moocowman, part 2 in my response…if JC were not born…all the following positives would not have happened…
Impact on the Value of Human Life
• Women. In ancient cultures, a wife was the property of her husband. Aristotle said that a woman was somewhere between a free man and a slave.
According to the book Reasons for God by Tim Keller (page 249), "It was extremely common in the Greco-Roman world to throw out new female infants to
die from exposure, because of the low status of women in society. The church forbade its members to do so. Greco-Roman society saw no value in an
unmarried woman, and therefore it was illegal for a widow to go more than two years without remarrying. But Christianity was the first religion to not
force widows to marry. They were supported financially and honored within the community so that they were not under great pressure to remarry if they
didn't want to. Pagan widows lost all control of their husband's estate when they remarried but the church allowed widows to maintain their
husband's estate. Finally, Christians did not believe in cohabitation. If a Christian man wanted to live with a woman he had to marry her, and this
gave women far greater security. Also, the pagan double standard of allowing married men to have extramarital sex and mistresses was forbidden. In all
these ways Christian women enjoyed far greater security and equality than did women in the surrounding culture. See Rodney Stark, The Rise of
Christianity." In India, widows were voluntarily or involuntarily burned on their husbands' funeral pyres. Christian missionaries were a major
influence in stopping these century-old practices and ideas.
• Children. In the ancient world, for example in classical Rome or Greece, infanticide was not only legal, it was applauded. Killing a Roman was
murder, but it was commonly held in Rome that killing one's own children could be an act of beauty. Through a higher view of life, it was the early
Christian church that ultimately brought an end to infanctide.
• Slavery. While it is true that committed Christians have owned slaves in history, it is also true that slavery was ended in great measure by
Christian activists. For example, historians credit the British evangelical William Wilberforce as the primary force behind the ending of the
international slave trade (which happened prior to the American Civil War). Two-thirds of the members of the American abolition society in 1835 were
Christian ministers.
• Gladiators. A 5th century monk, Telemachus is credited as being the pivotal force ending the gladiator spectacles.
• Cannibalism. Missionary followers of Jesus are credited with stopping cannibalism in many primitive societies.
Compassion and Mercy
D. James Kennedy and Newcombe in their book What if Jesus were not born? detail the rise of charity in the name of Jesus over the centuries. This is
in stark contrast to history before Jesus. Historians record that prior to Jesus, the ancient world left little trace of any organized charitable
effort.
An important aspect to Jesus' ministry was his emphasis on helping the neediest and lowliest in society. For example, his Parable of the Good
Samaritan (Luke 10:30-37) is a classic illustration that is still part of our language today. While there are good charitable efforts outside of the
name of Jesus, Kennedy and Newcombe argue that Christian charities stand out. They point to Mother Theresa, the Salvation Army, religious hospitals,
and church supported soup kitchens and thrift shops in every community. Jesus has had such an enormous impact on charity that one wonders how
different things would be if he had never been born.
The mythical character of Santa Claus points back to Christ. St. Nick unquestionably arose within the Christian tradition.
Education
From the beginning of Judaism, from which Christianity is derived, there was an emphasis on the written word. But the phenomenon of education for the
masses has its roots in the Protestant Reformation.
In order to promote Bible literacy, Christians have been leaders in education. This trend was accelerated with the advent of the printing press at
about the same time as the Protestant Reformation. Many of the world's languages were first set to writing by Christian missionaries in order for
people to read the Bible.
In America, the first law to require education of the masses was passed by the Puritans. The law was called "THE OLD DELUDER SATAN ACT." This name
was a reference to the devil, who Christians believe gets his foothold into people's lives because of their ignorance of Scripture.
For the first 200 years in America, children's reading texts emphasized biblical literacy. The emphasis on literacy was so intense in colonial
America, that John Quincy Adams said in the early 1800's that the illiteracy rate was only 4/10th of 1 percent. By comparison, it has been estimated
that in America today, 40 million people are functionally illiterate.
All but one of the first 123 colleges in colonial America were Christian institutions. While these universities have lost their Christian identities,
it is interesting to read the founding statements of these schools. Harvard, for example, was founded on this statement: Let every student be plainly
instructed, and earnestly pressed to consider well, the maine end of his life and studies is, to know God and Jesus Christ which is eternall life,
John 17:3?
