The Book that Made Your World: How the Bible Created the Soul of Western Civilization

382 Pages·2011·2.71 MB·English

by  Vishal Mangalwadi

P The Book That Made Your World: How the
RAISE FOR
Bible Created the Soul of Western Civilization

For too long now the West has flirted with a Naturalistic worldview that has
jeopardized the most sacred aspects of life and living. Vishal shows how
profoundly and meaningfully the Bible does have the prescription for bringing
healing to the nations that have never known human dignity or social, economic,
and political freedoms.
RAVI ZACHARIAS , author, Walking from East to West and Beyond Opinion

With solid, detailed information, clarity of presentation, and logical force, Vishal
Mangalwadi enables anyone willing to see how our “Western” world depends
entirely upon what the Bible, and it alone, teaches about reality and how to live.
DALLAS WILLARD, author, The Divine Conspiracy and The Great Omission

Not since Francis Schaeffer’s How Should we then Live? in 1977 have we had so
lucid and far-ranging an explanation of what troubles the global community.
RANALD MACAULAY MA (Cantab), founder of ‘Christian Heritage,’ Cambridge,
England

Discover moving history you wish you were exposed to in school, page turning
prose that captures the past in epic significance, and hope that could only be
expressed by one who has tasted the nature of the God who creates, cares for,
and loves people, many of whom now face the ultimate challenge.
MICHAEL AUSTIN, communication consultant, New York

In polite society, the mere mention of the Bible often introduces a certain
measure of anxiety. A serious discussion on the Bible can bring outright
contempt. Therefore, it is most refreshing to encounter this engaging and
informed assessment of the Bible’s profound impact on the modern world.
STANLEY MATTSON, founder and president, C. S. Lewis Foundation
An intriguing and necessary read. Vishal references competing “truth claims” of
other worldviews, and discusses their inadequacies for providing hope for a
world engaged in ever increasing upheaval. I’m persuaded that reading this book
will become an important part of the Christian university curriculum.
EUGENE HABECKER, president, Taylor University, Upland, Indiana

The Indian perspective is a breath of fascinating fresh air for American readers. I
wish and pray that it finds readers willing to have their minds shaken and their
hearts, yes, their hearts, stirred as well.
JAMES W. SIRE, author, The Universe Next Door and Habits of the Mind

Vishal’s book is one of a kind; vast in scope, penetrating in its depth, and
prophetic in its message. If we fail to listen and recover the importance of the
Bible in personal and public life, then the sun may set on the West. This book is
a tract for our times and a must read for anyone concerned with impacting our
culture.
ART LINDSLEY, author, C. S. Lewis’s Case for Christ

The Book That Made Your World examines the Bible’s world-changing
influence. Its insights give a clear call to remember what has been forgotten.
Utilizing a unique global perspective, Vishal Mangalwadi delivers both a vital
warning and a clear hope for Western culture.
SCOTT B. KEY, professor of philosophy, California Baptist University

He sees what made us strong in the past and the consequences of our rejection of
Biblical truths in shaping our lives and our nation. May we have ears to hear and
eyes to see.
MARY POPLIN, professor, Claremont Graduate University; author, Finding
Calcutta

Biblical illiteracy is almost universal in Europe today. We need Vishal’s clear,
prophetic, Eastern voice to jolt us back to reality before our rich biblical heritage
slips beyond our grasp.
JEFF FOUNTAIN, director, Schuman Centre for European Studies, the Netherlands

In this wide-ranging and insightful book, Vishal Mangalwadi not only enables us
to see from his special perspective the significance of the Bible in establishing
many of the blessing of Western culture that we too easily take for granted, but
also to see more clearly the dangers involved in turning away from a biblical
worldview. I heartily recommend it to all who want fresh eyes to see and a heart
to care about the world to which the Lord has called us.
GARY INRIG, senior pastor, Trinity Evangelical Free Church, Redlands, CA

The Book That Made Your World reinforces my 8-year-old assessment that
Vishal Mangalwadi understands America better than our own leaders do.
HUGH MACLELLAN, JR, executive chairman, The Maclellan Foundation, Inc.

