Seven books to sharpen your Christian worldview
Which book will help me? Photo EPA, Martin Divisek
Christian Life
Why do we believe in human dignity, democracy, or the rule of law? How do we understand politics and history? The answer to all these questions depends on our worldview. Here are seven titles that can help you to develop a Biblical worldview.
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Religion is at the root of everything. It is also the foundation of our worldview. For many Europeans today, this religion is humanism. At the same time, the influx of migrants to the European continent also brings in other religions (particularly Islam), which all have their own answers to these questions.
As Christians, it is crucial that we provide appropriate answers to today’s burning issues. In other words, we must develop a Christian worldview. But what is it? How can we develop it?
This article offers seven books that can help you develop such a worldview. (These books are listed alphabetically by author.)
The Mission of God: A Manifesto of Hope for Society by Joe Boot (2014)
Having begun his career as a Christian apologist, Boot noticed through the years that the questions raised by sceptics were no longer whether the Bible was truly the Word of God, or whether Jesus was the Son of God, but mainly concerned societal issues. This prompted him to write what remains to this day his magnum opus.
Boot demonstrates that all spheres of society can only truly function well within the framework of the Christian worldview. Demonstrating his points with historical examples, particularly from the Puritan era, he shows how Christianity is the foundation of all the positive developments Western society has experienced throughout its history.
Also, he shows that the future of Western civilisation can only be assured if it reattaches itself to this Biblical framework.
Dominion: The Making of the Western Mind by Tom Holland (2019)
Like many secular historians, Tom Holland believed that Western civilisation rested on foundations derived from ancient Greece and Rome. However, the more he studied these ancient civilisations and discovered their brutality, the more he found out how far removed from our current civilisation they actually were. His journey ultimately led him to discover that the basic ideas we take for granted, such as the dignity of man, are merely the result of the impact of Christianity throughout our history.
Tom Holland’s book offers an overview of 2000 years of European history and shows how belief in the Bible has shaped our civilisation. It also demolishes the false narrative that our civilisation owes its existence to Ancient Greece or Rome.
Lectures on Calvinism by Abraham Kuyper (1898)
“Calvinism and its belief in predestination: is it not a fatalistic view of Christianity?” This caricatured view of the Reformed Christian faith prevents many Christians from understanding the extent to which this belief system is at the root of the developments the West has experienced over the past 500 years, whether in science, law, or politics.
Lectures on Calvinism powerfully demonstrates why this is the case.
Abraham Kuyper was a Dutch pastor, philosopher, and journalist. He also founded the Free University of Amsterdam and was even Prime Minister for a time. Lectures on Calvinism are six lectures Kuyper gave at Princeton University in the United States. There, he demonstrated how the Reformed belief system can optimally shape all spheres of life.
The Book That Made Your World by Vishal Mangalwadi (2011)
While dealing with a particularly corrupt Indian society, even earning him a prison sentence for standing up for the truth, Mangalwadi wondered: What is the secret of Western civilisation ? Why was the West, although much younger than his Indian civilisation, nonetheless less corrupt and more developed?
His research led him to the realisation that it was the Bible that shaped all that is good in the West. This prompted him to write several books, including The Book That Made Your World, undoubtedly his magnum opus.
In this book, Mangalwadi explores the roots of several of the ideas that we take for granted, such as rationality, humanity or morality. He also explores a wide range of fields, such as languages, universities or science, only to find out that in all of these, the Bible was the single element that allowed for these to develop.
The Politics of God and the Politics of Man: Essays on Politics, Religion, and Social Order by Stephen C. Perks (2016)
Does the Bible have anything to say about politics? For many Christians, the answer is no. However, if Jesus indeed announced that all authority had been given to him in heaven and on earth, then the implication must be inevitable: Jesus also has authority over politics. If this is the case, what kind of politics pleases Jesus?
In his book, Stephen C. Perks offers a Biblical framework that helps us understand how to think about the social order in society according to the Christian worldview. In particular, he demonstrates that the role of the state should be much more limited than it is in the modern world.
By contrast, Perks explores the modern humanistic idea of the state, and explains why it can only lead to totalitarianism. This book will help Christians understand how the church can influence the transformation of a nation to bring it into conformity with God's will.
The Biblical Philosophy of History by R.J. Rushdoony (1969)
When we study history, do the facts we encounter truly speak for themselves? Or do we study history using pre-established categories?
Rousas John Rushdoony sheds light on the presuppositions that govern the study of history. He demonstrates the extent to which the modern reading of history is based on humanistic categories. But above all, he offers a Biblical framework within which to read history.
This framework is anchored in the conviction that Jesus Christ is sovereign over all history, and that every fact of history serves His supreme purpose: the advancement of God's kingdom on earth.
This book is a must-read for any Christian who wishes to read history using the correct categories.
The Protestant Ethics and the Spirit of Capitalism by Max Weber (1930)
Why are Protestant nations the most prosperous in the world? Many sought answers in material causes such as climate, raw materials, or people’s character. Max Weber was one of the first to consider a source that was largely neglected in his time: Christianity.
As the title of his book suggests, his thesis was that Protestant doctrine was the true source of prosperity for Protestant countries. Although some of his theological points were not entirely in line with the theology of Luther and Calvin, Weber nevertheless succeeded in showing how the Protestant ethic was indeed the source of the development of nations that adopted the Reformation.
To this day, the basis of his thesis has not been refuted.
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