Government of the People
While America's constitutional government is not specifically Christian, it can be argued that its roots are taken from biblical doctrines. Here are
just a few possible arguments in this regard:
• America's first constitution was the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut. The Puritan framers of this document required that each aspect of it be
grounded in Scripture. Other constitutions to follow contained many similarities to this one.
• At least 50 of the 55 signers of the U.S. Constitution were orthodox Christians.
• There is no doubt that the concept of our Constitutional checks and balances system is a direct result of the biblical doctrine of the sinfulness
of mankind. All of our founders understood the importance of this doctrine to the social order.
• America's foundational idea of The Rule of Law rather than the authority of man traces back to the Old Testament, beginning with the Ten
Commandments.
• The idea that all men are created equal as enshrined in the Declaration of Independence is a biblical doctrine.
• The notion of the sovereign authority of God (as mentioned in the Mayflower Compact, the Declaration of Independence, all 50 state constitutions,
our currency, etc.)--rather than the sovereignty of the state--is certainly biblical.
• The existence of moral absolutes (a biblical concept) is an important idea in our Declaration of Independence--specifically, self-evident truths
and unalienable rights from the Creator.
• Many other aspects of our laws come directly from the Bible--for example the judicial, legislative and executive branches trace to Isaiah 33:22.
Fair trials with witnesses have numerous Old and New Testament support.
• Regarding civil liberty, founding father John Adams (and others) emphasized 2 Corinthians 3:17 as the basis for American civil liberty. The slogan
on the Liberty Bell is "Proclaim Liberty throughout the land unto all the Inhabitants Thereof" is from Leviticus 15:10. Kennedy and Newcombe argue
that Jesus himself was the greatest civil libertarian of all time.
Science
Kennedy and Newcombe also argue that science has it roots in Christianity. They point out that other world religions may express a worldview of
fatalism (everything is fatalistically determined) or of illusion (that the physical world is an illusion). Science could not have arisen from these
worldviews.
Christianity on the other hand, is based on the notion that there exists a rational God who is the source of rational truth. This, they argue, gave
rise to the possibility of scientific laws.
Evidence for this view is that nearly all the founders of modern science were Christians. These include men such as Keppler, Boyle, Pascal, Pasteur,
Newton, etc.
Free Enterprise and the Work Ethic
Private property rights can be traced to the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20:15, 17 (Thou shalt not steal,?Thou shalt not covet.")--as well as to other
passages from the Old and New Testaments. Interestingly, there are over 700 references to money in the Bible!
It is noteworthy that Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations was written in 1776, the same year as the birth of America. But many historians credit
theologian John Calvin from 200 years earlier as the person who is most responsible for putting together the principles that were always in the Bible
into a system adapted by the American founders. For example, the biblical doctrines of self-reliance and self-denial are the foundation of the famous
"Protestant work ethic." These doctrines are at the heart of our economic (and political) way of life.
A distinction can be made between biblical capitalism and evolutionary capitalism. The emphasis on biblical capitalism is on the importance of
servanthood--a key teaching of Jesus. Evolutionary capitalism on the other hand relies solely on the survival of the fittest. America's anti-trust
laws are evidence that American capitalism emphasizes the former over the latter.
Anyone who doubts the relationship of biblical ideas to free enterprise need only to note the stark contrast with communism. Communism is specifically
an atheistic system that relies on the non-biblical notion that all men are good (thus will work for the common good). But communism has been an
abject economic failure.
Art, Music, Literature
The influence of Jesus on art, music, and literature is enormous. For example, the Christian faith has influenced literature in such Christian writers
such as Dante, Chaucer, Donne, Dostoevsky, Shakespeare, Dickens, Milton, etc.
Had Jesus never been born, music would likely sound very different from what we're used to. There may never have developed the cantata, the concerto,
or the symphony. Handel, Vivaldi, and Bach were Christians who worked to honor God with their work. Bach, for example, signed all his works with Soli
Deo Gloria ("Solely to the glory of God").
Art has likewise been magnificently impacted by Jesus. While much modern art seems to debase the human spirit, classical Christian art tries to bring
out the best of mankind--pointing us to a higher plane. This is certainly a tribute to Jesus. And think of all the incredible architecture through the
years. Especially noteworthy are the beautiful cathedrals in Europe. reference:
www.faithfacts.org...