Unimaginable: What Our World Would Be Like Without Christianity

by Jeremiah J. Johnston

A Stirring Account of Christianity's Power for Good

In a day when Christians are often attacked for their beliefs, professor and speaker Jeremiah Johnston offers an inspiring look at the positive influence of Christianity, both historically and today. In Unimaginable, you'll discover the far-reaching ways that Christianity is good for the world--and has been since the first century AD--including:
- How the plights of women and children in society were forever changed by Jesus
- Why democracy and our education and legal systems owe much to Christianity
- How early believers demonstrated the inherent value of human life by caring for the sick, handicapped, and dying
- How Christians today are extending God's kingdom through charities, social justice efforts, and other profound ways

Like It's a Wonderful Life, the classic film that showed George Bailey how different Bedford Falls would be without his presence, Unimaginable guides readers through the halls of history to see how Jesus' teachings dramatically changed the world and continue to be the most powerful force for good today. This provocative and enlightening book is sure to encourage believers and challenge doubters.

Genres: History, Christian, Christianity, Christian Living, Theology, Nonfiction, Historical

238 pages, Paperback

Published December 5, 2017

Reviews

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had a little difficulty getting into this book at first, but the further I read, the more interesting it got. The book is split up into three parts:


The World Before Christianity

The World Without Christianity

The World With Christianity



The author discusses leaders of Rome such as Nero and Caligula, goes further up in time to Hitler and others, and shows the effects those evil men had when it seemed Christianity was barely existing. He does a great job of showing what the world would truly be like were it not for Christianity, while showing the effect Christianity has on the world. The book is an interesting, yet sobering read as one realizes that even today there are those who would like to rid the world of Christianity, and what a world without it might look like.

[Jonathan Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

What our world would be like without Christianity. With a tag line like that how could I not read this book. I teach Church History and Bible to high school students, and this kind of book is invaluable to me as I try to show them just how important the Church has been for the world as we know it.

The book is laid out in three logical sections that make sense as they explain 1. What the world was like before Christianity, 2, What the world would be like without Christianity and 3. How the world was shaped by Christianity. All three are well researched and well thought out (the endnotes, which are super annoying, love footnotes so much more, not as much flipping back and forth, are 31 pages long at about eight point font!!!).

While some people will complain that Johnston paints with too broad a brush. As in he makes a lot of summaries about a lot of different things, such as analyzing Freud’s life or the influence of Darwin’s teachings. While this is a very valid criticism, I think it is unfounded in that this book is exactly what is trying to be: an introduction to why Christianity is so important and needs to stay around in a world that is actively attacking and minimizing it. For a longer treatment, I suggest you look at the end notes and see a few other longer book length treatments of issues you are interested in.

In summary, other than a little ecumenism concerning Catholics and Protestants, I found this book very very interesting and one that I would recommend to anyone interested in why Christianity matters and what it has contributed to our world. Highly recommended!

Thankful to Cross Focused Reviews for a review copy in exchange for an unbiased review.

[Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unimaginable: What Our World Would Be Like Without Christianity is a new book by professor and speaker, Jeremiah J. Johnston, discussing the global impact of Christianity. More practically, this book discusses the implications of a secular humanist worldview—as reflected throughout history in atheist philosophies and political systems that dismiss human value and human dignity, resulting in dehumanizing ethics and evils—compared to a Biblical worldview, which confesses the intrinsic sanctity of all human life and (theoretically) follows Jesus' example of compassion and caring.

The "What If?" premise is intriguing, albeit not particularly novel, and Johnston approaches the ambitious question in three parts. The World Before Christianity explores the pagan, polytheistic civilizations and cultures that existed prior to and at the time of Christ. The World Without Christianity is a fairly in-depth analysis of more recent (19th-20th C.) individuals and regimes whose anti-Christian ideologies influenced and inflicted great evils (e.g., Nietzsche, Freud, Hitler, Stalin, Communism, fascism, etc.). The World With Christianity addresses the Greco-Roman response to Christianity in the early centuries. Throughout, there are contrasting examples of Christianity as a religion and worldview, of what Jesus taught and exemplified, and of ways Christianity (Christians, more accurately) has "stood against the evils of slavery (more than once), racism, eugenics, and injustices toward women and children".

With such broad scope, Unimaginable covers a lot of ground in under 200 pages, and, perhaps as a result, unfortunately its clarity and purpose suffers. First of all, to me this book is based on a somewhat misguided premise: not only that we must imagine what the world looks like without Christianity (but that is splitting hairs), but also, more significantly, that Christianity transforms everything, in a very black and white sense. Certainly, we acknowledge that in an ultimate, eternal sense, belief in Christ's death, burial, and resurrection is the singular solution for mankind's death penalty for sin; also, on a social and cultural level, Christians' engagement in the world has incredible impact for good. But, even at times and places in history where Christianity is embraced, evil still exists, and where Christianity is not embraced, good still exists. The doctrines of total depravity and common grace, for instance, are relevant to why there is evil and suffering in the world (as a result of sin, not the absence of Christianity; and, sometimes, at the hand of Christians), as well as why there is good, and good people (many of them atheists, agnostics, etc.). Oftentimes, Unimaginable seems to oversimplify this (complicated) issue overall.