Mangalwadi’s perspective is that of a widely-read Christian from the “Global
South.” From it he provides a sober, unflattering assessment of our identity
crisis, showing how it results from an under-nourished, severely atrophied
worldview, increasingly divorced as we are from the biblical foundation that
once gave us both coherence and a self transcending sense of purpose.
DAVID LYLE JEFFREY, FRSC, distinguished professor of literature and the
humanities (Honors College); distinguished senior fellow and director of
Manuscript Research in Scripture and Tradition, Institute for Studies in Religion,
Baylor University; guest professor, Peking University, Beijing

Though I do not agree with everything he writes, I think every person who wants
to understand the modern world must read this book.
PRABHU GUPTARA, Freeman of the City of London and of the Worshipful
Company of Information Technologists and Chartered Fellow of the Chartered
Institute of Personnel and Development; Fellow: of the Institute of Directors, of
the Royal Commonwealth Society, and of the Royal Society for the
Encouragement of the Arts Commerce and Manufactures—Switzerland

A small change in direction could have altered the Titanic’s fate. Many are
seeing the West headed towards catastrophe, but this highly readable, Eastern
overview of our history could reshape our future.
DAVID MCDONALD, HealthTeams International and Mars Hill Foundation, WA

Place this book at the top of your “must read stack” or Kindle queue. You will
find yourself cheering as the Bible receives the credit it deserves. Vishal’s
unique view of Western Civilization through the lens of the East is brilliant!
JAN D. HETTINGA, author and pastor, Seattle, WA

Vishal Mangalwadi stands outside Western civilization today and peers in with
eyes enriched by studies in Eastern thought and a perceptiveness unspoiled by
Western nihilism. He sees what we apparently no longer see—that Western
“exceptionalism” has its taproot in The Bible, and warns us of the coming
cultural demise. This book must be read!
JIM MOTTER, president, NORGANIX Biosecurity and director, The Areopagus

Vishal Mangalwadi offers a refreshingly different perspective from what
students are taught about what has made America such a source of hope,
freedom, and productivity. He explains that America became a shining light
because its founding citizens read and reread one book. Neglect that book, he
warns, and the light will dim.
RICHARD GREGG, publisher, SueGreggCookBooks

Many modern intellectuals have ridiculed the Bible so loudly and so long that
much of the American public is not even aware of its indispensable role in the
making of our unique civilization. In The Book That Made Your World it is an
Indian scholar that turns the tables on Western secularists, shining the light of
truth. I believe this compelling and illuminating scholarship will serve as an
effective textbook for years to come.
DR. MARK J HARRIS, president, Business for Community Foundation

Read this book for a rich history lesson and a moving reminder of how the Bible
has empowered freedom, education, technology, science, and the very soul of
Western civilization. Vishal has a unique way of bridging the gap from the East
to the West, speaking with prophetic alarm about what civilization will face if it
forgets the Bible’s positive influence and foundational value.
ROB HOSKINS, CEO, OneHope

Vishal Mangalwadi recounts history in very broad strokes always using his
cross-cultural perspectives for highlighting the many benefits of biblical
principles in shaping civilization.
GEORGE MARSDEN, author of Fundamentalism and American Culture

I have been a great admirer of Vishal Mangalwadi, and his latest work only
enhances my admiration. His uniquely Indian perspective on the centrality of the
Bible for the development of the West and its emphasis on human dignity makes
The Book that Made Your World essential reading for any thinking Christian.
And it serves as a stark warning to the Western world that we forget the Bible
and the Christian faith only at great peril to our liberty and even our survival.
CHUCK COLSON, founder of Prison Fellowship and the Colson Center for
Christian Worldview
THE BOOK
THAT
MADE YOUR
WORLD
OTHER BOOKS BY
VISHAL MANGALWADI

The World of Gurus
In Search of Self: Beyond the New Age
Truth and Transformation: A Manifesto for Ailing Nations
Legacy of William Carey: A Model for Transforming Culture
Missionary Conspiracy: Letters to a Postmodern Hindu
India: The Grand Experiment
Quest for Freedom and Dignity: Caste, Conversion and Cultural
Transformation
Astrology
THE BOOK
THAT
MADE YOUR
WORLD

HOW THE BIBLE CREATED THE SOUL
OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION
VISHAL MANGALWADI