Das Buch der Mitte: Wie wir wurden, was wir sind: Die Bibel als Herzstück der westlichen Kultur

by Vishal Mangalwadi

Als Buch der Bücher wurde die Bibel aus der Mitte gedrängt. Sola scriptura - "allein die Schrift", lehrte einst Martin Luther. Aber die Reformation ist lange her, und längst haben andere Kräfte ihren Alleinstellungsanspruch in den Ring geworfen. Dieser Verlust der Mitte ist heute mit Händen zu greifen. Vishal Mangalwadi hat genau das großartig dokumentiert. Vor allem aber konzentriert er sich auf die Epochen der Gravitationskraft der Bibel, die über Jahrhunderte hinweg immer wieder Menschen inspirierte und Kultur erschuf. Ob Menschenrechte, technologischer Fortschritt, Musik, Architektur oder Demokratie-Entwicklung: Immer stand die kulturprägende Kraft der Bibel jenen Menschen zur Seite, die die Welt mit neuen Innovationen beschenkten. "Das Buch der Mitte" ist das seltene und glückliche Zusammenkommen von lebendiger Erzählung, nüchterner Beweisführung und überraschenden Einsichten, die uns den Schatz der Bibel wieder vor Augen führen und zerrissene Landkarten wieder zusammensetzen.

Genres: History, Christian, Nonfiction, Theology, Religion, Christianity, Philosophy

608 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 9, 2011

About the author

Vishal Mangalwadi (1949-) is an international lecturer, social reformer, cultural and political columnist, and author of thirteen books. Born and raised in India, he studied philosophy at universities, in Hindu ashrams, and at L’Abri Fellowship in Switzerland. In 1976 he turned down several job offers in the West to return to India where he and his wife, Ruth, founded a community to serve the rural poor. Vishal continued his involvement in community development serving at the headquarters of two national political parties, where he worked for the empowerment and liberation of peasants and the lower castes.

His first book, The World of Gurus, was published in 1977 by India's Vikas Publishing House, and serialized in India’s then-largest weekly, Sunday. It is still used as a text book in universities. It was Mangalwadi’s book on the New Age Movement and India: The Grand Experiment, that first brought his works to the attention of the American public. In demand worldwide, Vishal is a dynamic and engaging speaker who has lectured in 34 countries. He enjoys simplifying complex ideas and inspiring despairing hearts with hope.

Reviews

[Luís · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mangalwadi’s The Book That Made Your World is a very informative take on the Bible’s influence in twenty critical areas of the human experience, from the origins of science to the concept of compassion in the face of utter barbarism in the early first century. It aimed to show how the Bible has shaped the West in some of the most profound ways imaginable, even in some ways unexpectedly. In that respect, the book succeeds. However, it does tend to lack the artistic appeal of more expressive writers.

Source: https://chriscribariblog.com/2017/06/...

[Bart Breen · Rating 3 out of 5]

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

[Suzannah Rowntree · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most Christians (and even many unbelievers) acknowledge that to some extent, the Bible has shaped our western civilisation. What we don't know--and can barely begin to imagine--is just how profound that influence has been, reaching to how many areas of life that we simply take for granted.

Vishal Mangalwadi's book is an attempt to show us an outsider's perspective on just how blessed we are to have a culture that has been permeated with the Bible and with many generations' worth of Christian attempts to apply it correctly. Though the book is journalistic rather than doctoral, Mangalwadi displays formidable scholarship in this more-or-less systematic examination of areas of life from science and technology to charity and compassion, demonstrating clear historical evidence for the Bible's impact in each area. Now, I thought I already had a pretty good understanding of how the Bible has built the world I live in, but it didn't take me very long reading this book to realise that the half had not been told me.

In addition to the valuable scholarship, however, is another theme that runs through the book: the inability of cultures not permeated by Scripture to produce anywhere near the same level of civilisation. The Book That Made Your World would not be nearly so valuable as it is if it wasn't written by an Indian who has spent a great deal of his time investigating the history of India and its uneasy relationship with the West. Mangalwadi clearly loves his people, paying tribute to their greatness, but he pulls no punches in critiquing his culture's pagan roots. And he is able to draw both on study and on personal experience ministering to India's poor to explain--sometimes in gutwrenching detail--just why India (and the rest of the world) needs the Bible.

I didn't agree with every one of Mangalwadi's conclusions about Western history or theology (I would disagree that hierarchy within marriage was a result of the Fall, for instance), but overall I loved this book and would highly recommend it. The Great Commission tells us to teach all the nations what God has commanded of us in the Bible. This book is a mind-blowing examination of just how far that command has already gone--and a rallying-cry to take it even further, in hope and confidence that the power which once turned the world upside down, will continue to do it.

[Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

(Note: Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program)
Not to put too fine a point on it, but this is the most eye-opening book I have ever read! When I first ordered this book, I was expecting more of a dry, historical tracing of Western ideas to the Bible. But really, it does so much more than that. It traces Western ideas back to the original source of their inspiration, the Bible, questions the modern notion that Western thought originated in the Greco-Roman tradition, criticizes the moral bankruptcy that religious and social mindsets created in countries not founded on the Bible, makes a case for recognizing the ideas of moral absolutes as exemplified by the Bible's teachings and, for me at least, makes one question their stance on the Bible and faith. Mr. Mangalwadi does this through passionate writing, loads of research (just take a look at some of the scholarly works he cites in the back if you don't believe me), personal experience as an Indian who went to the West and came back as a Christian missionary, and a unique "cause and effect" approach. What I mean by that last point is that, in each chapter, he explains how the Bible was the cause for inspiring people or ideas in the West, then shows their positive effects on society both in the West and beyond. He also applies that to different religions and social mindsets and shows the negative effects they had on society, particularly Hindu and Buddhist beliefs and how they negatively affected India's social and economic growth. I will say that, at times, some of his connections between influential people/ideas can be a bit of a stretch, but I believe his ultimate conclusion is unimpeachable. This book should be read by all who question whether some of the West's current economic, political, and social problems may have a spiritual source. This book certainly will force me to ask more questions of things, particularly when I open my Bible.

[Richard Leo · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a problematic book. As a book it attempts to show what the 'soul' is of Western Civilization. In taking this approach, Mangalwadi tries to argue that the Bible is the only reason why the West developed in the fashion that it did. I have two key issues with this historical thesis: first, as a historical conceit it is only partially correct at best; second, the author presents this book with a historically flawed methodology.