On another note, I found myself unsure of the fundamental point. True to its subtitle, three-quarters of this book highlights before/without Christianity (though especially the latter seems to rehash mostly familiar "bad" history, e.g., the Holocaust, and not exactly profound), and yet, to what end, exactly? Is this meant to be a pat on the back for believers, to reiterate what the world looks like without us (and, if so, aren't we, most of all, aware of the "dark place" without Christ out of which we were saved)? or to prove to nonbelievers that Christianity is a good thing for the world (and, if so, isn't that beside the point)? Is it to garner support for democracy? or to emphasize the importance of maintaining some semblance of Christian foundation in American society? Perhaps I'm a little dense, but having finished Unimaginable, it seems the significant message that Christianity is "the most powerful force for good today" gets buried in the negative focus on the world without Christianity.

Unimaginable is certainly a relevant book for our day. Johnston highlights many interesting aspects of past cultures and worldviews, along with influential thinkers and leaders whose secular ideologies and policies, often with evil means, impacted history; in contrast, Christianity has and continues to have a largely positive impact on the world, with people of faith extending the love and compassion of Christ "through charities, social justice efforts, mental health initiatives, and other profound ways" both locally and globally. Unimaginable is, as its summary mentions, like "It's a Wonderful Life, the classic film that showed George Bailey how different Bedford Falls would be without his presence". But, as most would probably recognize, it may be similar, but it's not nearly as simple.

Disclaimer: This book was received for free from Bethany House Publishers, a division of Baker Publishing Group, in exchange for my honest review. Note as with all reviews and references, I do not necessarily agree with (or am even aware of) any or all of the beliefs, views, etc. of the author; please read my disclaimer here.

[Lydia Howe · Rating 4 out of 5]

WHY I CHOOSE THIS BOOK:

The concept of the book really grasped my attention. Other than that, I don't quite remember why I chose this book because I got it a while ago. I didn't read it for about a year because I thought it was going to be really heavy and I wasn't in the mood for that type of book. But then I read it and... 

WHAT I THOUGHT OF THIS BOOK:

Folks! I could barely put this book down. It was so good and grabbed my interest from the first page. Most of the time I skim read books - at least to a point - but I had to read every word of this book to get the full story. I read it over the period of two and a half days and want to read more by the same author. 

The book was divided into three parts, so I'll give a brief overview of each of the parts:

The World Before Christianity
This is probably the segment that I found most interesting. It talked a lot about what the world looked like before Jesus' time, and how we often see the world back then through the eyes of how our world is today. Mr. Johnston then spent several chapters breaking it down subject by subject and showing the worldview was quite different back then. I really like history, so this part of the book was right up my alley. 

The World Without Christianity
This section discussed some of the big influencers of philosophical thoughts from the nineteenth century - men like Charles Darwin, Karl Marx, and Sigmund Freud. There were several other men named also, and we got a brief overview of each of their lives, as well as what they thought/taught and what impact their teachings then had on the world.

 This part was also highly interesting to me and made me want to read more books like it. I had to keep my phone next to me so I could look up what was being said from time to time because there were a lot of concepts I wasn't familiar with. 

The main point of this segment was pointing out what happens when men try to take God out of the picture, and what a disaster that turns into. (Examples: WW2 and Communism.)  

The World With Christianity
The last section opens with a bunch of stats and that was really intriguing to me. (In fact, I promptly found a few people who I could share some of them with because it's so interesting.) Overall though, the last few chapters of the book found my attention lagging a bit. I'm not sure if it's because it covered more information that I knew already, or if I was simply ready to move on, but it was the last few chapters that brought the book from a five star read to a four star read for me. I still learned a lot from the last segment though. 

Conclusion: 

There were several things I didn't agree with, plus a few things that left me confused. For instance: Mr. Johnston clearly sees how Darwin's teachings negatively affected the world, and yet Mr. Johnston seems to believe that evolution is true instead of a literal interpretation of Genesis. 
At times there were also concluding statements that were made that sounded reasonable, but I'm not sure if they were entirely accurate. 
One warning: This book does deal with some harsh realities of the world, as well as talking about some pretty bad beliefs some people hold, so I don't recommend it to anyone under the age of 15. 

RATING:

This book was just a millimeter away from five stars. So Good! And yet, in the end, I'm giving it four out of five stars. I received this book from the publisher in exchange for reviewing it on my blog and I'm so thankful for the opportunity! 

[Hugh Henry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Johnston's very readable yet scholarly work is divided into three sections, attempting to explain how the world was before Christianity, what philosophers and world leaders have done apart from Christianity, and what good Christianity has brought to the world. His sources are quite diverse and his writing on the ancient world is the best part of the book. The basic thesis of the book is that, apart from Christianity, people naturally behave in a Hobbesian manner with massive categories of "haves" and "have-nots." Christianity has not eliminated inequality entirely, but has taken massive strides for women, slaves, and other marginalized groups. If you enjoy long books with great amounts of detail, this book's 200 pages might seem a bit cursory, particularly when perusing the abominable records of atheist world leaders. It is clearly written to bolster the faith and confidence of lay Christians in the West in the present date. Regarding slaves, the church's history is more checkered than Johnston lets on and Scripture is more nuanced than he allows, but all in all the book still contains useful information that should spur the reader to explore its claims in greater depth elsewhere.

