Statement of the title
Textbook: How the Holy Bible Created the Soul of Western Civilization; describes the
Holy Bible as not been a foreign book. It has become accessible, acquainted, and a reliable
source and mediator of intellectual, moral, and spiritual ideals in the west.
Chapter 12: Why educate your subjects: explores the importance of Bible knowledge.
A description of the cultural issue at hand: The effect of corruption
Corruption has become one of the major issues today, where it is mainly associated with
poverty. Every year countries get ranked from the most corrupt to the least corrupt. They get
ranked according to points from 0 to 10, 10 being the most corrupt. According to publications,
there are no records of a country with 10 points, but none with 0 points meaning nations are
more corrupt than been clean. An author known as Peter Eigen associates corruption with the
roadblock to development; he blames this on the political and economic elite and not the poor.
According to the Global Corruption Perceptions, the least corrupt nations are the Protestant
nations whose cultures are shaped decisively by the Bible.
A description of the Christian response to that issue
The nations influenced by the Bible are the least corrupt. The incidence of Jesus's death
and resurrection is the wisdom and the power of God for people’s salvation. The resurrection of
Jesus means that demise is not the termination of a human being. Resurrection meant that people
continue to be existent beyond end and continue to be accountable to God. The result of
immorality was death, whereas the effect of faith and obedience was resurrection life. The
resurrection and death of Jesus become good news and the Gospel since they were more than the
historical happenings. They were an indication of God’s redemptive intercession in people’s
history. Thus it implies that morality is more than a social construct or the law of the land.
CHAPTER TWELVE REVIEW 3
People tend to operate above the law, such as a politician and a civil servant. In contrast, others
such as well-connected businessmen may belong to a brutal system that runs above the law, and
all these forms of corruption will have later consequences. Today it may be impossible to bring
these people into Justice, but when the moral law is God’s law, no individual will escape it. Each
person will face judgment from God. Each individual will have to take the consequence of their
sin unless one repents their sins and accepts the forgiveness and eternal life that Jesus offers.
Jesus can forgive because he became the sacrificial Lamb of God and took the sin of the world
upon himself.
Your thoughtful response or reaction to the ideas outlined in the chapter (e.g., Do you
agree with the author on how the cultural issue gets framed?
I agree with the author that corruption has made many countries to live with poverty. The
most developed countries are ranked least in terms of corruption. Reason being that they were
the first to receive the Bible that had a deep meaning of God’s law before the Bible got translated
into other languages, hence some incidents of changing some parts.
Is something missing?
Nothing is missing about the effects of corruption. According to the author’s perspective
and the Christian view since the consequence of corruption is given.
Do you agree with the Christian response?
I agree regarding the eighth commandment.
Is such a response realistic?
Yes, it is realistic because corruption is a sin. Every sin without repentance is punishable,
even if it is not in this world.
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Does the discussion in your selected chapter align with or challenge your views about
Christianity?
My view about Christianity is that each individual should obey the Ten Commandments.
The eighth commandment forbids not only those thefts and robberies that are punishable by the
courts, but all forms of covetousness are prohibited. Corruption is one of the avarice then should
be punished.
Have you seen examples of this in “real life?”
Everything today has been all about corruption. Graduates are spending their lives at
home been jobless. One is required to bribe to get a job; hence without this capability to bribe, it
means been jobless.
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References
Mangalwadi, V. (2012). The book that made your world, How the Bible created the soul of western civilization. Thomas Nelson.