As a book Mangalwadi tries to provide an overview and generalist history of the West by arguing that the culture and principles created by the Bible are at the central core of Western civilization. Using a thematic approach, he reviews how the principles of the Bible have influenced and shaped the various social, political, economic and ideological pillars of Western Civilization. It is another work that contributes to the discussion on the decline of the West that has emerged as a topic of historical debate over the past decade or so. As such, it certainly adds positively to this conversation. Unfortunately, the book reads as though Mangalwadi feels he has 'the answer' to this debate in the area of civilizational decline and proceeds to hammer it home, page after page, with a very large hammer when the surgical application of a chisel might be a better approach.

Consequently, my first major criticism of this book is its focus on the Bible as the primary core of Western Civilization and all that is both great and poor about it. As any undergraduate student of the West would know, Mangalwadi has only got a third of the story. Here, I call on the thoughts of John Hirst in his tome 'The Shortest History of Europe'. In this succinct little book, Hirst effectively does exactly the same job as Mangalwadi, except in about 1/10 of the word count and with greater historical precision. Essentially, Hirst argues that Western civilization is anchored on three core pillars. If one of these is not present then we do not have this historical entity called 'The West'. Hirst's three pillars are Greco-Roman Learning, the Germanic influence and last, the Church. It is this third pillar where Mangalwadi's thesis best fits. Unfortunately, he falls for the typical Protestant Christian perspective of placing the Bible at the centre of the argument at the expense of all other influences, including the positive influences of Church tradition in integrating the cultural worlds of the other two pillars. Consequently, his argument becomes very repetitive as he tries to force the cause and effect of historical events into his very narrow historical thesis.

My second key criticism of this book is closely related. Throughout the book, it is obvious that he is very suspicious of post-modern methodology, even stating outright his own distrust of the methodology. Yet, despite this overt mistrust, the entire book is written in typical contemporary post-modern style. There is a trend in contemporary historical writing to place the historian within the history being written. The historian is situated within the historical narrative being uncovered thus using the insights which can be gained by being part of the story to advance a particular point of view. Mangalwadi uses this approach throughout his book, constantly referring to his experiences in Hindu India and how these experiences shape how he reads the biblical influence on Western development. He then uses his reflections on this situated experience to extrapolate his conclusions onto the history and place of the Bible in Western Civilization, conclusions which generally include a desire to return to more modernist approaches in reading the biblical text. This defensive style is established in the first pages of the book and become very quickly a significant problem in the style of the narrative. His historical methodological technique is one he overtly criticizes, yet it is one he shamelessly uses, primarily in a defensive manner, in order to argue for his narrowed understanding of the core of the West as discussed above.

This is what makes this book so problematic. It simplifies the historical complexity at the core of the West to the point of ignoring at least 2/3's of accepted historical interpretation on the development of Western Civilization. His historically situated approach actually contributes to this narrowed and culturally dislocated reading of the influence of the Bible in the development of the West. Overall, a book which had much potential to contribute much more than it does to the current debate on Western decline. Ultimately, however, it fails as a useful uncovering of the role that the Bible plays in the philosophical and cultural development of the 'soul' of the West through narrow historical perspectives and a flawed methodology.

[Becky Pliego · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book fascinating! Of course the Western world is crumbling down, the Book that made it, it’s cornerstone, has been removed from the heart of its people, it’s homes and churches , and the public square.

May God bring us back to His Word!

If you don’t know where to start reading your Bible, join thousands of people around the world and start reading- even today! Download your reading plan (for free!) at TotheWord.com

NOTE: I listened to this book on audible, but on the Goodreads app I could not find a way to change the edition to the audio book. It was wonderful.

[David Sarkies · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Christian’s View on Europe’s Success
1 January 2022 - Adelaide

It seemed that the reason that Western Europe developed the way it did while the rest of the world didn’t had been settled by Jared Diamond by simply saying it was ‘Gun, Germs, and Steel’, but Mangalwadi sort of disagrees. Then again, Mangalwadi is writing from the point of view of an outsider, and being an expert on India (namely because he happens to be Indian), he sort of raised the question as to why Western Europe developed whereas India has basically stagnated. Well, his answer was that it was because of the Bible.

Basically, Mangalwadi’s argument is that the Reformation, which resulted in ordinary people discussing and debating the Bible in their own language brought about the scientific revolution that raised Europe from a backwards peninsula to the centre of the modern world. This also resulted in the United States, a nation that he claimed was built upon Biblical foundations, becoming the world’s sole superpower. I do think he has a pretty good point, but a part of me feels that there is some revisionism occurring in this book, and the idea of the Bible being available in the vernacular isn’t the only reason.

One of the things that he seems to neglect is that Rome didn’t completely collapse in the aftermath of the barbarian invasions. The reality is that the Eastern Roman Empire survived for another thousand years, and it was the Venetian invasion that pretty much was the beginning of the end. The thing with the Eastern Empire is that the Bible remained in the common tongue, which was basically Greek, yet despite this, the Eastern Roman Empire eventually declined, and died. Further, after the Byzantines met the Rus, the Bible went up north where it appeared in their own language as well.

Sure, the fact that the church kept the Bible in Latin meant that only the church was able to read, and interpret, the Bible. However, while translating the Bible into the vernacular resulted in the German and English languages becoming codified, the reality is that it doesn’t matter if the Bible is written in your native language if you can’t read. As such, I would suggest that it had more to do with the Protestant churches going out and teaching people to read so that they could read the Bible for themselves, was the important factor. In fact, he even explores how an Indian tribe was transformed when they went out to learn to read the Bible, first in English, and then in their own tongue.

Sure, the act of becoming literate does play a huge role, but Mangalwadi suggests it is more than that, and he points to China and the Middle East as an example. However, I would argue that the reason that the Middle East went from being the centre of learning to what we have today (though that is changing) is due to the Mongol Invasions (and I’d also suggest that the Crusades didn’t help either). As for China, there was the issue that the conservatives took control of the government, and basically tossed learning out of the window.

Mind you, I’m not necessarily saying that he is wrong, because the Bible does form a basis of a functioning society, and I agree with him that our movement away from the Bible is resulting in a decaying society. Sure, I might not be a big fan of abortion, but there is much more to the issue, especially since it ends up being a bunch of males telling women what to do with their body. Sure, I do believe that life begins at conception, but I do not believe that I have the right to tell somebody what to do with their body, especially if the baby was placed into their body against their will. Also, don’t get me started on the fact that the only time the pro-lifers care about the baby is when it happens to be in somebody else’s body (though their argument is that at this stage the life is powerless and needs somebody to stand up for them).