[Anne Hamilton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Christianity revolutionised the ancient world. Christians in the second century risked their lives to save infants thrown out into the night to perish or be taken into the slave trade, particularly prostitution.

In addition, Christians pioneered the concept of the hospital, and of racial and ethnic and gender equality. The fact that Christians haven't lived up to the ideals doesn't negate the ideals themselves. Not even the faintest whiff of these precepts is to be found in other religions.

So, just what would happen if Christianity never existed or simply vanished? As Christian values disappeared in the 19th century, the way was paved for the rise of totalitarian dictatorships in the 20th century.

An informative and enlightening read.

[Andrew Sorrentino · Rating 4 out of 5]

The last quarter of this book discusses how Christianity has benefited society and the world, and that portion I enjoyed more than the first. What Our World Would Be Like Without Christianity takes up the majority of the text, and it is necessary to see what the world might be like in order to enjoy the last few chapters.
I'm grateful to have read this book. And I recommend it to those who think religion, especially Christianity, has no place in culture. And of course I can recommend it to those who need to defend the place of religion especially Christianity in the culture.

[Leah Savas · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this book, Johnston makes an admirable start at contrasting the evils of atheism with the benefits of Christianity. He turns to history and some personal anecdotes to first show the negative societal effects of atheism and later to illustrate how Christianity counteracts those evils. The stories and facts successfully serve as compelling evidence of his point.

I consider Johnston's work only a start, however, because the book feels incomplete. In some parts, the writing itself needs some editing and tightening up. (His frequent use of passive voice made it hard to read at times.) Other parts, mainly the third section on Christianity's benefits, could use more organization as well as more factual and historical details to drive home his main point.

Despite these complaints, the book will still be useful to have on hand as a reference because of its digestible presentation of important historical details.

[The_J · Rating 2 out of 5]

A title with a big promise of important statements of belief and history. Difficult not to feel that it was not fulfilled.

[Lane Corley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book! Lots of historical facts supporting the devastation of godlessness upon the world and the incredible impact that Christianity has made across time.

[Joan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Johnston has written this book to show that the world would be a much darker place were it not for Christianity. (195) He includes great stories of the benefits Christianity has brought to humanity. He looks at atheists and how they have influenced the world. He includes critiques of their characters and works.

While there is much to like about this book, there were some aspects of it that disappointed me. One was some of the unfounded statements Johnston made. He writes, for example, “Readers should know that the gulf between science and faith has long been bridged. Christian scholars and scientists recognize how Scripture and science, in fact, complement one another.” (79) My goodness, I wish that were true. Truthfully, there is still much controversy in reconciling science and Scripture. This is evidenced by a recent critique of Theistic Evolution that is a thousand pages long.

Another area was a sort of white washing of Christianity where it has not been practiced correctly and has not been as good as it could have been. An example is marital infidelity. Johnston makes a big deal about the marriage failures of atheists. Yet he never mentions similar marriage failures among Christians, especially pastors. Nor does he mention the recent sexual molestation scandals involving Roman Catholic priests. While he mentions that Dawkins was molested at a young age in an Anglican boarding school, he does not take ownership of that event as an example the failure of Christianity as it is sometimes practiced. (104)

He writes about how slavery was not done away with in secular societies. While he mentions how Christians in the U.S. south referenced the Bible to defend their use of slaves and their continued practice of slavery, he says we are not to take such errant use of Scriptures as the norm for Christianity. Never mind that those Christians did not think their use of Scripture was errant at the time.

He has glowing remarks for Christianity and racism yet I saw hatred and extreme racism from “Christians” in the last U.S. presidential campaign and election. He writes about how women are treated so terribly in non-Christian societies yet never addresses how, even in the “Christian” United States, women had to fight for the right to vote, the right to own property, and the right to equal pay.

This is a book for Christians to make them feel good about Christianity and its role in history. Unfortunately, since Christianity is lived out by imperfect people and that was not pointed out by Johnston, there is much in this book atheists will be able to criticize. If we are going to draw attention to all of the good things done in the name of Christianity over the centuries, we need to own up to the bad things too. Be sure to know that critics of Christianity will point them out to us if we do not recognize them ourselves.

If we lived in a world where Christianity was lived out perfectly, now that would be truly unimaginable.

[Michelle Bruin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book, Unimaginable by Jeremiah J. Johnston, asks the question what the world would be like without Christianity. Showing how the world without Christianity would be a dark place, this book guides the reader through the halls of history to see how Jesus’ teachings dramatically changed the world and continue to be the most power force for good today.

In this book, you will learn how Christianity has stood against the evils of slavery (more than once), racism, eugenics, and injustices toward women and children. Why democracy, freedom, as a universal value, and modern education and legal systems owe much to Christianity. How Christians throughout the ages have demonstrated the value of human life by sacrificially caring for the sick, handicapped, marginalized, and dying. And how people of faith are extending God’s kingdom through charities, social justice efforts, mental health initiatives, and other profound ways (taken from the front cover flap).

Jeremiah Johnston includes a lot of good information to support his claim that the “Jesus factor” is much more than a bulwark against dangerous distortions of theism. Christianity and a life lived according to the Bible shields us against a host of negative things (p. 17).

