This might be one of the most important books of the year. I have been looking forward to this book since I first heard Dr. Vishal Mangalwadi's 2007 lecture series delivered at the University of Minnesota entitled: "Must the Sun Set on the West?" What does that phrase mean? If we lose (or reject) the original source of the foundational pillars that made the West (and especially America) the greatest civilization in human history, these pillars will certainly erode, and "Western exceptionalism" will be lost with it.
This is a book every Christian should read, especially pastors, but it is not just for Christians. Ideally, every elected representative, every university professor, and every political pundit will read this book and contemplate the author's message. It is most important that our sons and daughters read this book--for it is all about the world they will inherit. The younger generation needs to get an accurate and truthful image firmly fixed in their mind of what an America that has lost the "soul of Western civilization" will look like. Then we must ask them: "Is this what you really want?"
I wonder how many of you remember this chant from 1964: "Hey, hey, ho, ho, Western civ has got to go"? This was first heard at a student protest at Berkeley. Then, 24 years later, Jesse Jackson led this refrain in student protests at Stanford. The idea was to throw out the university's required courses on Western Culture because certain "uncredentialed experts" deemed these courses, and the books they were built around, were filled with "European and male bias." I guess what these demonstrators were saying was this: Goodbye to Plato, Augustine and Descartes; farewell to Gallileo, Bacon and Newton; sayonara to Da Vinci, Bach, and Shakespeare.
I suppose it WAS great fun shouting down the establishment. But looking back, I find their arguments difficult to comprehend. Exactly WHY was it considered "progressive" to do a book-burning (figuratively speaking) of the greatest books ever written: the "classical" books of Western civilization--especially the Bible? "Western civ has GOT to go!" We should have taken them at their word. Today, almost all colleges and universities ignore the classical curriculum and have been teaching anti-Western dogma for years. But, I cannot help but wonder: do these dissidents know what this means? Have they really thought through to the end the possible destructive implications of their cause?
On the matter of being "progressive" . . . C. S. Lewis once said: "If you're on the wrong road, the man who turns back soonest is the most `progressive.' Going back is the quickest way on." Dr. Vishal Mangalwadi, warns us: "We ARE on the wrong road." But he also says this: "If we turn back now, the sun need not set on America."
Vishal Mangalwadi first began to explore The Bible at the University of Allahabad in one of India's oldest and holiest cities. As he read it, not yet convinced, he came upon a claim that seemed to him very bold: "Abraham will certainly become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed through him." In other words, where The Bible touches, there will be change for better. Given its history with English missionaries, The Bible HAD touched India. But had there been meaningful impact? He WAS skeptical.
What he found was incontrovertible evidence that the Bible WAS the book that created modern India--and not only the founding of universities, but massive changes in culture, the economy and government. Even, Hindi, India's national language, was the product of Bible translators. This was the "tipping point" of his faith journey, and inspired him to continue his research into what he calls the "soul of Western civilization."
Perhaps this is why Dr. Mangalwadi is so often compared to Alexis de Tocqueville, the Frenchman who visited America in 1831 to understand what was so unique about America. The Frenchman addressed this question: Why was the American Revolution so successful, when the French Revolution had been a catastrophic failure? His observations into what made America a uniquely great country are routinely quoted by historians and political pundits even now 180 years later.
Like de Tocqueville, Vishal Mangalwadi stands outside Western civilization and peers in with fresh eyes and a mind free of Western skepticism to understand what was so unique about the West. He addresses this question: Why has Western civilization been, by far, the most successful civilization in human history? Alexis de Tocqueville spoke to America during our historical ascent, but Vishal Mangalwadi's insights are not only fresher and deeper, they come to us at a time of cultural descent, a time when we need them most.
In his 2007 lecture series, entitled "MUST THE SUN SET ON THE WEST?" he identifies the foundational pillars of Western "exceptionalism" and then traces their TAPROOTS to The Bible. He describes how these pillars are being undermined by secular saboteurs--and then he paints a deeply disturbing picture of what the West might look like . . . "after the sun sets."
So what is at stake? Consider the following:
* Liberty and individual freedom.
* Respect for the dignity of human life.
* Morality and ethics.
* Our representative government.
* Rationality and the university.
* Flourishing the arts, especially music and literature.
* Science and applied technology.
* Innovative practices in business and management.
* Advocacy and presumption of innocence in the legal system.
* Monogamy, and the primacy of the family unit.
* The empowerment of women.
These things we now take for granted, but they ALL had their taproots in the Bible, not with Greek philosophers, nor with Englightenment rationalists as we have been misled to believe. Who knew? Sadly, they are now all at risk and many are already beginning to dissipate.
This is not a polarizing book. It will splash cold water in your face, but we need it. No right-thinking person should want an America or a Europe where "the sun has set." This book is a clarion call. But it also conveys hope, for Dr. Mangalwadi truly believes we CAN yet turn back.
Buy the book. Read it. Decide if you believe Dr. Mangalwadi's insights ring true. Then buy several more copies of the book to give to your pastor, your friends, and most importantly, to your sons and daughters. Perhaps Vishal Mangalwadi's new book will trigger a renewed understanding of, AND commitment to, the greatest book ever. It must be read!
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