What I do agree with Mangalwadi is that the problem is that we have stopped reading our Bible, and I am looking at Christians more than the secular world. Mangalwadi points out that our scientific discoveries came about because Christians decided to explore God’s creation. The problem is that many of the fundamentalist churches are so caught up with the debate over evolution that they are basically rejecting all of science (which is similar to what happened in China centuries ago when the conservatives took over). The same is the case with Climate Change, which they consider to be a left-wing conspiracy to kill babies (it’s always the babies) and are also crying about how the left seeks to destroy the sanctity of marriage (which they are doing a pretty good job of it themselves).

Yes, I believe that God does answer prayers, but I’m not all that convinced that ‘praying the gay away’ is all that easy to do, and this gets worse when they begin to use guilt to make people feel that the reason that they have these urges is because there is an unrepentant sin in their life (which is not true because God answers prayers even though we have unrepentant sins in our lives), or that God has decided that this person is not worth saving. It is not surprising that the problem most people have with Christianity are Christians. Yeah, it is interesting to note that the idea of predestination came about to say that it is God who determines who is saved, not the Pope, and it has pretty much been taken way out of proportion.

Okay, there is probably a lot more that I could write about this (especially when you consider Africa, where a number of countries have Christian populations of over 80%, but still deal with corrupt governments and a lack of education, while there are Asian countries where Christianity is in the minority, but are quite developed – though the argument with these countries is that they are either dictatorships, or have been through a period of dictatorship) but I’ll probably just leave it here. As I mentioned, the theory is quite good, and does support the idea of returning to the Bible, but there are quite a few holes in the thesis, and as the author points out, it is not just having a Biblical foundation, but being about to read it, debate it, and take it to heart.

So, let’s stop talking about killing babies, and praying the gay away, and return to the conversation of how we should be loving our neighbours as ourselves.

[Daniella · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finally achieved one of my top reading goals for the month: finishing this book before the end of the year! Just barely, lol 😅.

It goes without saying, this book is easily my favorite read of 2024! How fitting that it's the last book I’m reading this year!

The Book That Made Your World - A Review

If I could make every Christian read this book, I absolutely would.

As I read, I was in complete awe and wonder of the West’s history and how the Bible helped shape the West.

What Mangalwadi does in this book is take all the key qualities that have shaped the West throughout history—from rationality and technology to literature, languages, morality, and liberty—and he compiles them in the most straightforward, easy-to-understand way. He breaks everything down through the lens of how the Bible shaped key historical events. Truly, if the West has any semblance of prosperity and liberty today, it’s only because of the Bible’s influence. This book proves that beyond a doubt.

I found myself praising God continually as I uncovered more and more historical facts showing His active involvement in our world over time. He is so good!

What really stood out to me about this book—besides the obvious wealth of information—was how easy it was to read and absorb. Simplifying and compiling these principles into such an accessible format would be a challenge for anyone, but Mangalwadi nails it!

Overall, this is an incredible book! My favorite of the year and one of my favorites of all time! I am so thankful to God for Vishal and for inspiring him to write such an amazing work.

There aren’t enough stars for this one!

[Ian Hodge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vishal Mangalwadi has produced a broad sweeping cultural history of Christianity. In so doing, he draws contrasts between his native India under Islam or Hinduism, and how Christianity changed the Indian culture for the better. At least that occurred where it had significant influence. At the same time, the West is reminded of its Christian heritage and how it got to be where it is. All thanks to one book, the Bible - the one that changed your world.

His target audience is western Christians, especially American Christianity, who he thinks have abandoned historic Christianity. As a result the West is losing that which gave it stature and greatness, living by the Book.

This is a an important theme, and Mangalwadi's constant contrasts between Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam on the one hand, and Christianity on the other, are very important. Too often there is a flight towards these religions as the effects of neoplatonism take their toll on Western Christianity.

I did not give this book five stars because there is one area of weakness in Mangalwadi's thesis. When he speaks of the Christian influence in India under William Carey and others, he refers to British legislative programs influenced by Wilberforce and Shaftesbury, which were to have an effect throughout the British Empire, and therefore India.

While issues such as slavery, working conditions, etc., did need to be addressed, once the solutions for these is seen as a political issue, the road towards the Welfare State and totalitarianism are well under way. Only in later life did Shaftesbury begin to see the problem as the British schools were secularized by the National Education Act of 1870. But he was too late.

In selecting the political order as the vehicle of change, the use of physical power replaced the power of the Holy Spirit in the church. Changing people's minds leading to a change of activity through reading Scripture and the preaching of the Word was abandoned in favor of enforcing people's conformity through police power.

As a result the churches have been relegated to the back-blocks of cultural significance, and they have remained there to this day. Mangalwadi speaks favorably of the Victorian Evangelical's use of the legislative framework, but in so doing has missed the effective abandonment the church as the leading instrument of significant cultural change.

Yet, the West did not get to where it is today by legislative decree. It got there by priests, pastors and monks who insisted that men live by the word of God. As Mangalwadi so tellingly illustrates, it got there by adherence to a Book - the Bible. And this book is a clarion call to get back to basics.

[Sydney Jacques · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dear Everyone,
Please read this book and soak up its hope.
Love, Syd.

[Trevor Faggotter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Seeing the world through Indian eyes offers a very fresh perspective.
The book is subtitled: How the Bible Created the Soul of Western Civilization. The subtitle could be misleading, however.

This is not just a ‘three cheers for the Bible’ kind of book. Nor is it going to simply bolster the views of the hard-line fundamentalist, as the title may suggest. Rather, these are the words of a man who has come into the rich flow of wisdom, and truth. Indeed, he puts much emphasis upon the importance of “truth”. He has come to see in a very profound way how the wonderful benefits experienced by countries like Australia, America, England, Canada, Germany, France, and Scotland—to name a few, have flowed from a Bible-given understanding of the world, its purpose, of humanity and of its hope, and of God and his character as revealed in Jesus Christ.

This is a book for the benefit not only of individuals, but for musicians, for those who are troubled by the death of rock legends, like Kurt Cobain, or the enduring love of Johann Sebastian Bach.

It is a book for readers of history, ponderers of culture, and leaders of Nations. It is a rewarding read for those interested in why many nations have not succeeded. Why has poverty engulfed so many nations?

