At a Glance
Is God using Vishal Mangalwadi to disciple Jordan Peterson, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Tom Holland, and Elon Musk? Today, we discover the transformative power of Christianity on Western civilization through the eyes of Indian Bible scholar and good friend Vishal Mangalwadi. Join us as Mangalwadi unravels the often-overlooked impact of the Bible on modern life. Although many in the West have taken values such as freedom, justice, free speech, forgiveness, the list goes on, for granted, a future in which these values are canceled is becoming a reality. We’ve recently noticed a resurgence in people who realize these values are essential to Western civilization’s future and go on to connect these virtues directly to the Bible. In the last couple of years, Mangalwadi has played an interesting role in helping non-Christian leaders such as Jordan Peterson, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Tom Holland, and even Elon Musk make this connection between the rich history of Western civilization and the Bible.
During this discussion, you will hear Mangalwadi’s thoughts on why this revival in Biblical values is happening now, how Christians can support and encourage this movement, and an admonishment to hold fast to a biblical vocabulary under pressure. Our conversation is an invitation to reassess the past and reclaim the biblical underpinnings of Western achievements, providing a more nuanced and comprehensive understanding of our civilization’s foundations. This episode is a compelling examination of the intertwining threads of faith, history, ideas, and the future trajectory of Western civilization.
Special Guest
Vishal Mangalwadi is a social reformer, political columnist, Indian Christian philosopher, writer, and lecturer. He is the author of 20 books, including The Book that Made Your World: How the Bible Created the Soul of Western Civilization. He is also a long-term friend of the DNA and one of the thought leaders at the birth of our organization.
What You'll Hear
Using the link above, you can read the transcript or listen along while highlighted text follows the podcast audio.
"A number of public intellectuals are admitting that the Bible is the force that has created the modern world – and the only way to revive the West is to return to the Bible."
Vishal Mangalwadi
Quotes
Elon Musk has joined a growing number of public intellectuals who recognize that the Bible is the force that created the values and culture that we take for granted in the West. Vishal Mangalwadi joins us to discuss what this is all about!
Go Deeper
The Kingdomizer Training Program
When the principles of the Bible are understood as a comprehensive worldview, it has tremendous power to work transformation in individuals, families, communities, and even nations. Too often, Christians are ineffective because they have absorbed cultural thinking that is not in alignment with truth.
Not all worldviews are equal. Some lead to brokenness and poverty, while the biblical worldview leads to God’s intended flourishing and the blessing of the nations. Our Kingdomizer Training Program can help you understand the biblical worldview and discover areas in your own thinking that need to be transformed by God’s Word.
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Nurturing the Nations: Reclaiming the Dignity of Women in Building Healthy Cultures
By Darrow Miller
Our world is filled with nations that are impoverished largely because half of their people―the female population―are disenfranchised. But this is not just a book about women; it is a book that deals with the intersection of three seemingly very different subjects: women, poverty and worldview.
Nurturing the Nations explains how the ideas that societies embrace create healthy or impoverished cultures and supports that theory with information regarding domestic violence, murder and pornography. The book addresses one of the greatest causes of worldwide poverty, the lie that men are superior to women.
(This book has recently been updated and is now available as The Grand Design–see below!)
The Grand Design: Rediscovering Male and Female as the Image of God
By Darrow Miller
“Darrow offers a healing biblical vision where men and women reflect the relationship within the Trinity: unity without uniformity and diversity without superiority.” – Nancy Pearcey, Professor and scholar in residence at Houston Christian University, author of Love Thy Body and The Toxic War on Masculinity
“Rich, timely, wide ranging, provocative, and wise, Miller’s The Grand Design is a book to be read slowly, pondered, and discussed.” – Os Guinness, Author of The Magna Carta of Humanity
Throughout the ages, cultures have pivoted between two understandings of the sexes.
Men and women are equal,
and therefore they are the same – interchangeable.
or
Men and women are different,
and the differences are exploited to falsely claim that some people are superior to others.
But what if there is a third option? What if a true biblical understanding, rooted in the Trinity, provides a foundation and vision for the sexes, where unity and equality is possible without uniformity, and difference and diversity between men and women is celebrated without superiority? In an age where views about men and women have divided the church and the culture, The Grand Design offers an opportunity for everyone to discover with fresh insight all that it means to be made in the image of God, male and female.
Years ago I heard Meg Crossman refer to the stories of the Bible as “accounts”. They are historical accounts.