The book is organized with history, philosophy, and stories of notorious leaders laid out in the first two thirds. The last third of the book tells about the positive influence Christianity makes on societies. As I got farther into the book, I found listening to it on my kindle easier than reading it. I got bogged down in the section that exposes the thought of well-known philosophers. The book follows the style of an academic lecture, so I had better success in retaining the material and completing the book by treating it as a lecture.

The author spends time exploring social issues like slavery and oppression. I appreciated the chapters that dealt with the freedom women have in a world redefined by Christianity. The author spent time highlighting the positions of honor and authority women held in the early church. He affirms the fact that women in relationship with Jesus and converted to Christianity are not only set free themselves, but offer that same freedom to an oppressive world.

Overall, Unimaginable is a very good book. Its message is intense and the content is highly concentrated with crucial, deep information.

[Frode · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unimaginable by Jeremiah J. Johnston is about the world and what it would be like without Christianity. I believe this is an important book for people to read, Christians and non-Christians alike. It gives some good history and explains how ideas drive societies and how ideas can change things.

The book is broken into three sections with a variety of shorter chapters in each section. The first section explains what the world was like at the time of Christ and before He came. The brief description is that life was short, brutal, and full of hardship for most everyone. The second section deals with more modern examples where God has been pushed out of the picture. Pivotal men such as Freud, Nietzsche, Sartre and others are discussed and how their writings influenced others. These men were atheists or at least agnostics, but they also made a mess of their personal lives. Unfortunately they influenced people like Hitler and Stalin and Mussolini, and those folks and others like them created some hells on earth. The final chapter explains in part what drew people to Christianity in spite of the persecution and what changes that made in the world.

For me, having read Rodney Stark’s book, The Triumph of Christianity, and having listened to a couple of speeches and interviews with Glen Sunshine and with the author, the book was a bit anti-climactic. I was going over plowed ground, so to speak. Nonetheless, the book is very readable, and the author had one insight on a particular passage in Galatians that I found helpful. It’s a good book, and it should be read, particularly by those who have not thought much about history, worldviews, and the influence of Christianity.

[Rebecca Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

You might have noticed, or you might not have, but last year I did not take a single sponsored post, book review or curriculum review. After several years of having multiple weekly deadlines for reading and posting, it was blissful not to review for a while. This year, I decided that I wanted to take a few limited reviews on in addition to my regular blogging, and the first of those books I have chosen for this year is Unimaginable: What Our World Would Be Like Without Christianity.

We often hear from those around us that Christianity is bad for the world. Christians are labeled as intolerant, as homophobic, as full of hate and anti-women. I read a statistic a while back where many of the millennials who are walking away from the faith are doing so because they feel that Christianity is a hate-filled religion. These young people feel that Christianity is not relevant to their lives, and that they are better off pursuing a different religion or perhaps choosing no religion at all.

However, Jeremiah Johnston’s argument is that a world without Christianity is a world without hope. He argues that the church is on the right side of racism, rights for women and help of the poor and elderly. He begins by picturing the world of pagan Greece and Rome around the time of Christ’s birth. It’s a world where children are often exposed to the elements to die, sold into slavery or trained as prostitutes. It’s a world where women have no rights and are often considered the property of men. It’s a world where the life expectancy is often as low as twenty. It’s a world where men attempt to appease the gods, but expect nothing but evil in return from those same gods.

Christianity comes and changes that.

However, in our world, we are often on a slippery slope away from God, and popular philosophers of the nineteenth and twentieth century often reject God, reject conventional morality and find themselves pulled into an evil hedonism. After examining several major philosophers, Johnston pulls out his principle example of the product of this philosophy in the form of Adolph Hitler and his proteges in World War II era Germany.

Following this section of the book, Johnson concludes his book by discussing the good news for every person and why, in such a hostile environment, Christianity flourished. Johnston reveals how Christianity betters the life of those who are disenfranchised and why that is relevant in today’s world.

This is an intriguing book. Johnston makes a good case for why Christianity leads to a different and better worldview than the worldviews that are opposed to Christianity. He really does a good job of showing how your beliefs shape your actions and your world. I enjoyed reading his progressions, and much of what he says about the ancient world confirms some of the information that I’ve read elsewhere.

Johnston also does a great job showing how compromises in theology and changes in philosophy are a “slippery slope” that leads to an increasingly immoral culture. I still would like to see more of a causal link with Hitler. While Johnston made a good case, I felt that in some ways he was kind of straining as he looks to make a direct tie between Hitler and Nietzsche. I would like to spend some time going more in-depth in reading some of the books that he references in these chapters to look for a more direct link in philosophy. However, the similarities are very apparent as you read about the philosophers in these chapters.

I appreciated the further work that Johnston did in why Christianity was appealing to the pagan world. That might have been my favorite section of the book because it answers a question that I have often asked. Reading Johnston’s readings made perfect logical sense to me, so it was a pleasure to read.

The weakest section of the book for me what where Johnston discussed racism. Every time he discusses it, he makes the argument that racism is a product of humanistic philosophy and claims that the church is anti-racism. That doesn’t match my understanding of how the church has viewed racism. While many persons in the church have fought racism, many others have accepted it as status quo or used the Bible to promote slavery and racial segregation. I would have liked to see a deeper consideration of both sides of this issue, and seeing that issue dealt with lightly made me wonder if there were other issues dealt lightly in the book that I just didn’t have the knowledge base to question Johnston’s arguments.