Mangalwadi addresses questions like:
‘Rationality: What made the West a Thinking Civilization?’.
‘Technology: Why Did Monks Develop It?’
‘Languages: How Was Intellectual Power Democratized?’
‘Caring: Why Did Caring Become Medical Commitment?’
‘The Future: Must the Sun Set on the West?’
I first heard Vishal Mangalwadi address a modest sized crowd of listeners in Adelaide, in October, 2011. I would like to have heard more from him. I would like more people to have been able to be there to hear him.

There are some You-Tube links: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nHV3j...

But I suggest you purchase the book, and have a read for yourself. I certainly have benefited from such an enjoyable read, and from a man who does evidently have a very keen intellect. And not only that, he does stack of original research – to find out if what he is being told is true. What a good idea.

He also wrote :
- The World of Gurus
- In Search of Self: Beyond the New Age
- Truth and Transformation: A Manifesto For Ailing Nations
- Legacy of William Carey: A Model for Transforming Culture
- Missionary Conspiracy: Letters to a Postmodern Hindu
- India: The Grand Experiment
- Quest For Freedom and Dignity: Caste, Conversion and Cultural Transformation
- Astrology

[Jim Becker · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a book. I am surprised I liked it that much. I learned so much! Highly recommend all Christians read this book.

[Jonathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is all over the place in both quality and truthfulness. Since it's a topic that I care about and one I wanted to learn more of, I read it twice and reviewed it carefully, breaking it down chapter-by-chapter in order to give each point far treatment. Here's how I felt.


Chapter 1: Soul. Without God the West has lost its soul, its reason for existence. As an example of this Mangalwadi turns to music, arguing that music has classically been an expression of the soul and Western classical music was founded on the Christian view of the Creator. But modern music has become full of debauchery and a sense of purposelessness and meaninglessness, most dramatically expressed by the nihilistic and hedonistic tendencies of modern rock and the early deaths and suicides of several of its stars. Mangalwadi then expands more broadly to the tragedies that filled the 20th century as emblematic of the West’s losing its soul.

I don’t know how well the argument for the Christian foundations of classical music can be laid – though it is striking to see how much classical music seems founded on religious devotion. But in an age of rising suicide rates, rising depression, and an existential crisis especially within the educated sphere around “What is the purpose of human existence?”, it does feel that there is some truth to Mangalwadi’s words in this chapter.

Chapter 2: Service. Chapter is built around the idea that many outside of Christian influence cannot understand the Christian desire for service. It’s an autobiographcal story, not an argument, but it makes a decently strong point, especially to someone who has traveled around the world a bit and seen how weak the non-self-interested service movements are in some countries.

Chapter 4: Self. The West has generally has not been fatalistic or deterministic but believes in a greater purpose for humankind. Western society has acted out of a clear belief that beauty, good, truth, are objective realities to be pursued, not subjective illusions as some other cultural/philosophical systems have proposed. While the point is true, Mangalwadi doesn’t really make the argument that this comes from the Bible specifically and not something more general within JudeoChristian culture.

Chapter 5: Humanity. The value for individual life is rooted in the Bible. Here Mangalwadi makes a strong case….Christianity has led to the banning of infanticide, wife burning, elder killing, abortion, etc. in various places, along with Christianity often driving movements such as prison reform and the banning of the slave trade. While innumerable hypocrisies could be brought up (as can be for any human value), it is difficult to interpret history in a manner that doesn’t acknowledge that the Christian value for individual human life is distinct from that practiced by many other societies. And this supreme importance of the individual human life is rebelled against by certain modern non-Biblical philosophies, such as Nihilism, Marxism, and ideas which place animal life on the same level as human life. However, it must be noted that the value grew out of the Church (transformation of Rome, medieval theology growing into the modern West), and not the Bible abstractly.

Chapter 6: Rationality. Western and Eastern scholars alike agree that JudeoChristian faiths emphasize rationality more than others. Of course, the question becomes – did the Bible/Church drive the Western focus on rationality, or was it latent in the culture? Mangalwadi makes a rather strong argument here, but I don’t know enough of the history to know if he’s giving the whole picture. And the argument does not vie well with the modern phenomenon of fundamentalist Christians being anti-rational on many topics - which would be fine if Mangalwadi dismissed the right-wing fundamentalists as being contrary to the spirit of the Bible, but as we see later he does almost the opposite.

Chapter 7: Technology. Focused around the idea that the purpose of technology is to save the poor from the drudgery of labor. Easily one of the worst chapters in the book. His assumptions and cherry-picked examples are false from the beginning – in fact, non-technological societies CAN be good places for women and children, and the early Industrial Revolution made the lives of many of the poor even worse, not better. Abuse of technology can be devastating to the lives of the poor. Mangalwadi’s dismissal of the negative effects of technology on increasing worldwide pollution and environmental destruction is disingenuous; the claim, “Pollution kills far more people in technologically less advanced, non-Biblical cultures” is embarrassingly misleading. He ignores that some of the most “Biblical” Western cultures, such as the Anabaptists, were less technologically-focused than their counterparts. Or that Western technology has been used for war, colonization, and resource exploitation as intensely as it has been used for anything.

And for all his work trying to prove that technology is good for general welfare, he does almost nothing to show that technological advancement comes from the Bible…at best, he might be able to argue that technology and its use for good is a by-product of some of the other principles expounded upon in the book (rationality, education, science, service), but he makes no case that it flows from the Bible itself. This is one of several places in the book where he places undue emphasis on the single line in Genesis that humans should dominate the Earth, without any real evidence that this single line has been the root of our dominating behavior, or that such domination has actually been a good thing.

Chapter 8: Heroism. Another of the worst-constructed chapters in the book. This is sad because there IS a good case that Jesus redefined heroism, only the West has often ignored what Jesus did in favor of its own desires. He tries to contrast the Crusades (as a bad example) to the Iraq War (as a good example)…ignoring that the Crusades were explicitly Christian and the Iraq War certainly wasn’t, and you’d have to be quite naïve to believe that the USA attacked Iraq because of our altruistic feelings towards Kuwait. He speaks warmly of the anti-colonial global paradigm shift, only that shift happened quite recently, so what were all those Christian nations doing in the 15th-19th centuries? And he later praises the supposedly Bible-inspired American Revolution, ignoring that those Americans partook in revolution with the desire to further their boundaries, and eventually colonized all of North America.

