REMAKING THE WORLD:
How 1776 Created the Post-Christian
West
By Andrew Wilson
Crossway. 384 pages. £21.99
ISBN 978 1 433 580 536
Andrew Wilson’s latest book, Remaking the World, is a stimulating and thoughtful read, lucidly written, and drawing on a wide and impressive knowledge of history and literature.
Wilson’s big idea is that the forces which have shaped our contemporary Western culture were all in play in 1776 (hence the subtitle), a momentous and memorable year not just for Americans, but for the development of the democratic societies of the west. ‘1776,’ he writes, ‘more than any other year in the last millennium, is the year that made us who we are. We cannot understand ourselves without it’ (p.7). The birth of the American nation, whilst not originating the trends he identifies, undoubtedly gave them an impetus which drove them forward to create our modern culture.
What are these trends? Wilson identifies seven major movements of thought which he characterises by the acronym WEIRDER: Western, Educated, Industrialised, Rich, Democratic, Ex-Christian and Romantic. In the middle section of the book (it is divided into three parts) Wilson traces the development of these ideas and makes the case for each. His drawing together of strands from different intellectual disciplines is impressive, as is his use of fascinating anecdotal snippets (Chapter 4 prompted me to re-read biographies of George Washington and John Adams). I particularly enjoyed his sections on Kant (Chapter 5) and am intrigued by the ideas of Johann George Hamann (Chapter 10), which I want to follow up. Overall, he makes a persuasive and very readable case for his thesis.
The big question the reader will ask is: ‘So what?’. Wilson would answer that it is important for thinking Christians – indeed, thinking people in general – to regain a sense of perspective and see our present situation in the context of the broad sweep of history. Forgetting where we have come from and the forces that have shaped us leads to confusion, loss of confidence and a crisis of identity. If Christians are to engage meaningfully with the contemporary Western world, they need to recover this perspective and discern fresh ways of interacting with coming generations.
The final two chapters (Part 3: Responses) are broadly optimistic, focusing on possibilities and opportunities for engaging with a ‘post-secular’ world. The WEIRDER world’s obsession with identity, achievement and legacy is matched by Christianity’s ‘uniquely satisfying’ answer: the grace of God’ (p.277). Along with that amazing grace, Wilson identifies two other crucial developments (all present in the 1770s) which can help us today: true freedom and gracious truth.
Who is this book for? Firstly, thoughtful Christians who want to delve deeper into understanding our contemporary culture, and how we got to where we are, will find this a very helpful book indeed. It will stimulate them to further reading and, hopefully, more creative ways of engaging with a culture which is obsessed with money, sex, power and identity.
Secondly, Christian leaders who have responsibility for decision making in the church will find Wilson’s analysis a fruitful source of ideas: not to engage in any quick-fix solutions, to be sure, but to open up and spark off avenues of thinking that, in God’s providence, will bear lasting long-term fruit for the Kingdom. Wilson wisely cautions against a contemporary tendency towards practical Pelagianism whereby ‘we think success comes through trying, not trusting’. Instead, he concludes, the ‘doctrines, experiences and practices that the church needs today are much the same as the ones she needed in the eighteenth century, and the tenth and the second. We are responsible for obedience not outcomes, faithfulness not fruit…’
Andrew Wilson says that this is the most fun he has ever had in writing a book. I had fun reading it, and I hope you will too.