However, having said that, this was an excellent and entertaining read. There was much that I enjoyed in this book and many portions made credible connections that I have not seen before.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Cross-Focused Reviews in exchange for an honest review. I have not received any financial remuneration for this review nor will I, and my opinion has not been altered in any way.

[Kacie Woodmansee · Rating 4 out of 5]

What would the world be like if Christianity never existed or if it ever ceased to exist? This is a question Jeremiah Johnston seeks to answer in his book Unimaginable. Some might say the idea of counterfactuals (alternative history) is pointless and even impossible to know. But Johnston argues that looking at what the world was like before Christianity and looking at parts of the world where there is little evidence of Christianity can help us draw some conclusions about a world without Christianity.

Unimaginable is divided into three parts. I. The World Before Christianity II. The World Without Christianity and III. The World With Christianity. It's not hard to look at the world around us and see that many cultures which were previously defined as Christian are becoming more and more secular. Johnston makes the point that even though people are more educated today than they've ever been, we don't learn from history and what Christianity has done for the world.

He works through what the world was like before Jesus walked on the earth and we can see the hardships many suffered and the atrocities men committed against each other. Then he focuses on the dangers of more modern ideas (think Marx, Freud, Nietzsche, etc) and the horrors these ideas brought on mankind (Hitler, Mussolini, etc). These ideas are utterly counter-Christian and the consequences were devastating. In the last section, Johnston looks at the good Christianity has done in the world. When people are valued as created in the image of God, the world transforms.

Johnston did a wonderful job of gathering information. Sometimes it was even overwhelming. He obviously did his homework. He makes it easy to see the good Christianity has done over the last 2000 years, and it's not hard to imagine how much worse off we'd be if it hadn't been a prominent force in the world. He even makes it personal in the last chapter so you can see the impact of Christianity on your own life.

I had two main issues with his arguments. The first issue is that he ignores or glosses over some of the horrible things people have done in the name of Jesus. I think his argument would be that those weren't actual Christians and they would have committed those horrors in some other name if Christianity wasn't around. I agree with that, but I also don't think you can simply ignore things like the Crusades and those who justified slavery with Scripture.

The second issue is, I think, inherent in arguing counterfactuals. And that's knowing the difference between causation and correlation. Some of the good that has come from Christianity that he mentioned most likely was caused, at least in part, by something else entirely. The biggest example I saw was that students who attended private Christian schools were more successful. While I'm sure faith in schools makes a huge difference, studies have shown that high socioeconomic status and parental involvement play a large part of the success of students. These things are more common for those who can afford private school, but they are not always a result of Christianity (especially the wealth). There are just too many factors in some of these examples for them to be clear cut.

Overall, I thought Unimaginable was very well done. Some of the information was new to me, but a lot of it was just a good reminder of what I already knew. And the more we know about history, the better decisions we can make in the future.


I received this book for free from Bethany House in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

[Beverly · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author of Unimaginable, Dr. Jeremiah Johnston, has written this book to aid both Christians and non-believers in appreciating the events that occurred in the past, especially those we need to avoid repeating in the future. He begins his task by asking this question: What would the world be like if Christianity had not emerged, and what would happen if Christianity disappeared today? This is something that's not really as difficult to understand as it may seem. Through extensive and careful research the author presents to his readers what the world was like before Jesus appeared on the scene. That's the topic of the first of three sections. What we read in this part of the book may just surprise many people.

The second section refreshes our memories of a group of men who at the early part of the nineteenth century turned their backs on the Christian world. Their influence led the Western world in the name of Enlightenment into bloodbath after bloodbath. It is not a pleasant part of world history. The third section introduces the idea that in spite of the philosophies of these influential men, Christianity continued to instill in its followers the value of life and human dignity. This led to humanitarian efforts that spread all throughout the world to every corner of the earth, including the world in which we presently live. Trying to imagine what it would be like if faith-based humanitarian aid was never sent to areas in America affected by fire, floods, storms, and illness is taxing. Try to imagine what the health situation of the countries without healthcare offered by faith-based hospitals and other care organizations is almost impossible.

These three sections are short and written in conversational manner, making this book approachable for nearly anyone. In reading these parts, I got the sense that Dr. Johnston was sharing with us only the very tip of the iceberg. There was so much more he could have shared in this book. But one of the things I have noticed about the author is that his purpose is to communicate what is important to his listeners or readers. He didn't get lost in the details. He is an intellectual that instead of preferring to stay isolated in a bubble away from everyone else, wants to reach out and assist people with understanding the "why" behind his assertions. I have watched some of his speaking engagements on You Tube and was impressed with his personable mannerism. His is truly a mission of the heart.

For me, the true gold of this book is in the references. In reading through all the pages of references Dr. Johnston includes in the book, I realized how much more in depth we could read and learn. His sources are scholarly and wide reaching. This is the part of the book that can offer more if you have an inquisitive friend who isn't satisfied with the interpretation the author offers. That makes this book a great resource, not only for yourself but for others who want to know more.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a review copy of this book from Cross Focused Reviews on behalf of Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group. I was not required to write a review, positive or otherwise. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

[Kev Willoughby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not exactly what I was expecting, given the synopsis provided here on Goodreads which compares this book to the same form presented in the movie "It's a Wonderful Life." As it turns out, there's no need to speculate what kind of world we would have without Christianity, because there are many examples given in this book provided by historic events over the past 2,000 years.