The supposed “cleansing” of knightly chivalry through ritual is a weak argument, to the point that I have no idea why Mangalwadi even included it. Every instance of Christian support of the violent institution is twisted to try to imply that the Church was just, “trying to make it better”. Martin Luther is mentioned as a hero, but Mangalwadi trivializes the fact that he called for the princes to brutally and violently suppress the peasants when they revolted.

It could have been a much better chapter is Mangalwadi wasn’t so tied to his Religious Right political leanings. The idea of nonviolent resistance, the clearest Biblical example of Jesus’s heroism, which was picked up by many individuals and changed the course of history for many nations, is never once mentioned. Mangalwadi tries to claim a Biblical argument for Just War but not coercive Christianity, yet any argument for Just War from Jesus and the apostles is flimsy indeed, and Christians (including Mangalwadi’s Reformation heroes) continued to use violence to coerce Christianity until quite recently.

Chapter 9: Revolution. Not much of an argument, basically just Mangalwadi’s excuse to tell the story of the Protestant Reformers, his personal heroes. Uses “Live by the sword, die by the sword” to describe Rome and Islam, but ignores that it could just as easily describe Europe and America. That Biblical translation led to the Protestant Reformation is a decent argument as far as it goes, but I’m not sure it advances his broader point much.

Chapter 10: Languages. It is certainly true that Biblical translation led to huge literary advances in many languages around the globe, and on that note this chapter is sound. As a group, Bible translators have done more practical work for language than any other movement in history.

But why does he tie the whole chapter up with linguistically-based nationalism? It’s a weird turn, and betrays his right-wing leanings once again. The idea that Jewish nationalism is the source of modern nationalism is ridiculous. It was inherently ethnic (something he claims modern nationalism shouldn’t be), it reflected similar lines held by plenty of nearby nations, and it was specifically thrown out by the New Testament. He claims Biblical nationalism was not “culture- or race-centered” even though Old Testament nationalism clearly was.

Mangalwadi blames the Sunni-Shia dispute on lack of nationalism, even though the shared linguistic heritage of Sunnis and Shia is stronger than that of various Christian divisions! He glosses over the sometimes violent Protestant/Catholic, Catholic/Orthodox, Reformed/Anabaptist, Anglican/Puritan, and other inner-Christian disputes where “nationalism” was either ignored or used for evil, even though he uses some of those same disputes to further his ends in other chapters. He tries to claim that German nationalism failed because it wasn’t built on God, but German theologians of the time certainly pretended that it was. And other awful examples of nationalism (such as apartheid South Africa or the Confederate South) which were clearly built on supposed Christian foundations aren’t addressed.

The chapter starts with Margaret Thatcher being lionized as a conservative hero, in a wedged-in quote that does nothing for his broader point except to get cheers from fellow conservatives. That basically describes his leanings the whole time – right-wing Christians are pro-nationalism, so he tries to be pro-nationalism, and makes a really weak case to derive that point from the Bible.

Chapter 11: Literature. It’s undeniable that the Bible had a massive influence on Western literature. I don’t support every argument in the chapter, but the overall argument is too easy to make that there’s no point on harping over the specifics.

Chapter 12: University. The fact that the modern university was invented by Bible-believing Christians, not only in Christian countries but in India and elsewhere as well, is rather strong. In fact, a broader argument for the idea of “universal education” having a foundation in Christianity could also be made.

Chapter 13: Science. The idea that a Biblical philosophy was able to create sustainable and directed science was new to me, and despite my prejudice against the idea, I found it to be one of the better chapters. However, Mangalwadi’s own biases get in the way again, as he shows off incredible naivety and ignorance in climate change, evolution, etc. to appease the opinions of his American religious right peers. Thus, his constant need to apologize for moments in which the Church persecuted science (which, as he ably points out, were not due to a fundamental problem between Christianity and science but more specific cultural and political issues) seem quite ironic when he gives support to the exact faction of the Church most devoted to making those same mistakes today.

Chapter 14: Morality. This is the subject that most interested me, and to any objective observer it is a pretty easy case. Not that “Christian” nations are more moral than other nations, but that exposure to Biblical values makes any culture more moral than it was before. The history of Rome, Europe, and India are good test cases, and Mangalwadi uses them well. The John Wesley story is especially amazing. And a more overarching theme across culture – the corruption indices – does strengthen the case.

However, Mangalwadi doesn’t explain why “less Christian” New Zealand and Denmark are less corrupt than the “more Christian” USA, especially relevant as he gloats about American politics and morality throughout the book. Examining that question might lead Mangalwadi to some uncomfortable realizations about wealth, business/technology, and politically conservative ideology.

Chapter 15: Family. There’s a good argument here, and Mangalwadi makes well the argument that Christianity has been a strong positive buttress to the family and to women/children’s rights in general. However, I can’t just praise the argument he does make without noting that he ignores the objections. Celibacy is praised in the Bible, and Jesus in fact is celibate, but he ignores that. The Bible has been used to oppress women, even as most feminist movements arose from Christian nations, and he doesn’t adequately deal with that. While he does deal with churches that restrict women inappropriately, he walks a narrow and unconvincing line in terms of how women’s equality in the church really means. And, once again, fails to deal with the fact that is those churches aligned with the religious right he supports elsewhere which are the most likely to treat women in a manner he recognizes as wrong.

Chapter 16: Compassion. Not a tough argument to make on historical grounds. Mangalwadi argues that Christian compassion has transformed the character of nations, uses the realm of medicine specifically to show one place where Christian-inspired compassion has done great work, and makes his argument well. Yet again, however, it is sad to note that “compassion” is yet another positive Biblical value with which the Christian right which Mangalwadi lionizes appears to miss the mark so often and so poorly.

Chapter 17: True Wealth. Mangalwadi manages to make more here than I thought he could, but he’s still well off base. The Christian hope for a better future certainly has led to more production within societies than many alternatives (though I think his Japanese cultural history is in part inaccurate). But the massive pitfalls of wealth accumulation are completely ignored. If such civilizations had followed the Bible and Jesus, they would NOT have accumulated wealth in this way.

Chapter 18: Liberty. Ugh, this chapter killed me with its selectivity. Yes, the Christian hope does make fighting for liberty a reality, and there’s truth there from the Bible. But how do you gloss over the strong Calvinist lead to South Africa’s apartheid system in a chapter that starts with South Africa?!? How do you praise the Americans for the American Revolution, and ignore that the Revolution was fought in part to gain the right to defeat and subjugate the Native Americans on their frontiers? How do you ignore that the slave-owning American South viewed itself as the “Christian” region of the country, or that many of the most self-professing American Christians today still praise the Confederacy? The history he gives in this chapter is true, but he ignores far too much.

