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The Air We Breathe

How We All Came to Believe in Freedom, Kindness, Progress, and Equality

4.793103448275862068965517241 stars  from 16 reviews
$24.99

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About this book

Is Christianity history? Or is Christian history the deepest explanation of the modern world?

Today in the west, many consider the church to be dead or dying. Christianity is seen as outdated, bigoted and responsible for many of society’s problems. This leaves many believers embarrassed about their faith and many outsiders wary of religion. But what if the Christian message is not the enemy of our modern Western values, but the very thing that makes sense of them?

In this fascinating book, Glen Scrivener takes readers on a journey to discover how the teachings of Jesus not only turned the ancient world upside down, but continue to underpin the way ...

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Specifications

Contributors:
Glen Scrivener
ISBN:
9781784987497
Format:
Paperback
First published:
June 2022
Dimensions:
135mm x 216mm x 11mm
Weight:
0.30 kg
Print size:
11.0pt
Language:
English
Pages:
240
Publisher:
The Good Book Company

Contents

Introduction
1. Things were different back then
2. Equality
3. Compassion
4. Consent
5. Enlightenment
6. Science
7. Freedom
8. Progress
9. The Victory of the Victim
10. Choose Your Miracle
Final words

Endorsements

We long for justice, freedom, and equality. We believe that each and every human being—no matter how rich or poor, powerful or weak—deserves fairness, dignity and respect. But where does this vision come from? Why are we so zealous for it? What if our values aren’t as self-evident as we think they are? This is why Glen Scrivener’s The Air We Breathe is a must-read for anyone who benefits from being WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialised, Rich, Democratic). This book will give us the basis for our shared vision. It will give us the story behind our values. By reading this book, we will humbly acknowledge the Composer from whose songsheet we’re singing.

Sam Chan Head trainer and mentor, EvQ School of Evangelism, City Bible Forum, Australia

Glen Scrivener has done us a great favour. He has taken lengthy, scholarly (and sometimes boring) history tomes and transposed their ideas into something exciting, crystal clear, and almost impossible to put down. His central thesis is that our contemporary “secular” beliefs about equality, compassion, sexual consent and even progress all ultimately derive from the Christian faith. This thesis is not so controversial in learned circles, but with a few more books like it may soon become common knowledge. I hope this book is very widely read.

John Dickson Professor of Biblical Studies and Public Christianity, Wheaton College; author, Is Jesus History? and Bullies and Saints

The Air We Breathe is a pithy, energetic and compelling exploration of how Christianity has formed our moral thinking—whether we realize it or not—and why the truth or falsehood of Christianity matters for all of us today. Whatever your current beliefs, I highly recommend you give Glen Scrivener a hearing!

Rebecca McLaughlin Author, Confronting Christianity

Awards

  • The Gospel Coalition Book Awards Evangelism and Apologetics
    2022
  • ECPA Top Shelf Awards Nonfiction
    2022
  • Christianity Today Book Awards Apologetics/Evangelism
    2022

Customer Reviews

5.00 stars Excellent overview of the Christian origins of Western Civilization

 

As opposed to Tom Holland's "Dominion", Glen Scrivener takes us, not through time, but through ideas to explore the foundations of the assumptions of Western Civilization -- ideas like equity, justice, and freedom. These ideas would have been foreign to a 1st century BC Roman, but to a modern westerner they're as natural as "The Air we Breathe".

5.00 stars Insightful application of History for Today

 

The author understands the the cultural struggles of our day and effectively points out western history for those who likely have taken for granted-the air we breathe with regard to ‘rights’. Succinct, compelling, and well done. I learned fresh evidence for understanding the contrast The Jesus revolution brought about. Useful for the skeptical and seasoned teacher!

4.00 stars A must read for serious evangelism

 

Glen Scrivener's The Air We Breathe provides believers and non-believers alike with a timely reminder that in an increasingly hostile and uninformed environment our faith is strongly evidence-based.

Rather than attacking the self-refuting contradictions of postmodernism, the premise is simple and positive: as fish are forgetful of water, our western world is forgetful, even ignorant, of its Judeo-Christian heritage. He builds a sure, cumulative case for the Christian origins for the values which underpin a now unconscious foundation not simply ...

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