*Previously Recorded by Phyllis Schlafly // May 2009*
In traveling around to college campuses, I have found that many students were never taught much history. This week I’m going to give you a short list of books that may fill in some of the gaps in your knowledge of history.
One very helpful book is called The Politically Incorrect Guide to Western Civilization by Anthony Esolen. He explains how our political machinery, rooted in the history of Greece and Rome, evolved into the best system on earth. He compellingly presents the case for Christianity’s crucial role in placing the God-fearing individual at the center of the moral order. After reading this book, you will never again feel the need to apologize for Western Civilization.
Another book is called Human Accomplishment: 800 B.C. to 1950 by Charles Murray. It’s a tremendous tribute to Western civilization and a rebuke to those who de-emphasize the so-called Dead White European Males. They were the very ones who contributed massively to the arts and sciences. Charles Murray analyzes the resilience of accomplishment under adverse conditions such as war and the plague, and he describes U.S. accomplishment. Why did Western Europe predominate and not Asia, Russia or the Arab world, all of which did make valuable contributions? Murray’s answer turns out to be Christianity.
Another book that reinforces this analysis is The Victory of Reason: How Christianity Led to Freedom, Capitalism and Western Success by Rodney Stark. Many authors have presented the thesis that capitalism is the engine of the West’s progress. This author makes a strong case that Christian theology was what made capitalism possible and provided the framework for Western science. And it is science, above all, that led finally to the supremacy of the West.