Chapter 19: Mission. Everything in this chapter is true, but from beginning to end it is just one anecdotal example. There is no doubt that there is a Biblical virtue to reach and help others that is unparalleled elsewhere (though not absent). But there are also awful stories. The chapter is weakened by its failure to include more examples on both sides.

Chapter 20: The Future. To the extent to which this chapter reflects Chapter 1 and the West having lost its soul, it is strong. But Mangalwadi’s own biases may prevent the very future he wants to secure. His almost limitless faith in globalization, nationalism, capitalism, wealth, technology, military….wait, am I talking about Mangalwadi or Modi? It’s stunning to see how many Modi-type ideas are being unconsciously reflected by Mangalwadi, simply in a different religious package. I pray the comparison gives him pause. To the extent to which the chapter simply represents the Christian hope, it is okay. I hope and pray that Mangalwadi can be exposed to a broader cross-section of Christian thinking and realize that not all right-wing ideas represent the Christian hope.

Appendix: The Bible. This is so misguided that Mangalwadi should have left it out. However, it does well to represent a consistent issue that occurs throughout the book.

Mangalwadi lionizes “The Bible” rather than Jesus and His Kingdom or the outworking of God’s Kingdom through His churches. Mangalwadi’s historical claims about the New Testament are quite off-base – when Jesus and his disciples taught about sharing the word of God, they were speaking of something that was already being shared, not a future book that was yet to be written and compiled. He ignores that canons were not uniform for the first two centuries, and yet the Church proceeded quite spectacularly without the Bible existing in anything remotely like its compiled form. Mangalwadi turns the Bible into a magic book, forgetting that even the Bible itself attests over and over that God sent us Jesus, not a list of books.

This demonstrates why throughout the book, Mangalwadi fails to give credit to Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and the Church for changing society, but continuously wants to place the credit in the hands of the book alone. It betrays more of a Koran-like understanding of a mystical Holy Book directly sent by God than the historic Christian understanding of the origin of the Bible and its place in Christian witness. If Mangalwadi had focused on how faithful obedience to the God of Jesus Christ had changed culture over time, he would have had a stronger and more nuanced book. Instead, his (inconsistent) focus on the physical text of the Bible has allowed him to jump around and cherry-pick whichever historical moments best support his case for whichever argument, while ignoring any part of the Christian witness which doesn’t fit into his neat boxes. As I’ve had to repeat too many times already, it’s a bias which he appears to gain from the American right-wing Reformed Christians which influence him far too much. If he would step outside of this narrow theological box, then the fullness of Biblical witness and the broader growth of the Kingdom of God may open up to him to a much greater degree.

[Ruth Barone · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book shone a major light on some concepts that I had taken for granted as being universal common sense, and traced their origins back to the Bible. Ideas such as a democracy where the rulers and the people are responsible for adhering first to a moral law; the notion of equality of all people; the inherent value of a life; the concept of heroism as the laying down of one's life to serve others (rather than conquering them); the idea that the world and the universe are knowable and that the pursuit of this knowledge is good; the idea that all people in a society should be educated and not just the elite; the concepts of caring for the poor, serving the outcasts, and a society that takes for granted that police, courts of law, and our government have the responsibility to act in a just and trustworthy manner - these concepts and many more spread throughout the west when the Bible was placed in the hands of the people. These ideals are not universal, as the author makes clear as he compares them to the worldview held by the majority of people in his own country, India. In researching the many changes that have taken place in India over the last 300 years, he traces its successes back to the Christian philosophy that was brought to his country after it was colonized by the British (the colonization itself he condemns).

A very intriguing read, from a historical and intellectual perspective, about the success of western civilization and the reason for its success. The outside perspective was refreshing and the book has instilled in me a desire to do more research on the reformation, the American Revolution, and the changes that occur when Protestantism touches other cultures.

[Nathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this book on the recommendation of a friend over discussions of evangelism. It is well worth reading for the following people: 1. Christians who really want ideas for evangelism. 2. Christians whose faith is shaken to one degree or another.

Christian worldview is important, and lots of Christian authors have written on the topic effectively. Mangalwadi adds to the worldview discussions in the realm of practicality. His thoughts on Christian worldview mostly come by way of personal testimony. I found that especially enlightening.

It is full of excellent examples of how the Bible sets people free to be human. I found the discussion of the lateen sail to be one of the best. You'll have to read it to find out what I mean.

I loved the way he drew me into his thought-world through Kurt Kobain. Excellent.

There are two areas of weakness in the book: 1. It's 400 pages long. Seriously, he could have written half the pages to say what he needed to say. With as easy to read as the book is, the length hurts its accessibility. 2. I was left wondering if he wasn't embellishing some of the stories he used as examples. They come across as somewhat propaganda-ish, and that's not what you want in a book like this.

Overall, 4 out of 5 stars. You should take the time to read it.

[ValeReads Kyriosity · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this one a lot. While I had some quibbles (even some serious ones) about some of Mangalwadi's takes and conclusions, they came from a man with a sincere and suffering faith whose overwhelming attitude to his subject is gratitude. In a world seething with envy and eager to tear down any vestige of history with even a whiff of a variance with modern mores, here is an Indian man who looks past the very real problems with his nation's colonial past and rejoices in the tremendous blessings that a Western Civilization steeped in Scripture brought not only to the West but to the East. I found it almost shockingly refreshing. And it was a very appropriate book to be reading on Thanksgiving (I stayed up till 2 a.m. to finish it). I am thankful for his thankfulness.

The narrator was unexceptional but unobjectionable.

[Ethan Young · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book makes a compelling case for the world changing power of the Word of God. With such a broad scope of a book, you would think it could barely touch on most subjects, yet the author does a thorough job of tapping into many subjects with both factual history and stories you can sympathize with.

The groundwork that the Holy Scriptures lay in an individuals life to flourish or fail are so important to understand, but this book talks about the groundwork that the Holy Scriptures lay, and the obedience to them, to radically change a culture and society as well.

[Sunflower · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are looking for an easy read, "The Book that Made Your World: How the Bible Created the Soul of Western Civilization" is not an easy read, but a soulful read that deeply explores the impact the Bible has made on civilization and cross compares, why didn't anything else have the same level of impact as the Bible.

