'Gift of Bethlehem' has wide impact

As our nation prepares for this season, tens of millions of presents will undoubtedly appear under trees and in living rooms from coast to coast. Little of this would take place were it not for "The Gift in Bethlehem" that appeared in a manger over 2,000 years ago.

Many will take time to give praise for that singularly remarkable appearance that has made eternal life universally available to any who would believe. Others undoubtedly will scoff at the significance of The Gift but very readily participate in exchanging their own gifts during this season.

Has The Gift of Bethlehem made a difference? Setting aside the issue of eternal life, has there been a wider impact of that Gift? Has The Gift meant anything for culture as a whole? A former Beijing Bureau Chief for Time magazine, David Aikman, uncovered a striking commentary attesting to the power of The Gift throughout western civilization. In 2002 Aikman attended a lecture in Beijing by a Chinese scholar with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

• What was the goal of their research? The scholar explained, "One of the things we were asked to look into was what accounted for the success, in fact, the pre-eminence of the West all over the world."

• What did they search? He noted, "We studied everything we could from the historical, political, economic, and cultural perspective. At first, we thought it was because you had more powerful guns than we had. Then we thought it was because you had the best political system. Next we focused on your economic system."

• What did they conclude? "But in the past 20 years, we have realized that the heart of your culture is your religion: Christianity. That is why the West has been so powerful. The Christian moral foundation of social and cultural life was what made possible the emergence of capitalism and then the successful transition to democratic politics. We don't have any doubt about this." It may not be readily apparent in Western media, but there is conclusive evidence in addition to this Chinese study that The Gift changed the soul of society in the ways we think and act, not only spiritually, but economically, politically, even scientifically.

Stay tuned as next week I will continue offering that evidence.

Peter Johnston, an East Bernard resident, earned a history degree from Cornell University and is a former high school history teacher. He established WORD Dynamics Ministry in 2003.