Standing up for truth
Foto by Joshua Earle at Unsplash
At a time when much of our occidental culture is being thrown overboard, it is more appropriate than ever to reassure ourselves of the tried and tested roots that generations before us have left with good intentions. Of course, it must be borne in mind that not all of these achievements were realized with complete consistency. But this also gives us the chance to question those traditions that are sometimes based on poor compromises and to dig deeper into the actual roots of the Christian faith and Western values.
As far as faith is concerned, roughly speaking, it can be said that the early church in the time of the first apostles was more advanced in most areas than all generations since. In saying this, I do not intend to generally characterize what came afterwards as detrimental or fruitless. But the empowering work of the first generation stands out so much that the centuries that followed were primarily about defending the great spiritual legacy they left behind.
Culturally, the situation is perhaps somewhat different. In the last few centuries, there have been important reforms towards a liberal community. In the process, the influence of the churches has been significantly reduced, above all because they were not willing to voluntarily relinquish the political power they had insubordinately acquired. Sadly, as a result, religious matters have been reprehensibly neglected in favor of secular matters. The empowerment of the individual and the development of the free market economy, inspired in particular by the teachings of Adam Smith, have brought great prosperity to the West. The same applies to the development of an independent legal system and the introduction of democratic elements. In my view, the Swiss system stands out here in particular.
However, a functioning legal system must be based on general moral values. Here there is a very important link to the Christian faith. Luther in particular did an outstanding job of standing up for divine truths. Unfortunately, even he did not go back to the biblical foundations in every area, which affected the relations with Judaism in particular. Five hundred years after his work, his spiritual legacy, which once shaped the West, has been almost completely eroded. A new generation must now once again trace the roots of the Christian faith. This time, there is an opportunity to tackle it even more thoroughly than Luther did in his time due to the immense resistance. I will try to make a small contribution to it with future entries in this blog.