The book may look intimidating,but"The Book that Made Your World: How the Bible Created the Soul of Western Civilization", breaks down each chapter, into the areas that the Bible has influence, but rather jump around in time,establishes a consistant timeline of events, showcasing how the Bible has evolved the world as we know it.

Mixed with commentary from the perspective of other religions and even secular sources,"The Book that Made Your World: How the Bible Created the Soul of Western Civilization", I felt, was a well balanced look at the impact the Bible has made.

The author of the book is, Vishal Mangalwadi, who is described as an Indian philosopher, and some of the things that he shares with the readers are aspects such as, its influence in human rights, justice, heroism, optimism, compassion, capitalism, family,education, science and morality and offers some fascinating information, along with more background information on well known historical information.

This is not light reading, but its a thought provoking reading that would hopefully for many, encourage to dwell deeper on the influence that the bible has had.

[Lynn Joshua · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book reveals how the ideas that we consider common sense or universal are actually unique to cultures that have been influenced by the Bible. The author has a unique viewpoint as a Former Hindu raised in India. Here are some of the ideas we take for granted:
Democracy where the rulers and the people are both accountable to a higher moral law;
the worth of every life,
the idea the the stronger is responsible to help the weaker instead of the other way around;
the idea that the world and the universe are governed by laws not random chance, and that we can learn and apply these laws;
the idea that all people should be educated not just the nobles;
the idea that positive change is possible - that we are not just victims of fate or karma,
the idea that of calling or excellence in our work as a value in itself.

He shows

[Heather Perkins · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book made me feel like I was tricked into reading it. I spent my time reading it complaining about it to a friend about how awful it was. There are so many more thorough and better reviews that go further into detail about why this is not a good book, much less a good look into the topic it professes it would be. Suffice it to say, it may have been written by someone who is not from the middle of America, but it uses all of the same talking points as someone born and raised in Texas who watches Fox News.

This could have actually been an interesting book that focuses on the way in which Christianity played a major part in the way Western Culture grew and changed, but when you try to equate some ancient cultures practicing head hunting to "some cultures cut off parts of almost born children," aka abortion, you are just pushing your agenda and not history.

[Dee Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Audible.com 14 hours 15 min. Narrated by Peter Lawrence(A)

This was worth the time to follow through carefully . A great narrator for a great book. It is exactly all the summary claims. I especially enjoyed chapter 17 and was so impressed by Cyrus McCormick's work ethic and his family that I'm going to try to find his biography. I read a negative review on Goodreads and can't believe we read the same book.

[Sandra A. Chávez Chávez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ayuda a dejar prejuicios del cristianismo. Muchas cosas de la cultura que damos por hecho no existirían sin una influencia cristiana.

[Mariangel · Rating 3 out of 5]

"The university shook my teenage faith, and I decided to test if the Bible's prediction - that all nations would be blessed through Abraham's descendants - was being fulfilled. I was astonished to discover that the Bible was the source of practically everything good in my hometown, even the secular university that undermined the Bible."

This book describes various aspects of today's world: language and literature, education, nationalism, rationality, technology, heroism, tracing their development in Western civilization to a Biblical understanding of the world (and not to the Enlightment, as he shows referencing earlier writers with the same ideas). It compares it with the development of his country, India, in all these areas, and explains how a Buddhist world view differs and leads to a completely different society.

Though he talks about the technological and scholarly advances in the Middle Ages, coming from monasteries and universities (which he shows were also a product of Christianity), the author focuses mostly on the influence of the Bible in our world after Luther and the translation of the Bible to the vernacular, specially in English speaking countries. The little he mentions about Catholic countries in those times, is to call them superstitious, ignorant and moved solely by greed in colonization of America. In this he shows his British upbringing, repeating the well-known English black legends. He researched on his own and realized that his materialistic university teachers were wrong about dismissing the influence of Christianity, but he did not research at all if what the same teachers or other English authors write about Catholics is true. For example, he says that because France was Catholic, "Huguenotes prayed at their own peril. Any show of Protestant affiliation was punishable by the severest penalties", and calls this (properly) a slaughter, and the king "demented". However, in a very one-sided way, there is no mention at all of the Catholic priests and laypeople who were drawn, hung, and quartered in England for celebrating or attending mass.

But for many people who have no idea of how deep the influence of the Bible is, this book contains a lot of good information. The last two chapters are particularly good.

[Canis Nugroho]

I will not give a rating to this book as how you view this book will be completely subjective to what your religious beliefs and values are. However, this book does provide a comprehensive account of how the Bible has shaped societies from all angles and all aspects of life. Vishal Mangalwadi combines both extensive research and draws upon his own experience from living in India to explain how different religious beliefs shape cultures.

If you read this book, keep in mind that it is evidently written from Mangalwadi’s own values and beliefs, so it is suggested to read this with an open mind and willingness to understand where cultural beliefs and ideologies stem from.

[Dave Dentel · Rating 5 out of 5]

It may have been the dust jacket design that threw me off. The title is set in ornate lettering and illuminated with a medieval-style vine-and-serpent motif, which led me to think this was a book about the ancient origins of the Bible and how it emerged in its present form.

Instead, The Book That Made Your World examines a much more familiar theme—how the Bible influenced and accommodated the rise of Western civilization. But what makes it different, and unusually potent, is that its thesis is propounded by an Easterner who sees this historical influence as a good thing.

Author Vishal Mangalwadi was born and raised in India. But he is a Christian who seeks to reform his native land by employing the principles laid out in Hebrew scriptures and expounded upon by Europeans and Americans.

This unusual juxtaposition has much to do with why I found the work so engaging, even though many of the ideas it forwards I’ve encountered before.

For example, when Mangalwadi discusses how the biblical doctrine that human beings are made in God’s image fosters a regard for life and the worth of the individual, he does so in more than a purely academic sense.

Ideas that Make a Difference

Quite early in the book Mangalwadi recounts how he and his wife launched a ministry to India’s rural poor, and how their efforts were thwarted in part by values born of Eastern tradition.

He details how they struggled to persuade a neighbor to let them provide medical care for a younger daughter who was gravely ill. Ultimately, the girl died, because her parents did not regard her life worth the effort and expense of saving.

Mangalwadi writes, “Sheela’s parents starved her to death because they saw her as a liability.”

Not that Mangalwadi relies solely on emotionally charged anecdotes. He dives deep into history and philosophy, making the case that the Christian worldview fostered all sorts of society-boosting developments.

Among his many arguments:

• Medieval monks laid the groundwork for the rise of technology;

• Christian reformers inspired the common man to demand just government;

• The biblical model of the family elevated the place of women and eventually led to their empowerment.

