Still relevant and more than ever. ( )

Muito bom. ( )

Este livro não tem a intenção de ser uma cronologia histórica completa da cultura ocidental [e sim] uma análise dos momentos cruciais da História, responsáveis pela formação da nossa cultura presente, e do pensamento das pessoas que fizeram com que esses momentos viessem a acontecer. Trata-se de um estudo elaborado na esperança de que alguma luz possa ser lançada sobre os traços típicos do pensamento da nossa era e de que soluções possam ser encontradas para a miríade de problemas com os quais nos deparamos.

*Sigh* Alright, here we go. This book was written in 1976 by Dr. Francis A. Schaeffer. It analyses the falling off of culture as a whole from Ancient Rome to the Modern day(c. 1976). This book was suggested as a result of me wanted to challenge my worldview, and boy did it ever do that. Luckily the Library had a copy of this book on hand.

Dr. Schaeffer was an Evangelical Christian who studied Philosophy and Theology. His main argument in this book can be boiled down to the idea that the Bible is the message of God and God is the source of all morality. Earlier civilizations failed because they did not have a basis for their morality and thoughts in God and Jesus. Even if they base it on something like the Categorical Imperative, say, it doesn't have any teeth because ultimately there is no Eternal Basis.

Ignoring a Biblical basis of morality leads to the Holocaust and Mussolini. Dr. Schaeffer makes his opinions clear enough with simple down-to-earth language and a lack of jargon. Dr. Schaeffer's views shall never be my own, and I had to deal with a bit of Cognitive Dissonance while reading this. It honestly gave me a slight headache, but I thought it was okay. All in all, I would not read the book again any time soon, but it did give me some insight into the ideas of Evangelical Christians. ( )

During college this was one of the most influential books I read. It got me thinking about how Western Thought was on the decline and as Islamism, political correctness, attacks on the traditional canon, post-modernism and other attacks intensified the trend was even clearer as identified by this book. The thesis is even stronger than it was when first conceived.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2E9VaWOrDlw

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Schaeffer