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Joel Edmund Anderson
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Christianity and the (R)evolution in Worldviews in Western Culture: A brief overview of Christianity and the development of Western civilization...and ... if one is to make sense of our world today Paperback – July 26, 2023

4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 5 ratings
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Christianity and the (R)evolution in Worldviews in Western Culture provides an overview of Western Culture from an admittedly Christian perspective and argues that Christianity has indeed been the greatest "revolution" in worldviews over the past 2,000 years. Not only did it completely upend the ancient pagan worldview of the Greco-Roman world, it "Christianized" ancient philosophy and set the foundation for the flourishing of Western Culture, providing the basis for the dignity of human beings, free markets and capitalism, and advances in art, architecture, music, and literature. With the Enlightenment, though, a new set of challenges has threatened the Christian worldview, and those are the challenges that still face us today.

Not only does Anderson provide an easy-to-understand overview of Christianity's impact on Western Culture over the past 2,000 years, he also addresses many modern misconceptions about Christian history that are prevalent in our world today and sets the record straight about a number of these falsehoods. If one wants to get a better understanding of the impact Christianity has had on Western Culture, Christianity and the (R)evolution in Worldviews in Western Culture is a must read.
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  1. Print length
    309 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    July 26, 2023
  4. Dimensions
    6 x 0.7 x 9 inches
  5. ISBN-13
    979-8853781788
  6. See all details
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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0CCZZW9JX
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Independently published (July 26, 2023)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 309 pages
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 979-8853781788
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.18 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.7 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 5 ratings

About the author

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Joel Edmund Anderson

Joel Edmund Anderson

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Joel Edmund Anderson grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, and teaching has taken him to places across the country and around the globe. He spent 16 years teaching English and Bible in various high schools, and is now an adjunct professor in college. He has a BS.Ed. in English, a M.A. in Theological Studies, a M.A. in the Old Testament, and a PhD in the Old Testament.

Customer reviews

4 out of 5 stars
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Top reviews from the United States

Stephanie Thomason
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant, concise and honest assessment of the past 2,500 years of Western history
Reviewed in the United States on May 27, 2019
Though Christianity has been a tremendous boon to Western civilization for a multitude of scientific, educational, economic, and moralistic reasons, its pathway to the present time has been laden with conflicts, scoffers and skeptics who tried to discredit its influence. Dr. Anderson carefully traces the roots and influences of Western civilization, noting specific cases in which Christianity has positively impacted society (e.g., through the establishment of universities, hospitals, governments, capitalism, individualism, charities, and the abolition of slavery). Christians have aspired through the centuries to live moral and pure lifestyles, often to the gasps of their anti-Christian counterparts who did what they could to discredit the Church.

As examples, Dr. Anderson points to the pagans in the Roman Empire who scoffed at their moral Christian counterparts, as exemplified by the writings of the pagan cynic, Celsus, and his Christian rival, Origen. He notes the elites of the "Enlightenment" who preferred not to live by Christian moral standards, the Church, or God's authority, because they preferred maximizing their own self-interests and immoral lifestyles. Furthermore, during the "Enlightenment" (which Dr. Anderson labels as "so-called"), elites in society tried to re-write Christianity, labeling it as anti-science and the Crusades as merciless, imperialist and proactive. Dr. Anderson points out the errors in this anti-Christian propaganda. He further elaborates on the elites whose views on Marxism, Communism, modernism, and post-modernism have shaped the past couple of hundred years. Through a very careful, scholarly analysis, Dr. Anderson resurrects the struggles endured by our Christian ancestors, which have been relegated to graveyards over the past few hundred years, and brings them into the light.

Although Christianity has had a monumental impact on society, the Church has not been without its controversies, which Dr. Anderson painstakingly examines and explains. For example, for centuries, depravity and debauchery imbued the heart of the Roman Catholic Church, with numerous church leaders falling prey. During this time, humble monks picked up the slack and advanced Christian culture.

His analysis further includes stories about specific elites through the ages who have either positively or negatively influenced or impacted Christianity and Western society. These elites include Aristotle, Plato, St. Augustine, Constantine, Martin Luther, Blase Pascal, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Machiavelli, Voltaire, Hume, Nietzsche, Margaret Sanger, Margaret Mead and more! By weaving the stories of the influential throughout the Ages, Dr. Anderson is able to establish an honest narrative that well-explains why we are the way we are in Western society today.

