FAKE CHRISTIAN HISTORY
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The Basics
Here are some books help you get started with world history.
A Little History of the World This gem of a book "for children of all ages" is an ideal first pass through world history. Get your bearings here if your history is rusty. Highly recommended. The Victory of Reason: How Christianity Led to Freedom, Capitalism, and Western Success A great introduction. Debunks myths of the "Dark Ages" while showing that Christianity gave birth to freedom, and freedom led to the rise of Western civilization. Christianity on Trial: Arguments Against Anti-Religious Bigotry Defends Christianity on many topics such as slavery (the abolitionists were Christian) and the Crusades.
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Science and the (alleged) Dark Ages
<b>
Now it is time to get a little more scholarly. 'The Victory of Reason' does an accessible job debunking myths of the Dark Ages, but also check out these more scholarly works. Medieval Europe: A Short History is my favorite book on Medieval history (it is expensive, so buy it used). Europe after Rome: A New Cultural History 500-1000 is also excellent.
Sailing from Byzantium: How a Lost Empire Shaped the World The Roman Empire only fell in the West. The explicitely Christian Byzantine empire stood for another 1000 years after the fall of Rome, and preserved and even advanced upon Greek and Roman learning. Follow that up with A Short History of Byzantium if you are still interested in the Byzantine Empire.
Modern scholarship shows that Christianity led to the development of science (with the help of Greek thought). It took the conception of a rational God who created a rational, ordered universe to make scientific study meaningful. Modern historians have shown that science emerged in the Middle Ages, contrary to what prior generations have claimed. The Soul of Science: Christian Faith and Natural Philosophy (Turning Point Christian Worldview Series) An scholarly but still accessible introduction. Follow it up with the more nuanced, but more scholarly, Science and Religion, 400 B.C. to A.D. 1550: From Aristotle to Copernicus.</b>
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Theories on the Rise of the West
A few scholars such as Kenneth Pomerantz and Thomas Gunder Frank have argued along the lines of Jared Diamond that Western Civilization only became so successfull because of fortunate geography (although read pages 407-411 of the paperback version of 'Guns, Germs, and Steel' and you'll see that Diamond is not a complete geographic determinist). In particular, they argue, access to North America gave Europe a wealth of raw materials that launched Europe past other powerful civilizations such as China.
The Wealth and Poverty of Nations: Why Some Are So Rich and Some So Poor "Culture makes all the difference." Landes argues and updated version of Max Weber's theory, which holds that the culture of the western world caused it to become so successful. Geography is important, but only one factor.
The Savage Wars of Peace MacFarlane notes that people generally compare Europe and China, but England was well ahead of the rest of Europe in terms of development. He looks at what makes England and Japan (another island nation) so unique. It is essential to get the paperback edition, because it has an epilogue which is a response to the geographic determinists listed above. You can also read the epilogue online at http://www.alanmacfarlane.com/TEXTS/savageintropb.pdf
Culture Matters: How Values Shape Human Progress A collection of essays by various social scientists. Basically updates Max Weber, although dissenters are included. The Protestant countries of northern Europe are the ones that developed the needed social captial to rise to prominance. For a more acessible account, see Trust: The Social Virtues and The Creation of Prosperity
The Great Divergence: China, Europe, and the Making of the Modern World Economy. The West rose because of an accident of geography. China is the once and future king.
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Freedom and the Doctrine of Human Rights
The debate about the rise of the West can reduce to minutia in which both sides try to emphasize the merits of European versus Chinese technologies at various points in time. But think about our present day reality: no one would seriously argue that China, India, or other civilizations can overtake the west without adopting freedom and democracy. China's huge population makes it a global power, but until it gets freedom it will always be poorer and less succesful than the United States and Europe. So the debate about the technology of China versus the Europe is a non-starter. Europe was developing freedom and human rights, and China was not. It was inevitable that Europe would overtake China.
So the real debate is about the minutia of the doctrine of human rights, not the minutia of technology. Most histories of human rights only look at Enlightenment thinkers like John Locke and Thomas Hobbes, but the roots go much deeper. The French historian traced the shift in thinking about rights to William of Ockham (inventor of Ockham's razor), Tuck traces it back to Jean Gerson. But the cutting edge now recognizes that rights go back to the Catholic cannonists of the 13th century, hundreds of years before the secular Enlightenment.
<b>
How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization has an accessible chapter that puts the history of human rights into layman's terms.
Natural Law, Laws of Nature, Natural Rights: Continuity And Discontinuity in the History of Ideas A scholarly but short book, which argues that the crucial shift in thinking about rights took place in the 14th century. A good introduction.</b>
The Idea of Natural Rights: Studies on Natural Rights, Natural Law, and Church Law 1150 ¿ 1625 (Emory University Studies in Law and Religion) Probably the defining book that settles the debate. Tierney shows that natural rights usage in the subjective sense predates Ockham. He convincingly demonstrates that the subjective use of natural rights emerged in commentary on Gratian's Decretum, which was written in 1140. Very dense, scholarly work.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/richpub/syltguide...DH6ANG66PQR5T4X
The Basics
Here are some books help you get started with world history.
