicide was one of the rare occurrences when a nihilist genuinely followed through on their beliefs. Mangalwadi believes that this is the ultimate end of the West if it does not return to the Bible and its worldview.
There is no doubt that Mangalwadi is a good writer and very widely read. The fact that he is Indian and can make a comparison, from experience, between East and West provides for an interesting perspective. And his stories from his experience give a personal dimension that mostly enhances the history and philosophy that he surveys.
But there are some serious flaws in Mangalwadi’s argument. Firstly, reducing the entire development of the West to the influence of the Bible and its worldview is simplistic. While I am no historian, I am always suspicious when a single cause is offered for something. The world and history is surely more complex than that. For example, when he talks about the development of the wheeled plough, he argues that it only happened because of the biblical belief that toil was sinful (whereas work was part of God’s original creation). But as another reviewer has pointed out, farmers who are making a living from their work are surely going to look for more efficient ways of doing their work even if they did not subscribe to a “biblical” worldview! Mangalwadi also completely ignores a range of other influencing factors on the development of Western civilisation – the occurrence of plagues, growth in population, and a host of other historical events. For Mangalwadi everything is the result of the Bible and the adoption of its world view.
Secondly, Mangalwadi speaks of the worldview of the Bible. There is no acknowledgement in the book that the Bible has been the basis of multiple interpretations and “world views”. Mangalwadi presents what might be called the best of the Bible and the best examples of socio-cultural examples based on the Bible. But he fails to mention that the Bible has, for many people, been the basis of some very bad practices and used in support of genocide, slavery, and the “raping” of the environment.
Thirdly, Mangalwadi doesn’t mention any countries that have been successful without a basis in biblical theology or world view such as Japan and Singapore. How did they develop so well without a commitment to the Bible? And what about countries based firmly on a secular philosophy such as Sweden?
Fourthly, Mangalwadi completely dismisses any other religion or worldview has having much of value. But there is no sustained engagement with any of these alternatives. According to one Buddhist scholar who reviewed this book, Mangalwadi actually misrepresents Buddhism.
Overall, The Book That Changed Your World is an uncritical exposition of history. There are sweeping generalisations without any evidence being provided, selective use of the biblical text (on some occasions, no biblical evidence at all), and the equating of a romanticised view of the Bible (which is not as even in its presentation of God as Mangalwadi implies) that completely ignores the fact that Christians are just as prone to many of the social evils of our time as non-Christians (eg, teen pregnancy, divorce, domestic violence, child abuse).
In the end, The Book That Changed Your World is a work of apologetics rather than a scholarly and critical look at the relationship between the Bible and the development of Western culture. There is no doubt that the Bible has been influential – for good and for ill. While Mangalwadi’s book makes for an interesting read, it takes a too uncritical approach to history and the Bible to make it reliable. If one already believes that the Bible is solely responsible for the best in civilisation then this book will bolster that belief. But for a well-informed, educated believer, the evidence won’t be adequate to support the thesis as it is presented.
Acknowledgement: I found Jeff Swanson’s review on Amazon.com very helpful, in particular, in parts of this review. I recommend it.
Technorati Tags: Bible,history,culture,Christianity
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
‘[Mangalwadi’s] arduous research establishes the fact that the Bible and its
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worldview, contrary to current prevailing opinion, combined to serve as the single most powerful force in the emergence of Western civilization.’In over 400 pages, Mangalwadi provides a sweeping series of historical narratives, entwined with his own personal experiences in India and the United States, which argue that features of Western civilization would not have occurred if it hadn’t been for the Bible. His outline of history includes the development of the valuing of humans as being higher than animals; the commitment to rationality; creative technology and its benefits; the formation of the concept of heroism based in humility and service; and the dramatic impact of the translation of the Bible into various languages. He also argues that literature, universities, and science would not have formed in the way they did without the Bible. For the author, the West is the best because of its higher ideals regarding morality, the family, compassion, true wealth, and liberty that transcend all other cultures because of the Bible’s influence. Ultimately, Mangalwadi wants to call the West back to a commitment to the Bible and its worldview to reverse what he sees as a rapid decline in relativistic morality and its consequential nihilism that results in despair. At the beginning of the book, the author holds up Kurt Cobain as an icon of modern culture arguing that his suicide was one of the rare occurrences when a nihilist genuinely followed through on their beliefs. Mangalwadi believes that this is the ultimate end of the West if it does not return to the Bible and its worldview.
There is no doubt that Mangalwadi is a good writer and very widely read. The fact that he is Indian and can make a comparison, from experience, between East and West provides for an interesting perspective. And his stories from his experience give a personal dimension that mostly enhances the history and philosophy that he surveys.
But there are some serious flaws in Mangalwadi’s argument. Firstly, reducing the entire development of the West to the influence of the Bible and its worldview is simplistic. While I am no historian, I am always suspicious when a single cause is offered for something. The world and history is surely more complex than that. For example, when he talks about the development of the wheeled plough, he argues that it only happened because of the biblical belief that toil was sinful (whereas work was part of God’s original creation). But as another reviewer has pointed out, farmers who are making a living from their work are surely going to look for more efficient ways of doing their work even if they did not subscribe to a “biblical” worldview! Mangalwadi also completely ignores a range of other influencing factors on the development of Western civilisation – the occurrence of plagues, growth in population, and a host of other historical events. For Mangalwadi everything is the result of the Bible and the adoption of its world view.
Secondly, Mangalwadi speaks of the worldview of the Bible. There is no acknowledgement in the book that the Bible has been the basis of multiple interpretations and “world views”. Mangalwadi presents what might be called the best of the Bible and the best examples of socio-cultural examples based on the Bible. But he fails to mention that the Bible has, for many people, been the basis of some very bad practices and used in support of genocide, slavery, and the “raping” of the environment.