He says, "It is easy to mindlessly imbibe the false narrative that paints the entire history of Christianity as one big antagonist to freedom and progress. We need to realize, though, that such a narrative is nothing more than propaganda. In fact, it is an example of the very language games that Nietzsche saw as inevitable in society if there is no God: there is no truth or facts; what becomes accepted as true reality is just a result of who has the biggest megaphone. That is the state of the world in which we are now living." (pp. 229-230).

In summary, I highly recommend this educational textbook for both pleasure-reading and in the classroom. The book serves as a tremendous anti-dote to the toxins of those who have attempted or are currently attempting to re-write Christianity's positive influences on Western history.
4 people found this helpful
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Ken Diercouff
4.0 out of 5 stars A different perspective than secular spin
Reviewed in the United States on June 25, 2019
Before I jump in, I want to point out that Joel Anderson is a good writer. He explains current issues in Christianity well on-line and he seems to be speaking from his heart on several issues. Dr. Anderson also has his translation of the scriptures in various volumes, all of which I recommend. I especially like The New Testament JAV, and use it frequently in my reading.

This book, Christianity and the (R)evolution in Worldviews in Western Culture, is a grand undertaking. Probably too big of a topic for 295 pages, even as an overview. A lot on how we got to where we were in the 20th Century, but maybe too little on where we are now and where we are going as the church. He talked a lot about science in this book, but spent too little space discussing how science issues are splitting the church now and will continue to do so in the future. I think the topic of evolution, as it affects the church now, should have been a major highlight. I know that Dr. Anderson has addressed this issue in other books, especially in his dealings with Ken Ham.

This book is great in showing how the church started out in the pagan world, a very cold and graceless existence. The pagan world was cruel to children and women, and the church reached out to the abused and exploited. The church saved babies discarded , literally, in trash heaps. The church helped the diseased and fed the poor. Dr. Anderson quotes some of the literature of the time that remarks at how well the church reached out to the down-trodden. I wish a little more had been said about the joy, the songs, the art of the early church. The church had hope and joy, and the pagan world did not.

The times of the Romans was very informative. The secular history writers would have you think that the Roman Empire was grand in culture, education, reason, tolerance etc. followed by the Dark Ages of Christian rulership. Not so says Dr. Anderson. Such spin was propagated when "writers like Voltaire and Rousseau (among others) made the concentrated effort to essentially slander the entire history of the Church." p 41. The time of the Romans was plagued by poverty, women forced into prostitution, forced emperor worship, immense taxation and perverted dictators. Hardly praiseworthy.

I am no expert in history, so historians will have to comment on the accuracy of this book. There is so much there that I will have to reread it again. I had hoped that Dr. Anderson would have had more input on how the church should address the current humanistic worldview. I think many Christians, in an attempt to defend their faith, are saying so many incorrect and uninformed statements about modern science; they make Christians look ignorant. I was hoping Dr. Anderson would have addressed this problem. But then again, his topic was immensely broad.

A lot in this book that I did not discuss in my review. The Enlightenment Thinkers, modern communist leaders, Nazis, etc. Read this book.
3 people found this helpful
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Sy Garte
5.0 out of 5 stars A comprehensive and readable survey of philosophical worldviews and Christianity
Reviewed in the United States on June 1, 2019
This is a delightfully written and comprehensive but also highly accessible treatise on philosophical ideas regarding Christianity and religious faith and the historical contexts in which they arose. Anderson covers pretty much all the main threads in Western philosophy and historical viewpoints, going back to ancient Greece. His chapters on the “so-called” Enlightenment and the 19th century contain valuable insights into the origins of many of our modern ideas about the place of religion and Christianity in particular.
I found the descriptions of the major philosophical views and their authors to be refreshingly candid, highly readable, and engaging. If you (like me) tend to fall asleep at the mere mention of the name Kant or Hegel, this book is for you. Not only is the writing clear and jargon-free, but the essences of the ideas are presented in a way that allows for easy understanding of often difficult concepts. The book also goes into scientific history and the relationship of science with the historical and philosophical trends in Europe.

This is a book for everyone, especially those who are looking for an accurate and insightful depiction of how our worldviews emerged from the thinking of the best and brightest philosophers throughout the ages.
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