What is western civilization

Patrick Weaver Religion 204 Mr. Carlson 03/08/2012 Religion Paper #2 What is Western Civilization and how does one describe it? Where does the west begin and were does it end, what exactly is the meaning of civilization? These are the questions that we have to ask ourselves. Because people are often both partial and biased, our definition of Western civilization is going to be comparative to how we see ourselves in this day and age. So let’s take a look into a brief description of what is meant by Western culture, and two specific examples of how the West is different from the rest. And follow up with one example of how the Bible has influenced the West for the better. I personally believe the fact of what is civilization and what is not civilization. To me it is much easier to define civilization as I know it. A group of people or society living together as a whole, doing are best to contribute to the best of our ability to try to help with the well being of our group and in other circumstances being able to count on others to help one do well or make necessary things happen. What does this mean? Lets explorer into two major qualities the West has adopted that separates them from the rest. Mangalwadi talks about how the bible had inspired rationality. He does this by closely examining different cultures. He makes significant points by pinpointing significant things in history, based off the West had become a thinking nation, with scientific, technological, economic success, and military. However, it did not get to be what it was through “ Indian sages thought, primeval silence, senseless sound, energy, or impersonal consciousness” (Mangalwadi). However, more off the fact that if Gods truth, the creator of all meaning nothing was before him, but he thought with logic and rationality, then being rational and having logic must have some significance to what is Western culture. Which leads me into how some non Western cultures could be so irrational? Especially, if other cultures could read the scriptures large scale before the West such as Asia, through the invention of the printing press hundreds of years before the West, on such a large scale that Chinese monasteries had rotating book cases. Regrettably, the monks were not using the book cases for storage for learning materials; they were using the sound of the rotating books for salvation, while the West was reviewing the books for information and history. Secondly, he elaborates on Transcendental Meditation, the Hindu demigod, however this was the belief that it didn’t matter what mantra meant all that was important was to empty the mind of all rational thought, and that thinking is remaining ignorant. To the West thinking is not remaining ignorant but to some non Western cultures it is, because of this we were able to innovate, and make things happen that non Western cultures couldn’t because they didn’t allow themselves to be rational or use logic. A second major point that makes the West different from the West was technology. “ Technology is integrating mind and muscles. It is breathing reflection into physical action. That, according to the Bible, is the essence of man” (Mangalwadi). This being said, perhaps this is why the Bible shaped Western civilization. While some nations didn’t value time, the Western world did this resulted in inventions of things like the clock what is referred to as technology. When the technology as glasses came about the West used them to help study while other cultures closed absolutely good eyes to meditate and not take advantage of what could be. Non Western cultures viewed technology as evil so they did not utilize it to progress as a whole. Why did the West take advantage of these great opportunities? This leads us into how the cultural influence of the Bible has had a prestige influence on Western civilization. The Bible has enabled the West to succeed do to the fact that many of the steps the West has made is because of the text within in the Bible. “ Theories of pacifism and just war both are argued from the biblical texts. Ideas about sexual practice, marriage, Property rights, personal rights, justice, love and family owe a great debt to the Bible” (Fant pg 27). As far back as King Solomon, and David they have practiced all of these civil theories however they displayed the religious part of the Bible also. If god had thought with logic and rationality then being rational and having logic is ok. Just as Solomon and David did then this could not be as horrible as non Western cultures thought. Many different thoughts and many different actions have obligated Western Civilization to change its shape. Core elements of Western Civilization today, are the foundations of rationalism and technology. Without the existence of rationalism and technology, Western society would not be the way it is today. Ones ideas would still be in a backward state based on naïve practices making the West the same as the non Western worldview. This is the reason why Western civilization is the way it is today. Instead of being so irrational and not taking advantage of logic, rationalism, and technology the West did. Because of this we were able to surpass non Western cultures. This being said biblical tradition has had a serious impact on many parts of Western civilization throughout the past. This is because the West did not just take the Bible and make it some ritual or meditation. They took the text within it to base foundations and balance. However, they did not take it to a level where they could not use logic and rationalism, which aloud them to utilize technology and innovation to make the West what it is today. This is why, I believe the West is what it is today and what separates it from the rest, and how the Bible has changed it for the best. Works Cited 1. Fant, Clyde E., Donald W. Musser, and Mitchell Glenn Reddish.  An Introduction to the Bible. Nashville: Abingdon, 2001. Print. 2. Mangalwadi, Vishal.  The Book That Made Your World: How the Bible Created the Soul of Western Civilization. Nas