How Christianity Saved Civilization

Hank Unplugged: Essential Christian Conversations

The Christian Research Institute

Education, Religion & Spirituality, Society & Culture

5 • 791 Ratings

🗓️ 6 June 2022

⏱️ 4 minutes

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Summary

Hank Hanegraaff, president of the Christian Research Institute and host of the Bible Answer Man broadcast, reflects on a wonderful book he’s currently reading — How Christianity Saved Civilization…And Must Do So Again, by Mike Aquilina and James L. Papandrea. In the middle of the third century AD, the Roman Empire was not much older than the United States is now, and there are myriad parallels. The Roman economy was in dire straits — experiencing uncontrollable inflation, multiple wars, spending money on bureaucratic niceties and military expansion, suffering rampant unemployment and underemployment. Children were viewed as liabilities and routinely aborted, with infanticide deplorably common. Christians were hated for their perceived rigidity; and pagan Romans justified their intolerance of Christian virtues by calling the Christians intolerant. But eventually, the authors show, the Church overcame persecution and transformed the Roman Empire. The point of the book is that the Church of the 21st century can and must overcome the Great Awokening. How? The Church can overcome the new paganism just as Christianity overcame the old paganism of the Roman Empire by Christians refusing to deny the faith and by being willing to risk earthly comforts for eternal verities by faith working through love. Truth has triumphed in the past, and Christianity remains the only hope for transforming the world.

See Mike Aquilina and James L. Papandrea, How Christianity Saved Civilization…And Must Do So Again (need link to CRI donation page)

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, this is Hank Hanegraff, president of the Christian Research Institute and host of the Bible Answer Man broadcast with another Hank Unplug Short.
0:21.8	I'm in the midst of reading a book titled How Christianity Saved Civilization and Must Do So Again.
0:30.2	And while I'm reading this book, I became so motivated to pick up my iPhone and share this, Hank Unplugged Short, because in the middle
0:40.7	of the third century, the Roman Empire was not much older than the United States of America
0:46.9	is right now. And there are so many parallels. The Roman economy was in dire straits. They were experiencing uncontrollable
0:58.5	inflation, multiple wars, bureaucrats spending money they didn't have on bureaucratic niceties
1:08.2	as well as military expansion, unemploymenteties as well as military expansion. Unemployment as well as under employment
1:16.0	were rampant. Family size will decrease dramatically as kids were increasingly viewed as
1:27.0	liabilities.
1:29.4	Children were routinely aborted.
1:35.1	An infanticide, well, infanticide was deplorably common.
1:40.3	Nomadic people were crossing unprotected Roman borders in mass, and all the while spectaker sports were keeping the populace entertained rather than engaged.
1:55.3	Christians in that epic of the Roman Empire were hated for their perceived rigidity,
2:03.7	and pagan Romans justified their intolerance of Christian virtues
2:07.6	by calling the Christians intolerant.
2:11.3	The intolerance of Christians came to a head in what is popular referred to as the great persecution, a persecution that lasted some
2:20.0	10 years. Well, eventually the church overcame the cultural persecution and became the dominant
2:28.5	religion of the Roman Empire. In fact, the church transformed the Roman Empire. And the point of this book is that
2:36.9	the church in the 21st century can overcome what might best be described as the great
2:44.5	awokening. How, by a great awakening?
2:58.0	It can overcome the new paganism just as the pre-Christian world overcame the old paganism.
2:59.4	How?
	...

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