The book seeks to answer questions such as "Does God love me? How do I know? Does God still work in the world? Is there a divine purpose to my life? And... if Jesus had not come, would life really be that much different?"

The author does not shy away from the points made and the logic used by communists and atheists to promote a world without Christianity. He also does not belittle those who subscribe to those desires and worldviews. Instead, he takes their positions at face value and respectfully presents the counterpoint to each of the debates commonly presented by those parties opposed to Christianity.

In the first part of the book, the reader gets a glimpse of life in the years before Christ came. Those were the final years of a world without Christianity, and I was surprised at how much we take for granted and do not realize about that world. It was a place of hundreds of impersonal gods, none of which cared about the human race. It was a world of suffering, in which the sick were not only uncared for, but were ostracized and left to fend for themselves. It was also a world of inequality, where slavery and racism was rampant, fear was in the hearts of all, and life was devoid of peace.

In the middle part of the book, the calendar jumps forward to the 19th and 20th centuries to understand how the age of enlightenment caused people to begin to reject Christianity, spawning the atrocities leading to World War II, and the spread of communism during the middle and later part of the 20th century. This is another glimpse of What Our World Would Be Like Without Christianity. The connections between the published works of Darwin, Marx, Freud, and others had an undeniable impact on the evil of Hitler, Stalin, and several others who seized political power, some of whom are still active today.

In the latter part of the book, the author shares God's plan, including the promotion of equality, the end of slavery and racism, and the responsibility that each of us have to serve God and make life better for those around us. There are many things we take for granted in our world today that would not exist if not for Christianity. This book reveals those qualities and helps portray the value of faith in action. An eye-opening read when you consider how quickly our world could change for the worse, given the absence of Christianity or the inaction of Christians exercising their own faith.

[Veronica · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an amazing book! It was fascinating to learn more about what the world was like before Jesus came on the scene. Our view of God as loving is so opposite to how the Greeks and Romans viewed their gods, who were either indifferent or treated humans horribly. The world was a fearful place, with sickness and death rampant, women treated unjustly, slavery and superstition everywhere along with fear of death and the deceased. It was a common practice to abandon unwanted babies, mostly girls, to die of exposure, starvation or by wild animals. Racism was common. It truly sounded like a horrible time to live, for just about everyone. As Christianity rose and spread, these practices changed. Christians started caring for the sick and abandoned children, women were treated better, racism went down, etc., for hundreds of years.

The next section looked at some of the men born in the 1800's such as Darwin, Marx, Neitzsche and Freud who turned their backs on God and Christianity, embraced atheism and advanced their theories of racism, socialism, communism, etc. that men like Hitler, Stalin and others used to justify their murder of millions of people. The effect of their theories is still felt everywhere. It's amazing to me that people still think their ideas are the way to believe when you can see the outcome in history and where these ideas lead logically. If you believe in survival of the fittest and that there is no God, then how can you say there's a morality to abide by. You have nothing to base it on if not for God.

The final section looks at the amazing impact Christianity and faith based organizations have had on the world. From starting and maintaining hospitals to disaster relief, feeding the hungry in America and abroad, social programs, mental health programs, starting the first universities, etc. etc., the world would be a much darker place if not for Christians living out their faith in the past and continuing on today. This book really made me think of the deep and lasting impact Christianity has had on the world for good and appreciate the time and place in which I live. I recommend this book for everyone, Christian or not!

I received this book free from Cross Focused Reviews in exchange for an honest review.

[Karl Dumas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Have you ever asked yourself one of those deep, searching, questions like “what if”? What if some particular thing hadn’t happened, or had happened differently. That’s the question that Jeremiah J. Johnston asks us to consider in Unimaginable: What our World Would Be Like without Christianity. (Bethany House, 2017)
As an associate professor, Dr Johnston teaches at Houston Baptist University, and serves as the president of the Christian Thinkers Society. There is definitely an academic slant to the book. He breaks the book into three distinct parts. The World before Christianity, the World without Christianity, and the world with Christianity. One overarching idea is that a world with Christianity is definitely a better place to be.
Unfortunately, there is a lot of overlap in the three categories. Why? Because even in a world where Christianity exists, there are a lot of competing religions, and not all of them encourage their adherents to follow Christ. We still have slavery and human trafficking, there is still war, racism, and any number of things that were happening BCE, and which in a perfect world would not exist. Freud, Hitler, Ho Chi Minh and others, within the past 100 years prove that even in our Christianized world, things are still not as Jesus intended.
As a professing Christian I agree that Christianity has the potential to make things right, however a lot of that depends on Christians to stand up and, on a regular basis, do the next right thing. Johnston points out how humanity is being dehumanized, which tracks with others who are writing about how attempts by ultra-liberal thinkers to redefine ‘person’ and ‘human’ are leading us down a slippery slope.
While I appreciated the careful thought that went into this book, I found it to be a little one-sided. Obviously, as a professor of Christianity, his position is definitely that the world is better off with Christ followers in it, and the world would be much better if there were more evidence of Christianity apparent for all to see.
If this had been slightly more balanced I would be inclined to give it a more favorable review.
I received a copy of this book in exchange for a review
3/5

[Josh G. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good overview of a very important topic. Western people like myself easily take for granted what a novel, shocking, and subversive claim it is to say that all people — regardless of race, class, or gender — are created with equal dignity and value with in the eyes of God.