But don’t think that Mangalwadi merely parrots more commonly known apologists from the Christian West. For instance, he doesn’t think much of the ancient Greeks and their populist democracies. And unlike C.S. Lewis, he is certainly no Neoplatonist.

It’s clear that what Mangalwadi desires is a way to apply the best of the Judeo-Christian ethos in order to benefit his own unique culture. And his book is most compelling when he recounts ways in which this has already happened.

When Learning Leads to Freedom

His chapter on language offers a prime example. Casting back to the 18th and 19th centuries, the author shows how it was mainly American and British missionaries who revived and refined native dialects into the national tongue of modern India. These proselytizers also built schools that developed into some of India’s first modern universities, an effort which gave rise to the Indian Renaissance and ultimately the drive for independence.

These missionaries, Mangalwadi declares, “wanted Indians to come to their college to begin cultivating their minds and spirits, to question the socioeconomic darkness around them, to inquire and find the truth that liberates individuals and builds great nations.”

And what is this truth? That the gospel of Christ offers not only spiritual redemption and reconciliation with God, it also points the way toward applying justice and mercy here on earth in the hope we might spend our brief sojourn together working in peace and dignity.

And is this grand vision even possible?

To illustrate that it is, Mangalwadi tells the story of his friend, Dr. Rochunga Pudaite, one of the Hmar people, former headhunters who inhabit the rugged uplands along India’s border with Burma.

Ro, as the author calls him, is the son of early converts to Christianity. With the aim of furthering the faith among their own people, Ro’s parents sent him off to school to learn to read, write, and study the Bible.

And study Ro did, first at Saint Paul’s College in Calcutta, then at Allahabad University (the author’s alma mater), and in Glasgow, Scotland, and Wheaton, Illinois.

Eventually he returned to his people with a version of the New Testament translated into Hmar. Ro also helped found an organization that has, Mangalwadi writes, “opened eighty-five schools, a college, and a hospital—all without any help from the government.”

Mangalwadi insists that the dramatic transformation of the Hmar is simply a microcosm of what applying biblical principles has achieved in the West—and what it can do elsewhere.

“The Bible generates hope for all people,” he declares. As for his friend, Ro, he adds: “The Bible set his imagination free to dream what his tribe ought to be—educated; free to interact with neighbors and enemies; able to overcome hunger, hate and disease; and ready to contribute to the world.”

Mangalwadi concludes: “This fascinating story … can be multiplied across every continent and country.”

[Shanelle Postma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible summary of the Bible’s influence on the West. Gives a broad understanding from various perspectives including history, philosophy, theology… etc. Comprehensive & thought provoking.

[Leonardo Bruno · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vishal Mangawaldi foi, sem sombra de dúvidas, uma das mais gratas surpresas editoriais que tive esse ano. Não conhecia o autor. Para falar a verdade, tampouco eu sabia que na Índia pudesse existir cristãos com tamanha envergadura intelectual (oh, céus, como estou atrasado!). Cheguei a este livro através da D. Elisabeth Gomes, que falou do Vishal como uma espécie de "Schaeffer indiano". O Felipe Sabino, criador do maior portal de teologia reformada do Brasil, o Monergismo, também havia feito referências muito positivas a respeito dele. Fiquei com muita vontade de ler o livro, e ainda mais por conta do tema que ele aborda.

O livro é dividido em seis partes e possui vinte capítulos e um apêndice, o qual trata sobre a inspiração e autoridade da Bíblia ("A Bíblia - É um fax vindo do céu?"). Através deles, Vishal vai mostrar que a Bíblia foi que fundou isso que chamamos de Ocidente: língua, literatura, tecnologia, ciência, música, artes, universidade, moralidade, família, economia, direito, globalização - todas essas áreas sofreram influência decisiva das Escrituras Sagradas da religião cristã, o que foi fundamental para o progresso da nossa civilização. A investigação histórica ampla empreendida pelo autor, aliada ao seu testemunho pessoal, fazem deste livro um guia indispensável para todos quantos se interessam pela análise cultural dos nossos tempos e pela defesa da fé cristã ante os desafios impostos pelo politicamente correto e pelo relativismo.

Leitura mais que recomendada!

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much like Rodney Stark's book "The Victory of Reason," Mangalwadi's book "The Book That Made Your World" is the story of how the gospel, delivered through the Bible, has transformed the world from a place of violence and barbarism into the modern, industrial, affluent, civilized world.
Mangalwadi traces this out in a host of ways--music, science, education, politics, missions, and more. One of the greatest strengths of the books is his contrast between the East and West.

Mangalwadi is an Indian and throughout the book he compares the way Eastern philosophy (and pagan philosophy in general) is at odds with the theology and philosophy of the West--particularly the Biblical worldview.

At every point, Mangalwadi shows that it is not geography, disposition, gifting, demography, or anything else--only the transformational power of the gospel that has transformed the world into what we know today. Even in a nation like India that is predominantly Hindu, Buddhist, and Muslim, the transformational power of the Christian gospel has brought great fruit in education, democracy, and wealth.

He argues that it is only the Christian worldview that has brought these gifts, as no other worldview offers the kind of philosophy can explain the way the world has been changed.

This is a great book and I highly recommend it--especially as an introduction to the history of the West, and as an apologetic resource.

[Edwin David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably the easiest way to describe the contents is to say that it is rather like a Bible centred version of Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies though this won’t help you if you’ve not read it! Essentially, Mangalwadi sets out to demonstrate the way in which the Bible has shaped Western culture from the ground up; as the subtitle says ‘the Bible created the soul of Western Civilisation’.

Covering topics as widely spread as humanity, rationality, technology and heroism, the book demonstrates the way in which a Biblical view of humanity has influenced all aspects of life in the west and contributed greatly to the development of democracy and technology. Dimond’s excellent work says that the development of the west can be attributed to physical factors (the guns, germs and steel of his title). However, Mangalwadi demonstrates that human society is far more complex than this and that moral and spiritual factors have also played their part in the growth of the West and the impact of its civilisation on the world.

http://www.kouya.net/?p=4238

[Dani · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book focuses on the impact the Bible has had on the world as we know it today. It compares the philosophical foundations of major world religions and how their differences shape cultures. It dives deep into how the Bible and Christian values have impacted the development of global education, science, medicine, innovation, economics, democracies, the concept of the intrinsic value of humans, liberty and more. Not a light read but very interesting!