Andrew Wilson asks where the West would be without Christianity for Plough Magazine. He points out that many of the beliefs which we now take for granted originated with Christian thought.
The fundamental equality of human beings, and their endowment with inalienable rights by their Creator, are essentially theological beliefs. They are neither innately obvious axioms nor universally accepted empirical truths nor rational deductions from things that are. There is no logical syllogism that begins with undeniable premises and concludes with “all people are equal” or “humans have God-given rights.” The Russian philosopher Vladimir Solovyov expressed the non sequitur at the heart of Western civilization with a deliciously sarcastic aphorism: “Man descended from apes, therefore we must love one another.”
What I worry about is the decline of Christianity in the West ultimately causing an erosion of those values. Perhaps it is an unfounded worry. Maybe these values have become so ingrained in our civilization that they will not be so easily lost, but I have yet to be convinced of that.