Thirdly, Mangalwadi doesn’t mention any countries that have been successful without a basis in biblical theology or world view such as Japan and Singapore. How did they develop so well without a commitment to the Bible? And what about countries based firmly on a secular philosophy such as Sweden?
Fourthly, Mangalwadi completely dismisses any other religion or worldview has having much of value. But there is no sustained engagement with any of these alternatives. According to one Buddhist scholar who reviewed this book, Mangalwadi actually misrepresents Buddhism.
Overall, The Book That Changed Your World is an uncritical exposition of history. There are sweeping generalisations without any evidence being provided, selective use of the biblical text (on some occasions, no biblical evidence at all), and the equating of a romanticised view of the Bible (which is not as even in its presentation of God as Mangalwadi implies) that completely ignores the fact that Christians are just as prone to many of the social evils of our time as non-Christians (eg, teen pregnancy, divorce, domestic violence, child abuse).
In the end, The Book That Changed Your World is a work of apologetics rather than a scholarly and critical look at the relationship between the Bible and the development of Western culture. There is no doubt that the Bible has been influential – for good and for ill. While Mangalwadi’s book makes for an interesting read, it takes a too uncritical approach to history and the Bible to make it reliable. If one already believes that the Bible is solely responsible for the best in civilisation then this book will bolster that belief. But for a well-informed, educated believer, the evidence won’t be adequate to support the thesis as it is presented.
Acknowledgement: I found Jeff Swanson’s review on Amazon.com very helpful, in particular, in parts of this review. I recommend it.
Technorati Tags: Bible,history,culture,Christianity
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Show Less
LibraryThing member gottfried_leibniz
Vishal Mangalwadi makes a big claim –– that the Bible created the Soul of Western Civilization. It definitely has influenced so much of the Western Civilization, no doubt. I think, if you have not heard of those authors in his book, then you might get a chance learn from him. However -- I'm
I found the blind assertions in his book to be ridiculous without backing it up with evidence and solid arguments. He would say, "X because of the Bible." That is circular, and vague. Eastern Christians (Orthodox) also had the Bible. Indeed, he could have argued that Bible was a vehicle that transmitted knowledge easily from West.
I felt –– he could have wrote his arguments and thoughts sharper. He missed to answer the, "How questions" in his book. A Giant leap and broad sweep of history. Overall, I do not think this is a solid book that proved his case, but a flimsy one without credible evidence. It's a hodge-pot mix of authors he learnt and read, and therefore his conclusion.
I did learn a new term, "Chronological Snobbery." it means, thinking the era we live is super-superior from the Past. Jawaharlal Nehru, also talks about it in his book, "Discovery of India."
Deus Vult,
Gottfried
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aware of all those authors. There are so many great things about the Western Civilization, and I feel that he did not build a solid case to argue for it. I found the blind assertions in his book to be ridiculous without backing it up with evidence and solid arguments. He would say, "X because of the Bible." That is circular, and vague. Eastern Christians (Orthodox) also had the Bible. Indeed, he could have argued that Bible was a vehicle that transmitted knowledge easily from West.
I felt –– he could have wrote his arguments and thoughts sharper. He missed to answer the, "How questions" in his book. A Giant leap and broad sweep of history. Overall, I do not think this is a solid book that proved his case, but a flimsy one without credible evidence. It's a hodge-pot mix of authors he learnt and read, and therefore his conclusion.
I did learn a new term, "Chronological Snobbery." it means, thinking the era we live is super-superior from the Past. Jawaharlal Nehru, also talks about it in his book, "Discovery of India."
Deus Vult,
Gottfried
Show Less
LibraryThing member gottfried_leibniz
Vishal Mangalwadi makes a big claim –– that the Bible created the Soul of Western Civilization. It definitely has influenced so much of the Western Civilization, no doubt. I think, if you have not heard of those authors in his book, then you might get a chance learn from him. However -- I'm
I found the blind assertions in his book to be ridiculous without backing it up with evidence and solid arguments. He would say, "X because of the Bible." That is circular, and vague. Eastern Christians (Orthodox) also had the Bible. Indeed, he could have argued that Bible was a vehicle that transmitted knowledge easily from West.
I felt –– he could have wrote his arguments and thoughts sharper. He missed to answer the, "How questions" in his book. A Giant leap and broad sweep of history. Overall, I do not think this is a solid book that proved his case, but a flimsy one without credible evidence. It's a hodge-pot mix of authors he learnt and read, and therefore his conclusion.
I did learn a new term, "Chronological Snobbery." it means, thinking the era we live is super-superior from the Past. Jawaharlal Nehru, also talks about it in his book, "Discovery of India."
Deus Vult,
Gottfried
Show More
aware of all those authors. There are so many great things about the Western Civilization, and I feel that he did not build a solid case to argue for it. I found the blind assertions in his book to be ridiculous without backing it up with evidence and solid arguments. He would say, "X because of the Bible." That is circular, and vague. Eastern Christians (Orthodox) also had the Bible. Indeed, he could have argued that Bible was a vehicle that transmitted knowledge easily from West.
I felt –– he could have wrote his arguments and thoughts sharper. He missed to answer the, "How questions" in his book. A Giant leap and broad sweep of history. Overall, I do not think this is a solid book that proved his case, but a flimsy one without credible evidence. It's a hodge-pot mix of authors he learnt and read, and therefore his conclusion.
I did learn a new term, "Chronological Snobbery." it means, thinking the era we live is super-superior from the Past. Jawaharlal Nehru, also talks about it in his book, "Discovery of India."
Deus Vult,
Gottfried
Show Less
LCC
BS538 .M36