In Part 1, Johnston does a good job exploring the ancient Greco-Roman world and it’s beliefs about humanity before he shifts into Part 2, which felt like a fast-paced tour of key western thinkers who’ve progressively shaped our contemporary moment. These first two parts were the best parts of the book for me: I enjoy intellectual history and Johnston does a good job walking us through the key thinkers and ideas that, once rooted in the cultural ethos, gradually dislodged Judeo-Christian ethics and its presuppositions from the moral fabric of society. These sections are detailed, but Johnston avoids getting bogged down in the weeds. He gives clear, concise, and helpful accounts of what each thinker believed and how they influenced our present moral consensus.

Part 3 was a fair exploration of Christianity’s impact on various social realities: race, women, etc. I felt, however, the scholarship in this section waned and the specific data points could have been stronger. It would also have been good for Johnston to mention how Biblical teaching can be applied by non-Christian’s and beneficial to society — which reinforces how strong biblical values are for any society who practices them.

Even still, Johnston makes his case and shows how Christian teaching has transformed society and utterly remade the social fabric of the Greco-Roman world. The invitation to imagine a world without Christianity is, indeed, an invitation to consider a world in which the strong oppress the week, the rich exploit the poor, and the men mistreat the women. Even worse: such a world would be considered normal and right. Indeed, such was and is the case in a world without Christianity.

[Angel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve heard about a couple of books dealing with this same topic and always wanted to dive into one of them but never took the time to do it until now. I’m happy Unimaginable is the first one I read about this important subject, one that I believe is important for every believer to understand.

From the very beginning it’s obvious that Johnston is passionate about Jesus and about the impact of Jesus through history, and the good news is that the author is passionate about history.

The book is divided in three parts:

I. The World Before Christianity
II. The World Without Christianity
III. The World With Christianity

When reading Unimaginable you can feel you’re reading an overview of history itself, but when necessary, Johnston points to the specific parts of history and human civilization that have, or haven’t, touched not only by Christianity but by religion and belief in the divine in general.

The point I want to make here is that human civilization, which by its very nature requires law, is not only founded on belief in the divine but was also generated by this belief. Without a sense of the divine, would humans have created civilization? – Jeremiah J. Johnston, p.30

From the ancient Rome to the sad reality of WWII we witness a world of hopelessness and world leaders that chose to turn their backs from God’s principles to face terrible consequences. I really liked the section dedicated to not only the philosophies, but to the lives of some influential thinkers. There’s a clearer idea of why some of them decided to see the world through dark lens and how their thinking affected not only their contemporaries but is still affecting in our present.

But not everything is bad news, the last part narrates the way Christianity flourished in the Roman world and a call to be transformed in the middle of any situation.

[Jamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Essential and Recommended Reading For Believers and Skeptics

To live in a world that is absent of God's love through Jesus' life, death, and resurrection is unthinkable. Jeremiah J. Johnston has explored this subject thoroughly in Unimaginable: What Our World Would Be Like Without Christianity.
By examining periods in history, Jeremiah J. Johnston presents examples of Christianity's effects on our culture and civilization. The book is divided into three sections: before Christianity ( before Jesus' birth, death and resurrection); life without Christianity (periods of history when evil reigned through the most wicked of rulers and those who proudly turned their backs on God); and our modern world with Christianity (seeing the value of how Jesus' life, death, and resurrection has amazingly transformed and impacted our modern world with hope, dignity, and compassion).
Unimaginable is a fascinating book. It is essential reading for both believers and skeptics. This book makes the importance of Christianity's influence on our culture and civilization crystal clear.
I highly recommend Unimaginable: What Our World Would Be Like Without Christianity. It is essential to having an understanding of the profound effects of Christianity on our world in the past, in the present and in the future; and examples of when Christianity's influence was ignored and rejected. This book is brilliant, well-written, and a definite must-read!

*I received a copy of Unimaginable: What Our World Would Be Like Without Christianity, from the publisher in exchange for my honest review. The opinion stated is my own. I have not been compensated in any way.*

[Julie D. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book asks the question - "What would our world be like without Christianity"? Have you ever considered this? It's actually not hard to imagine that happening in this country (US) as we fall farther and farther away from God's principles. It's a very frightening idea to me, though, as it's only through God's ways that we have the pureness of right to guide us.

This book digs into the lives of different historical figures and how their faith or lack of faith shaped their worldview. I found this very interesting as I enjoy history and seeing how these different men believed and how this view shaped the world around them was interesting. We see how the men who believed in Christ lived their lives in an upright manner, always trying to do the right for others. The men who weren't Christian, ruined those around them and evil ruled their thoughts and actions.

He shares the Gospel and what it is like for those who accept Jesus into their lives. I liked this section of the book a lot because it just reinforced my own beliefs and also gave me more information as I share the Gospel with others. It's just a great reminder of why having Jesus in our world and in our lives is the greatest thing for us all.

