We’ve seen that Christianity is vital to the type of society that everyone seems to want—individual rights, protections in liberty, etc… This vital need is both in acknowledging how Christianity brought these concepts to the West (and then others through “the West”) and how Christianity as guiding structure provided US culture the means for its success (that others strive to move here for).

So, we NEED Christianity…but WE ALSO HAVE SEEN that the “Christendom” concept (“Christian Nationalism”) is ruinous to the faith and also how the faith is expressed, especially in a civic structure. So, what did our first colonists believe?

Were the first colonists trying to establish a “Christendom,” a “Christian nation”…a nation only for Christians where there would be religious faith requirements before holding office or opening a business, as was true in the nations from which these colonists came? Or, were they somehow trying to escape religion altogether, eager to create a nation on some broad concept of “Natural Law” in which formal religions would be either absent, or at worst, only something for the individual, something kept quiet and private? To find these answers, we must examine the first English-speaking colonies to see what lessons they can provide.

We will read The Mayflower Compact and also excerpts from the Sermon of John Winthrop. Both documents are crucial to understanding the colonies of Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay. We will also examine Jamestown and St. Mary's. For St. Mary's we will read excerpts from their revolutionary Maryland Toleration Act of 1649.

In our first Bonus Episode, Dr. Sandy Shugart joins me for an indepth examination of the Enlightenment Project and my contention that the promises of such were really a myth, one that has left society disillusioned and bordering on cynicism due to discovery that they were misled. The humans are not improving, not really changing at all from what our species has been all along, certainly not changing when the only agency of change is human will. But why? Dr. Shugart, one of my most important mentors, currently serving as a Senior Fellow at The Aspen Institute and also Quo Vadis Institute (based in Salzburg, Austria), stopped by to help me understand this tension within our modern secular society.

In the early episodes, particularly 1 and 3, I spoke about the Enlightenment and its impact on how we view the world. Starting at some point in the 1600s and building steam in the 1700s, a new way of thinking and considering life, both individually and corporately in civic structures, was emerging. With the American and French Revolutions, the Enlightenment took full form and was soon being elevated to a high plane, perhaps a mystical plane, and in that growing sense of a new way of thinking, the sense of "promises" from this Enlightenment emerged.

And yet, by the late 20th century, it has been manifestly apparent that those promises never arrived, particularly the myth that the human as species could and would improve. Some "Enlightenment Prophets" seemed to believe that a utopia would be soon achieved, but the horrendous 20th century, a century often held up as the triumph of the Enlightenment, was evidence enough to the failure of this concept.

So, as the 21st century has emerged, disillusionment has set in, particularly among the young (say, 40-under crowd). Since faith or even simply “the transcendent” has been marginalized, many have moved into cynicism, depression, and a general sense that life is not worth living. Of course this is part of my raison d'être for the podcast, and we needed to take a deeper dive in order to see the complexities of this topic.

Episode 7 is a continuation from the last episode in which we were examining the deep impact of the Christian faith on Western society. We started at the broad level of trends and concepts that were noted about the Christians, things that stood out to contemporary non-Christians, so much so, they wrote about these odd behaviors.

We noted in episode 6 the Christian contribution saying 'the human had worth' is the central, most vital concept that this faith added to the world. But how? In this episode, we look at the myriad of new ideas that, while today common or assumed, were introduced with the coming of this new faith.

Why this matters is that as we are seeking safe harbor, we suddenly become aware that we not only shouldn't get rid or exclude Christianity, but that we NEED it. The very things the Progressive is fighting for (voting rights, rights of individuals to for personal expression, economic equity rights, rights for freedom to do whatever with one’s body, etc…) ARE ONLY DUE to the influence and impact of Christianity. Those ideas or concepts are unknown in the ancient world, especially when broadly considered (for everyone, not just the only people of my tribe).

If we lose the foundational faith that gave these ideas to the world, especially if we lean further into the post-modern idea that "there is no truth, especially any truths that govern all." In that world, then if the only thing that is true is whatever I deem to be true, regardless of evidence or logic, then we end up in a "might makes right" world. There, if someone wants to deny these contributions provided by Christianity, then they could and there's no reason or way, other than force, that we can suggest the idea remains true. If, though, we see how Christianity is a "net positive," and then we embrace, maybe even celebrate, its inclusion in our culture and society, then this concepts can remain sustained deep into the 21st century.