The God That Did Not Fail: How Religion Built and Sustains the West

by Robert Royal

Book Overview

Secular humanists and other "progressives" have been predicting the demise of religion for the past 250 years. But they keep running into a problem: those who were supposed to be liberated by the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1594031452
• ISBN13: 9781594031458
• Release Date: July 2006
• Publisher: Encounter Books
• Length: 280 Pages
• Weight: 1.52 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.9" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

God that Did not Fail:How Religion Built and Sustains the West.Great Book and Argument.

Book represents a Great argument that seems very taboo in so called intellectual circles that Oppose religion,Specifically Christianity,Catholics,Etc. Book is a great read And Adds some Balance to the debate. Also Recommend reading : Triumph: The Power and Glory of The Catholic Church and Woods: How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization.

A refreshing read

I'm in agreement with the others endorsing this book. Sadly, much of current Christian literature is fairly banal and not much more than an endless string of trite platitudes. However, readers will find this work both refreshing and validating. Royal's book traces the development and perseverance of Christainity through the decades. Yes, Christianity despite the perpetual criticism from the Left and non-believers, was prime in the development of Western culture. God is not dead, but He remains continually working in the world.

What created the west? Royal argues it was Christianity

What an interesting book. Royal sets out to prove that the secularists who argue that religion needs to be erradicated from civilization have it all wrong. He insists that Christianity created the western mind, with its unique blend of individualism, science, and democracy. Those who are secularists today are "currently engaged in a deeply incoherent and, in multiple ways, dangerous experiment" (xiii). First off, and against much tradition, Royal states that the west did not begin in Greece. The Greeks and Romans, just as all eastern civilizations, believed in anakuklosis, that life followed cycles. In China and India this belief crippled scientific questions and even prevented democracy from forming. The religions and philosophies that grew up in pagan and eastern societies were deeply pessimistic. "Epicurus understood that many of the vices we see--lust, greed, ambition, snobbery, violence--are ultimately the product of the fear of death...in these dimensions Epicurus somewhat resembles the Buddha. Neither believed in a God or gods who are of much help to the human race" ( p 42). Life was pointless. Death inevitable. Against these truths, paganism was a pale set of rituals created to appease gods who cared little about human beings. And then came Abraham. He was a nomad, a person of little note in the world. But this obscure man claims to speak to God, and God "starts him on a fateful journey that has still not come to an end in its effects...'I have made you the ancestor of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you....I will establish my covenant...'" (p 53). And, surprise, some 4,000 years after Abraham about 55% of the world's population claim to believe in Abraham and his God. Abraham's God is a God of love, unlike Zeus. With the advent of Christianity, society would be changed forever. Most important was the belief that every person had an immortal soul. Christians argued against abortion and infant exposure. They forbade believers to watch the games or the theaters, where human beings were frequently put to death. Christian beliefs would lead ineluctably to the conclusion that Caesar was no god; and a slave was his equal in the eyes of the true God. Christians were famous for facing death calmly when standing in the arena. Unlike the spectators, they knew that death was not an end, but a beginning. Ancient society, except for the Jews, had no idea of charity. But soon after the advent of Christianity, "Galen was puzzled by the power of Christianity to create virtuous behavior among the uneducated" (p 86). Galen, the famous physician, fled the city as soon as the plague started. He was never criticized for it. Christians, to the amazement of the pagans, risked their own lives to help others. By 380 AD Christianity was the majority religion. After the fall of the Roman empire, monasteries kept Latin and learning alive. The

Nothing Quite Like It

I have to respectfully disagree with the previous reviewer's comments about this book being a tedious read. Since the reviewer feels the need to stipulate that he has an advanced degree, I will preface my review by stating that I too have an advanced degree--and I think this book is a real tour de force! TGTDNF lays out the whole panorama of the role of religion in the West clearly, calmly, and forcefully, and without resorting to the usual, sterile polemics. Robert Royal uses the latest secular scholarship to correct mis-impressions about our religious history that have become widespread because of the prejudices students are taught in schools and colleges. Starting from chapters on ancient Greece and Rome, which offer a particularly fresh re-reading of the classics and their true relationship to the modern West, he carries the story down the centuries to the present day and shows how religious questions have become prominent again precisely because they can never be eliminated from any truly human society. At times, the narrative reminds you of the sweep of someone like the British historian Paul Johnson. But there's nothing quite like it out there in my opinion.

Offers strengthening conclusion to attest to religion's importance past, present and future.

Secular progressives have been predicting the demise of religion for over two hundred years; but even those who were to be liberated by such aren't agreeing: such is the message of THE GOD THAT DID NOT FAIL: HOW RELIGION BUILT AND SUSTAINS THE WEST explores both biblical faith and the rejection of its foundations, which has encouraged ignorance of its history as a central force in the development of the West. Readings of religion in ancient Greece and Rome, of Christianity and Judaism and through the decades offers strengthening conclusion to attest to religion's importance past, present and future. Diane C. Donovan California Bookwatch