This is a very good book about what Christianity does for us as people in our own lives, countries and the world. It's a book that makes you think but also reinforces why it's a good thing to believe in Christ. I highly recommend this book and give it 5 out of 5 stars.

*This book was provided to me for my honest review by Bethany House

[MaryAnn Bell · Rating 3 out of 5]

What would our world be like without Christianity? Jeremiah J. Johnston has taken time to write his thoughts about this. A world without Christianity would be a very dark place to be.



In his book, he looks at how Christianity has stood against the wrongs of slavery, racism, eugenics, and injustices toward women and children. How democracy, freedom and a whole value, and modern education and the legal systems all owe a lot to Christianity.



In his research, Mr. Johnston takes us back through church history and we explore what was and if we aren't careful what can be again.



This is a very thoroughly researched book, full of insight and leaves the reader thankful for Christianity.



I would recommend this book to read. It is informative and eye-opening.



I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review and the opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

[Angela Silverthorne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unimaginable has changed my life. Finally a book that puts some sense into what I'm seeing going on in the news and in the world. I've been on a downward spiral wondering what in the world was happening to people. Lies upon lies spouted on TV. And no one seems to truly notice or care, deliberately bouncing lies off lies. But Johnston puts what's happening today into a framework. He shows us the world before Christianity and the aftermath. He talks about the men and women who shaped philosophies that are still cropping up today. After showing us what our world would look like without Christianity, Johnston throws light on the ever-increasing effects of a world with Christianity. I'm for ever grateful for the author's attention to detail and the historical facts that have pushed us where we are today. Frank Turek stated, "Jeremiah Johnston takes you on a sweeping ride through history to reveal how Jesus Christ infused our lives with goodness in ways you many never have imagined. I can't recommend this book highly enough." Well, neither can I!!

[John Paul Arceno · Rating 4 out of 5]

J. Johnston's work is one of the best books I've read this year (2020). Johnston bridged the worldview of antiquity--by the ancient philosophers--to the rise of rationalism during the Enlightenment era towards post-modernism. This link is more than parallelism; it has grounded its work from questioning moralism, truth, good and evil, existentialism, inequality, oppression, and the existence of God in both historical times.

Indeed, Johnston building his argument from these solid foundations was able to bring a strong argument of why it is unimaginable to live in the world without Christianity.

As a history student, I enjoyed reading short biographies of each presented philosopher, politician, and psychologist. Truly, we can see how depraved humanity even with an "intention" to advance their "good" cause, everyone fails. What we need is to embrace and cling to the only hope-giver, bondage-breaker, redeemer, and the ultimate transformer of lives--Jesus Christ.

This what Christianity is all about, it is all about Christ.

[Tiff]

Well, I have to admit when I first started reading this book, I thought I wouldn't be able to finish it because there is so much scholarly biblical Greek terminology in it. It starts off hard to read and understand, but once you get into the thick of the book and why our world is so fallen, you start to understand the heart of the matter. This book is a great read, it really gives a backdrop of why our current world and society is so dark and filled with deception due to those who were herald as intelligent and knowledgeable in the world. They were never questioned because they seemed to know so much, but then people started to wise up and question the humanity factor in their theories and thus Christianity emerged. It's a beautiful unfolding of why believers believe what we believe. I recommend this book to anyone wondering why Christian believe what we believe, as opposed to what society teaches.

[Michelle Kidwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unimaginable
What Our World Would Be Like Without Christianity
by Jeremiah J. Johnston
Bethany House

Bethany House Publishers
Christian
Pub Date 05 Dec 2017


I am reviewing a copy of Unimaginable through Bethany House Publishers and Netgalley:


In this book Jeremiah J. Johnston gives us a brief glimpse into what the world may look like without Christianity. The author points out the pain and suffering that would be experienced as well as the fear of Hell.


Johnston goes on to point out why people reject God.


Professor Jeremiah Johnston dares to speak up for Christianity in a time when Christians are often attacked for their beliefs. The author shows the positive effect of Christianity from the first century until today.


I give Unimaginable five out of five stars!


Happy Reading!

[Carol Ghattas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Though I felt Johnston gave some good examples of what the world could be like without Christianity, I wasn't exactly sure why he did such a broad jump from the Roman world and the first 200 years of the Church to after 1700. It seemed like a big gap that left the reader without the inability to see how the world actually changed because of Christ. I know he was trying to move to more modern examples of atheistic/humanistic philosophies and their affect on culture, but I just felt we missed something in between.

Though the book had a lot of good information and was easy to read, I think it could have been a bit deeper in the evidence-based research of this premise. I still highly recommend it to those who are skeptical as to the value of Christianity in our world today.

[Tyler Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read which presents Christianity, not by defending its authenticity, but by defining its global impact.

The first section focuses on late antiquity, in its moral depravity and utter hopelessness. The second segment zeroes in on post-enlightenment atheism, and how its nihilistic philosophies are actually a return to pre-Christian pagan ethics. Nowhere is this more clearly illustrated than in the ideas of Nietzsche, and their applications by Adolph Hitler and his ilk.

We do not have to imagine a world without Christianity. History reveals that world to us through the Roman Empire, and the atheistic empires of Germany, Russia, and her eastern communist neighbors. Christianity brought hope, decency, and equality to the world. It brought salvation even beyond the spiritual.