“I have come that they may have life, and have it more abundantly.”

John 10:10 ( RSV )

According to Dr. Brad Spangenberg, “Jesus was speaking of this life, not the next!” Where Christianity has reached, people have had life and had it more abundantly. Peter, Paul and other evangelists carried Christianity, the new religion, to Rome and far beyond-- even into the new world. Slowly, century by century and millennium by millennium, the new faith has altered human behavior.

Reformation is the hallmark of Christianity. While many reformers preceded him, Martin Luther and the Protestant revolution showed the world that it could hire and fire its priest without incurring the wrath of God.. It was in the democratic Protestant faith that man learned the art of self-government through debate and compromise. It was only a simple development from that point until humanity decided that it could hire and fire a king. That event took place in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776! After considerable debate, our forefathers wrote, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are endowed by their Creator with life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

The Protestant art of debate and compromise was easily imitated in the halls of government. Presbyterians dominated the development of deliberation in civil authority. Congress in session is almost the twin of a presbytery session.

For the most part, the twentieth century saw the end of the “divine right of kings” and a rise in the number of democracies, and with it the end of a privileged class that hoarded property and wealth. Now those assets were distributed among the masses. Moreover, in a self-governing country, the people are reluctant to go to war. There has never been a war between two liberal democracies! Since the end of World War II, we have had the longest period of peace among the great nations (all of whom are Christian) in the history of human existence.

Yes, we still have problems, particularly with the non-Christian world, namely militant Islam, but if we bring the love of Christ into the arena, sooner or later, a resolution will be found to the animosity they harbor for western civilization. The promise of Jesus is true: who would say that Christians have not had “life and had it more abundantly?”

MURRY HOLDREN