7 Ideas That Changed The World: Discover how the bible builds and transforms civilizations

By Phil Mitchell, David Lloyd Strauss and Barbara Wade

Many people believe passionately in truths that originate from the Bible, yet they do not know that the Bible is the source of those truths. 

This book takes you on a journey into the most powerful ideas that have ever entered the mind of mankind—ideas that will shape your life, the life of your community, and impact civilizatio

• Language: English
• Publisher: Micaiah Ministries
• Release date: Feb 17, 2020
• ISBN: 9781734239010

Phil Mitchell

Phil Mitchell is an Access wiz and instructor. He's been a software developer for a dozen years, focusing on data modeling and developing database applications. He also has a Ph.D. in cognitive psychology and a passion for design usability.

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

The Sanctity of Life

So God created man in his own image,

in the image of God he created him—Genesis 1:27

Sanctity: Ultimate importance and inviolability. (Oxford English Dictionary)

Are all people equally valuable, or are some people more valuable than others? To most people in Western culture, this is an offensive question. However, many cultures assume that some people are more important than others: the rich, the successful, the powerful. These cultures also assume that some people are less valuable than others: the weak, the sick, the poor, and those with special needs. If a culture bases worth and value on ability or family status, then those less useful or low-born are less valuable. If a culture bases worth on power, than those who are weaker are less valuable. The source of human worth is at the center of culture.

My daughter was in the hospital with her infant, special-needs son. He was near death because his lungs were underdeveloped and he caught pneumonia easily. When the attending doctor found out that my daughter was adopting this little boy, he grew hostile. Why would you adopt someone like this? he asked, Spend your time and money on a healthy child. The doctor said this because he did not know or believe the Bible’s teaching that this little boy is as important to God as the richest man in the world. Christian culture bases worth, not on utility or power, but on our equal value before God.

The Biblical Basis for the Sanctity of Life

Genesis 1 contains the most powerful statement about life ever made in human history: "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them" (Genesis 1:27, emphasis added). No one sentence has affected life on this planet like this one.

This verse tells your story: Before the universe was created, you existed only in the mind of God. God knew you when no one else did. Ephesians 1:4 states plainly that God chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. He has always known you the best and loved you the most. You have infinite worth and value to Him. You are precious in the eyes of God. Each human is uniquely created and uniquely loved by their creator God. In Psalm 139:15, 16 the writer proclaims the kind of worth he knows he has as God’s beloved creation, "For you created my inmost being. You knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully