Books

How Christianity Shaped the Modern World

Too often maligned, the faith has contributed much to our culture.

Oxford-educated Jonathan Hill wants people to think twice before making snap judgments about the role of Christianity in human history. His beautifully illustrated book concedes that Christian people, institutions, and ideas often compounded human misery. But he also insists that much evidence points the other way, showing Christianity as the source of wisdom, beauty, order, compassion, social stability, and intellectual clarity.

WHAT HAS CHRISTIANITYEVER DONE FOR US?:How It Shapedthe Modern World Jonathan Hill, InterVarsity Press, 192 pp.; $24

Take Hill’s ABCs of human learning in the late ancient and early medieval periods. Deft word portraits bring to life the wide-ranging contributions of Adelard of Bath, Agobard of Lyons, Alcuin (at the court of Charlemagne), Augustine of Hippo, Benedict Biscop and Bede (the Venerable) in Britain, Boethius (the era’s most widely read philosopher), and Columba and Columban. Then, broadening out the alphabet, there are the writers Dante, Dostoevsky, Milton, Miyazawa Kenji, Tolstoy; the painters Bosch, Michelangelo, Rembrandt, Rubens; the musically incomparable J. S. Bach and many only slightly lesser lights; the opponents of slavery; the protesters against social injustice; and many more—all unimaginable without the working of an active Christian faith.

Debates over the this-worldly effects of Christianity cannot be decided on a balance scale, but here’s a book that deserves to be weighed when such debates take place.

Copyright © 2006 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Related Elsewhere:

What Has Christianity Ever Done for Us? is available from Christianbook.com and other book retailers.

More information is available from InterVarsity Press.

For book lovers, our 2005 CT book awards are available online, along with our book awards for 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, and 1997, as well as our Books of the Twentieth Century. For other coverage or reviews, see our Books archive and the weekly Books & Culture Corner.

Also in this issue

The CT archives are a rich treasure of biblical wisdom and insight from our past. Some things we would say differently today, and some stances we've changed. But overall, we're amazed at how relevant so much of this content is. We trust that you'll find it a helpful resource.

Our Latest

Public Theology Project

Russell Moore’s Favorite Books of 2024

The top 10 picks of CT’s editor in chief range from dystopian fiction to philosophy, with a dose of Sabbath poems, Inklings, and country music.

My Book Sales Stink. But I’m Glad I Took the Publishing Plunge.

Even though the experience bruised my ego, God redeemed it in surprising ways.

Latino Christians Deserve a Straight Answer on Immigration

The Russell Moore Show

A Conversation with Peggy Noonan

The Pulitzer Prize winner ponders who we are and what we may become.

A Better Trans Conversation

As the Supreme Court hears oral arguments on youth gender medicine, Christians must prepare to speak with love while holding fast to biblical truth.

Ethics Aren’t Graded on a Curve

President Joe Biden’s pardon of Hunter Biden was wrong, and no amount of bad behavior from Donald Trump changes that fact.

News

UK Christians Lament Landmark Vote to Legalize Assisted Dying 

Pro-life faith leaders say Parliament’s proposed bill fails to protect the vulnerable and fear it will “create more suffering and chaos.”

Strike Up the Band: Sixpence None the Richer Goes Back on Tour

With its perennial hit “Kiss Me” still in our ears and on our playlists, the Christian band reunites with nothing to prove.

Apple PodcastsDown ArrowDown ArrowDown Arrowarrow_left_altLeft ArrowLeft ArrowRight ArrowRight ArrowRight Arrowarrow_up_altUp ArrowUp ArrowAvailable at Amazoncaret-downCloseCloseEmailEmailExpandExpandExternalExternalFacebookfacebook-squareGiftGiftGooglegoogleGoogle KeephamburgerInstagraminstagram-squareLinkLinklinkedin-squareListenListenListenChristianity TodayCT Creative Studio Logologo_orgMegaphoneMenuMenupausePinterestPlayPlayPocketPodcastRSSRSSSaveSaveSaveSearchSearchsearchSpotifyStitcherTelegramTable of ContentsTable of Contentstwitter-squareWhatsAppXYouTubeYouTube