I was interested when offered a copy of this work to review. As a student of the Bible and Western History, I noted the endorsement of Ravi Zacharias (whom I respect), I noted the author’s association with L’Abri and I also noted the endorsement of Chuck Colson and my first impressions was that this was going to be something along the lines of Francis Schaeffer’s Cultural analysis, and an equating of everything good in Western Culture with it’s basis upon the Bible and anything bad as an indication that Western Culture had departed from it.
As much as I wanted to see something more, for the most part, that is what this book is and it’s nothing particularly new.
Early on in this book it’s pretty evident that when Mangalwadi refers to the “Bible” as the “soul of western civilization” what he’s referring to is the “Bible” as it was interpreted from St. Augustine onward and he’s pretty outwardly clear that he’s referring to “Western Christianity” as it’s been influenced and integrated with Plato and other Greek Philosophers.
That’s well and good as Western Civilization indeed has, to a great extent been influenced by The Bible and it’s particular western bent as interpreted, influenced and merged into the stream of Greco-Roman Philosophy. Magalwadi has an interesting perspective on some of this coming, as he does (like Ravi Zacharias) from India. Further this has been a prevalent theme in books about Western Civilization such as the iconic Story of Western Civilization by Will and Ariel Durant (Agnostics in viewpoint.)
Mangalwadi presents a mix of different themes as well as his own personal experience in India attempting to show how Western Institutional Christianity (which he appears to believe is the same as “The Bible”) brought about good in India and continues to do so while battling against Eastern Philosophy and the Hindu and Muslim Religions.
In short, it’s red meat for cultural Christians who have morphed Western Civilization into “The Bible” and have conveniently ignored the first three centuries of Christian History, The Eastern Orthodox traditions and tied strongly into the Protestant Reformation as “The Bible” moving separate from the Roman Catholic Church into modern times.
That’s not to say that Mangalwadi is wrong in all of his observations or completely biased in his presentation. It’s entirely valid to attribute Western Civilization to Western Philosophy and Religion in a correlative manner. When it’s equated with the Bible and implied as somehow exclusive of these other traditions then it begins to raise eyebrows, or at least it should.
Mangalwadi progresses through in almost rapid fire fashion an attribution to a Biblical Foundation of Western Intellectualism, Western Technology, Western Morality, American surpassing European accomplishments and Medical advancements tying them inextricably to the West’s resting upon it’s Biblically based culture.
Questions are begged throughout however, or at least were as this reviewer worked through the book. Biblical references within the book, while present were somewhat of the nature of proof-texts showing where there could be causal correlation, but lacked anything in-depth that could support it as somehow irreconcilably tied to Biblical tradition exclusively. Some ties positively tied in ways that made this reviewer scratch his head a little. Apparently J.R.R. Tolkiens’ Lord of the Ring’s and related mythology is Christian based (Tolkien was a Roman Catholic with tied to C.S. Lewis) but the assumption that his primary themes were some Biblically based completely ignores that Tolkien’s foundation was Norse Mythology and rooted in Tolkien’s studies as a philologist with roots in Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Dragon.
Over all I found the writing interesting and appreciated the personal tie-ins to the Authors experiences in India from which he drew moral distinctions as to why western ways were better. Overall however, the book has the flavor of Institutional and State-based religion (which is evidently clear as you look at the forwards and endorsements of the book. This is all about Cultural based Christianity and why Western is better than all others. That’s a legitimate thesis to pursue, but I can’t but wish that it wasn’t so hopelessly and exclusively entwined in a presentation to somehow assume that St Augustine, Thomas Aquinas and company are the whole of the Bible. There’s much more and there’s much that within the Bible itself brings into question the cultural and institutional religion of Christianity in the West.
3 stars. Interesting Read but not particularly ground breaking. It will resonate with the audience it’s intended for, most of whom already agree with what is being said.
bart breen
(Note, this review was produced as a part of the Amazon Vine Program, which provided the Book Free of Charge to this Reviewer. The original review can be seen at: http://www.amazon.com/review/R3FJH9DG3U9R6W/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm
[...] Bart’s Barometer by Bart Breen – “Book Review of “The Book That Made Your World: How the Bible Created the Soul of Western Civilizat…“ [...]