Kerby Anderson

Western civilization rests upon Christian values, and Western civilization is worth saving. That was the theme of Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s message at the Munich Security Conference.

He reminded the Europeans of our shared heritage. “The men who settled and built the nation of my birth arrived on our shores carrying the memories and the traditions and the Christian faith of their ancestors as a sacred inheritance, an unbreakable link between the old world and the new.”

He added: “We are part of one civilization—Western civilization. We are bound to one another by the deepest bonds that nations could share, forged by centuries of shared history, Christian faith, culture, heritage, language, ancestry, and the sacrifices our forefathers made together for the common civilization to which we have fallen heir.”

Many seem to be rediscovering the truth that Christianity gave us Western culture and is necessary for it to function. We have seen many atheists who often surprise their audiences by acknowledging this fact and lauding the need for continuing dependence on Christian values.

Historian Tom Holland has been on my radio program to talk about his book, Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World. He argues that our Western world is deeply rooted in Christian ideas and even our attitudes today are shaped by a Christian worldview that values human dignity, charity, and the protection of the weak. He wrote those words as a secular historian, though I hear he has now become a Christian.

Marco Rubio’s speech was a reminder of the Christian foundations of our world and the need to return to those Christian values.