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The Moral Triumph of Western Civilization
Part 11: The Birth of Science and Rise of the Arts

November 12, 2020November 12, 2020 by The American Citizen

(Part 11 of a multi-part series on The Moral Triumph of Western Civilization.)

Why did science (along with capitalism) originate in Europe and not somewhere else? Certainly there were brilliant people in other cultures. The answer has everything to do with the people’s image of God.

For over a century, secular intellectuals have quickly and enthusiastically “credited” Christianity for Western colonialism. They maintain that fundamentalist Christian imperialistic societies embarked on a worldwide mission to destroy peaceful, indigenous cultures wherever they traveled. However, these same intellectuals are not so quick to credit Christianity with the wealth generated for these explorations by capitalism; or that it also led to many other human advancements like scientific discoveries and achievements in the arts.

Even today it would be out of character for these “enlightened” intellectuals to acknowledge that not only has there never been a separation between science and (Christian) religion, it was actually the Christian scholastics who were the authors of true science. Secularists contend that science developed in spite of the superstitious medieval beliefs they associate with Christianity — not because of it.

Part 11: The Birth of Science and Rise of the Arts

The Moral Triumph of Western Civilization
Part 7: The Christian Transformation of Europe

October 30, 2020October 1, 2020 by The American Citizen

(Part 7 of a multi-part series on The Moral Triumph of Western Civilization.)

Charlemagne’s empire didn’t last long after his death in 814 as a new wave of pagan barbarians waged war against Christendom in the 9th century. Among the most well-known were the Magyars (migrants from central Asia), called Hungarians in Latin. They settled in the middle Danube region around 900.

Other barbaric Germanic tribes originating in Scandinavia called the Vikings (a.k.a. the Norsemen or Danes) burst out in virtually all directions. They went as far as Kiev (Russia) in 864, founded Iceland in 874 and even reached North America around 1000. They remained and settled in places like England and Normandy (France).

Gradually, most of this second wave of barbaric tribes were also assimilated into the Christian faith and became ‘civilized’ and were accepted into local villages.

Part 7: The Christian Transformation of Europe

The Moral Triumph of Western Civilization
Part 6: A Tale of Two Cultures – Muhammad in Arabia and Charlemagne in Europe

October 30, 2020September 24, 2020 by The American Citizen

(Part 6 of a multi-part series on The Moral Triumph of Western Civilization.)

It is widely known in Judeo-Christian teachings that Abraham (with his wife, Sarah) was the father of Isaac (who, in turn, was the father of Jacob who fathered twelve sons that became the twelve tribes of Israel). Many don’t realize that Abraham is the ancestral father of the Islamic world as well.

14 years before Isaac was born, an aging Abraham didn’t trust that God would ever give him a son with elderly Sarah, so he fathered a boy with Sarah’s servant, Hagar. An angel told Hagar to name her son, Ishmael, and said to her: (Gen. 16:12. “…his hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward[b] all his brothers.”

God didn’t want the birth of his nation of Israel created by an extramarital relationship. He told Abraham (Gen. 17:16) that it was Sarah who had to be “the mother of nations,” not Hagar — completely leaving Ishmael out of this legacy. But after hearing Abraham’s pleas to bless his son, Ishmael, God said (Gen. 17:20), “I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation.”

It clearly happened. Both Jewish and Muslim histories agrees that Ishmael is the father of the Arab nations.

Part 6: A Tale of Two Cultures – Muhammad in Arabia and Charlemagne in Europe

The Moral Triumph of Western Civilization
Part 4: Rome’s Impact and the Ascension of Christianity

September 24, 2020September 4, 2020 by The American Citizen

(Part 4 of a multi-part series on The Moral Triumph of Western Civilization.)

No one knew it was year One in Rome when it arrived. In fact, it wasn’t even considered to be year One until over 500 years later when a sixth-century monk convinced the pope that the birth year of Christ was the greatest in history and that all years prior to that should be “B.C.” or before Christ and those after should be “Anno Domini” or A.D. meaning “year of our lord.”1

At its peak, the Roman Empire covered enormous territory. Virtually all lands west of Persia were part of the empire including Egypt, Greece, Asia Minor, Syria and (now the nations of) Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Spain, Portugal, France, Belgium, and England.

Part 4: Rome’s Impact and the Ascension of Christianity

The Moral Triumph of Western Civilization
Part 3: Christianity’s Surprising Growth during the Bloody Roman Persecutions

September 24, 2020August 26, 2020 by The American Citizen

(Part 3 of a multi-part series on The Moral Triumph of Western Civilization.)

In the first century, the Israelites were a relatively small ethnic group held captive by the Romans but in possession of one of the keys for unlocking humanity’s advancement. Their Jewish Bible contained the “secrets” for progress but was largely unknown beyond a tiny region in the Middle East.

For the Jews, the way in which their Bible was introduced to the word was the unlikeliest of situations: It was the followers of a man they did not believe was the long-awaited messiah who ultimately took their sacred scriptures to the world.

No human in history has had the impact of that Jewish carpenter from Nazareth whose public ministry only lasted for a few years. It was the birth, ministry, death and – for believers – the resurrection of Jesus Christ that changed the world.