The Evolution of the West: How Christianity Has Shaped Our Values

By Nick Spencer

What has Christianity ever done for us?

A lot more than you might think, as Nick Spencer reveals in this fresh exploration of our cultural origins.

Looking at the big ideas that characterize the West, such as human dignity, the rule of law, human rights, science – and even, paradoxically, atheism and secularism – he traces the varied ways in which many of our present values grew up and flourished in distinctively Christian soil.

Always alert to the tensions and the mess of history, and careful not to overstate the Christian role in shaping our present values, Spencer shows how a better awareness of what we owe to Christianity can help us as we face new cultural challenges.

• Language: English
• Publisher: SPCK
• Release date: Sep 15, 2016
• ISBN: 9780281075218

Nick Spencer

Nick Spencer is Senior Fellow at Theos, the Christian think tank. He is the author of a number of books and reports, including Magisteria (Oneworld, 2023), The Evolution of the West (SPCK, 2016), Atheists: The Origin of the Species (Bloomsbury, 2014) and Darwin and God (SPCK, 2009). Outside of Theos, Nick is Visiting Research Fellow at the Faiths and Civil Society Unit, Goldsmiths, University of London, and a Fellow of the International Society for Science and Religion.

Reviews for The Evolution of the West

[oataker-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This usefully summarises some of his previous books and others which he considers significant but which most of us will never get round to reading. Particularly worth learning about is a book called Capital by Piketty suggesting that we are heading back to a society where inherited wealth counts for more than personal effort and talent. Spencer also usefully summarises what he had to say about the origin of atheism and the development of Darwin's thought. In all the areas covered, the influence of Christianity is significant, often positive but always complex.