What Happens When the West Abandons Christianity? Matt Whiteley vs Mike Jones hosted by John Nelson

Unbelievable?

Premier Unbelievable?

Christianity, Religion & Spirituality

4.7 • 2.4K Ratings

🗓️ 17 June 2026

⏱️ 83 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Did Christianity build the modern West? From human rights and equality to science, secularism and democracy, many thinkers now argue that Christianity lies behind much of what modern Western societies value most. Popular historian Tom Holland helped revive this debate with his bestselling book Dominion, but how far can the argument really go? In this episode of Unbelievable?, John Nelson is joined by Mike Jones of Inspiring Philosophy and writer Matt Whitley to explore whether Christianity is truly the foundation of the modern West. Are ideas such as human rights, individual freedom and care for the vulnerable uniquely Christian? Did Christianity help create the conditions for modern science? And if Western values emerged from Christian roots, does that tell us anything about whether Christianity itself is true? This week we discuss slavery, secularism, the rise of modern identity politics, Jordan Peterson, Douglas Murray, Tom Holland's influence, and whether a post-Christian society can retain the values it inherited from Christianity. Matt Whiteley writes a Substack https://thisisleisfullofnoises.substack.com/ Mike Jones https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5qDet6sa6rODi7t6wfpg8g Subscribe & Support 👉 Support thought-provoking conversations and help keep the show going at www.premierunbelievable.com/geolink/donate💡 🎧 Never miss an episode! Subscribe to the Unbelievable? podcast at www.premier.plus/unbelievable 🎙️ 🔗 Get bonus content, updates, fascinating articles, and early access to new episodes - absolutely free! Join now at www.premierunbelievable.com 📢 Follow us

Instagram: https://instagram.com/premierunbelievable Facebook: https://facebook.com/premierunbelievable Tik Tok: https://tiktok.com/@premier.unbelievable X: https://x.com/UnbelievableFE

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	This episode is brought to you by the University of St Andrews and its online Bible and the Contemporary World program.
0:07.8	Design for flexible part-time study, it enables students to engage major contemporary issues,
0:13.8	including politics, ethics, inequality, trauma, climate change and the arts,
0:19.1	through biblical and theological reflection.
0:21.9	With short focus teaching, interactive discussion and strong academic support, it fits around
0:28.0	work and other commitments. To find out more, search St Andrew's Bible and the Contemporary World
0:33.7	online. Thanks to people like you, young people are empowered to break free from poverty and thrive.
0:43.7	Young people like Juliana.
0:46.0	When they told me that I had a sponsor, that was the happiest day of my life.
0:51.8	When compassion came into Julianna's life through the local church at just eight years old,
0:57.0	everything changed.
0:59.0	Through sponsorship, she was able to go to school and university.
1:03.0	And today, she is a teaching and healthcare assistant, serving her community.
1:08.0	I'm a living proof that sponsoring a child
1:11.4	doesn't only affect her or him,
1:15.5	but it affects the people around the child,
1:18.6	the friends, the family, the community, the church.
1:23.5	Move with Compassion, sponsor a child today.
1:26.7	Visit Compassionuk.org slash premiere.
1:34.2	Is Christianity the foundation of the modern Western world? I'm John Nelson and today on
1:42.9	Unbelievable, we're discussing an idea
1:44.5	that is becoming increasingly popular online, that much of what we take for granted in the
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 14 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Premier Unbelievable?, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Premier Unbelievable? and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.