A Little History of the World This gem of a book "for children of all ages" is an ideal first pass through world history. Get your bearings here if your history is rusty. Highly recommended. The Victory of Reason: How Christianity Led to Freedom, Capitalism, and Western Success A great introduction. Debunks myths of the "Dark Ages" while showing that Christianity gave birth to freedom, and freedom led to the rise of Western civilization. Christianity on Trial: Arguments Against Anti-Religious Bigotry Defends Christianity on many topics such as slavery (the abolitionists were Christian) and the Crusades.
⺠See products from this section at the bottom of the page
Science and the (alleged) Dark Ages
<b>
Now it is time to get a little more scholarly. 'The Victory of Reason' does an accessible job debunking myths of the Dark Ages, but also check out these more scholarly works. Medieval Europe: A Short History is my favorite book on Medieval history (it is expensive, so buy it used). Europe after Rome: A New Cultural History 500-1000 is also excellent.
Sailing from Byzantium: How a Lost Empire Shaped the World The Roman Empire only fell in the West. The explicitely Christian Byzantine empire stood for another 1000 years after the fall of Rome, and preserved and even advanced upon Greek and Roman learning. Follow that up with A Short History of Byzantium if you are still interested in the Byzantine Empire.
Modern scholarship shows that Christianity led to the development of science (with the help of Greek thought). It took the conception of a rational God who created a rational, ordered universe to make scientific study meaningful. Modern historians have shown that science emerged in the Middle Ages, contrary to what prior generations have claimed. The Soul of Science: Christian Faith and Natural Philosophy (Turning Point Christian Worldview Series) An scholarly but still accessible introduction. Follow it up with the more nuanced, but more scholarly, Science and Religion, 400 B.C. to A.D. 1550: From Aristotle to Copernicus.</b>
⺠See products from this section at the bottom of the page
Theories on the Rise of the West
A few scholars such as Kenneth Pomerantz and Thomas Gunder Frank have argued along the lines of Jared Diamond that Western Civilization only became so successfull because of fortunate geography (although read pages 407-411 of the paperback version of 'Guns, Germs, and Steel' and you'll see that Diamond is not a complete geographic determinist). In particular, they argue, access to North America gave Europe a wealth of raw materials that launched Europe past other powerful civilizations such as China.
The Wealth and Poverty of Nations: Why Some Are So Rich and Some So Poor "Culture makes all the difference." Landes argues and updated version of Max Weber's theory, which holds that the culture of the western world caused it to become so successful. Geography is important, but only one factor.
The Savage Wars of Peace MacFarlane notes that people generally compare Europe and China, but England was well ahead of the rest of Europe in terms of development. He looks at what makes England and Japan (another island nation) so unique. It is essential to get the paperback edition, because it has an epilogue which is a response to the geographic determinists listed above. You can also read the epilogue online at http://www.alanmacfarlane.com/TEXTS/savageintropb.pdf
Culture Matters: How Values Shape Human Progress A collection of essays by various social scientists. Basically updates Max Weber, although dissenters are included. The Protestant countries of northern Europe are the ones that developed the needed social captial to rise to prominance. For a more acessible account, see Trust: The Social Virtues and The Creation of Prosperity
The Great Divergence: China, Europe, and the Making of the Modern World Economy. The West rose because of an accident of geography. China is the once and future king.
⺠See products from this section at the bottom of the page
Freedom and the Doctrine of Human Rights
The debate about the rise of the West can reduce to minutia in which both sides try to emphasize the merits of European versus Chinese technologies at various points in time. But think about our present day reality: no one would seriously argue that China, India, or other civilizations can overtake the west without adopting freedom and democracy. China's huge population makes it a global power, but until it gets freedom it will always be poorer and less succesful than the United States and Europe. So the debate about the technology of China versus the Europe is a non-starter. Europe was developing freedom and human rights, and China was not. It was inevitable that Europe would overtake China.
So the real debate is about the minutia of the doctrine of human rights, not the minutia of technology. Most histories of human rights only look at Enlightenment thinkers like John Locke and Thomas Hobbes, but the roots go much deeper. The French historian traced the shift in thinking about rights to William of Ockham (inventor of Ockham's razor), Tuck traces it back to Jean Gerson. But the cutting edge now recognizes that rights go back to the Catholic cannonists of the 13th century, hundreds of years before the secular Enlightenment.
<b>
How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization has an accessible chapter that puts the history of human rights into layman's terms.
Natural Law, Laws of Nature, Natural Rights: Continuity And Discontinuity in the History of Ideas A scholarly but short book, which argues that the crucial shift in thinking about rights took place in the 14th century. A good introduction.</b>
The Idea of Natural Rights: Studies on Natural Rights, Natural Law, and Church Law 1150 ¿ 1625 (Emory University Studies in Law and Religion) Probably the defining book that settles the debate. Tierney shows that natural rights usage in the subjective sense predates Ockham. He convincingly demonstrates that the subjective use of natural rights emerged in commentary on Gratian's Decretum, which was written in 1140. Very dense, scholarly work.