Thinking Out Loud with Alan Shlemon - Christianity Is the Air We Breathe

Episode Date: November 20, 2025

Many of the institutions and values our society cherishes exist because Christianity transformed our world. Alan explains one of the most significant changes the Christian worldview made in our culture.

Many of the institutions and values our society cherishes exist because Christianity transformed our world. And I want to talk to you about one of the most important changes it has made in this episode of my podcast, Thinking Out Loud with Alan Shleman. Take a deep breath. Yeah, that's air you're breathing, and you don't think about it, but you rely on oxygen every moment of your life. And in fact, you assume it's always there, and you can't live without it. Now, according to author Glenn Scrivener, this is what he says. He says that Christianity is the air that we breathe. He says, it's our atmosphere, it's our environment, and it's both unseen and all pervasive.

Now, it turns out that man. of the institutions and values that our society cherishes exist because Christianity has fundamentally transformed our world. But because we think they've always been there, many of us take them for granted. In fact, one of the most significant events that inaugurated God's transformation of our world is described in the first chapter of John. In fact, you're probably familiar with it. It says this, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And then a few verses later, it says, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Okay, so this is John 1-1, and then John 1114.

All right. Now, that's the story of Jesus, who's described as the Word, and he leaves his heavenly domain, and he pierces the envelope of our world. And by doing so, he forever changes our reality. But let me ask you a question. What if Jesus never came? Like, what would our world look like? Well, in 1898, researchers discovered an ancient Roman letter in Egypt.

Now, the letter was written in 1 BC by a Roman soldier named Hilarian, who was writing to his pregnant wife, who his name was Alice. And he was writing to her while he was working in Alexandria about a hundred miles away from her. Now, realizing that she might give birth while he's still away in Alexandria and still working, he tells her this, quote, If, may you have good luck, you should give birth. If it is a boy, keep it. If it's a girl, throw it out.

Now we're like, wait, what? Throw it out? Throw their precious little baby girl out to die? Yes, that's exactly what he said. That's exactly what he meant. You see, in that era, baby girls were occasionally tossed outside and left to die of exposure or to be eaten by wild animals. And it's because they were considered less valuable than baby boys because they were deemed less

capable. Now, let me ask you a question. Could you ever think like that? Could you ever have hilarious or Alice's mentality? And I doubt it, right? And here's the reason why. Take a deep breath. That's the reason. You see, you can't fathom having such a state of mind because the air you breathe comes from a culture that draws its values from the Christian worldview, right? I mean, Western civilization has adopted the view that every human being deserves to live and to be treated with dignity and respect. But where do we get that view from? Well, it's obvious, right?

You've been affected by a singular event when the word became flesh and dwelt among us, right? I mean, Jesus has, well, Jesus and really the Christian worldview, has revolutionized our society's thinking so much that we can't even begin to imagine to think like Hilarian or Alice. And in fact, one of the most significant changes that Christianity has made has been a change to the way that we value human life. You see, prior to the advent of Christendom, most cultures viewed human beings as simply having what's called instrumental value. Now, according to this value system, it basically treats human beings as a means to an end. In other words, humans are not valuable in and of themselves, rather they are only valuable for

what they can do. For example, they can work at a job or raise children or create art or contribute to society, right? And on this view, human value correlates to human ability. The more you can do, the more valuable you are. The less you can do, the less valuable you are. now the instrumental value system leads to a very grim consequence and that is the moment a person loses his abilities is the precise moment he loses his value and at that point he can be thrown away now in hilarious in alice's world baby girls were viewed as having fewer abilities than baby boys and therefore baby girls were less valuable and could be thrown away you see in an instrumental value system the strong prevail and the weak are discarded. Now today there are parts of the world that are unaffected by the Christian worldview and its values. For example, in rural India, female infanticide is actually still a problem. Baby girls are starved, smothered, poisoned, or sometimes even strangled by their umbilical cords. They might say, well, why are they doing that? Well, think about

it. Eastern religions and their values still run the day. Christianity has not impacted. Christianity has not impacted that society. And India operates, therefore, on an instrumental value system, right? Children are simply a means to an end and girls are deemed less valuable. Now, with the rise of Christendom, Western society became structured around a fundamentally different system, one that is based on what's called intrinsic value. Now, on this view, something has value if it has value in itself. A person's value, therefore, is inherent in their own existence. Okay.

So because intrinsic value does not depend on one's abilities, a person's value never changes according to the intrinsic value system. Now, according to this view, human beings have value because of one main reason, and that is they are made in the image of God, right? Genesis 127. Right? So our value is not based.

on what we can do or what people think of us or how much we contribute to society, rather our value is based on who we are now and that is an image bearer of God. And furthermore, our value does not diminish if we lose our physical abilities or lose our mental abilities or we lose our friendships or we lose our job, right? Nothing can change our value because it's inherent in who we are and it's not dependent on any ability or even on any external factor. Now, the intrinsic value system has become a core principle of Western civilization. In fact, it was built into the founding documents of the United States. Think about the Declaration of Independence states,

we hold these truths to be self-evident, right, that all men are created equal and they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights. So notice, we are a valid. viable because, like scripture tells us, we are made by our creator and he's endowed as with value. By the way, notice also that we're not just valuable, but every person is equally valuable to everyone else. And that's because being made in the image of God is not a degree property. In other words, you can't have more of the image of God or less of the image of God, right? You're either made in God's image or you're not. You're either valuable or you're not. And what's interesting about the

language of the Declaration of Independence and its wording is that it says that these truths are self-evident. In other words, to someone steeped in the Christian worldview, it's obvious that humans are intrinsically viable. And that truth is a part of the air that we breathe. Indeed, out argue that the intrinsic value system is one of the greatest gifts that the Christian worldview has given our culture. Because when you consistently apply this value system, this intrinsic value system, you cannot justify the atrocities of history. You can't justify the gladiatorial games that occurred in ancient Rome because people are not just mere entertainment. You can't justify slavery because people can't be owned. And you certainly can't justify

throwing baby girls, little baby girls, out to die. Because no matter their limited economic potential, right, or whatever potential, whatever limited potential you think they have, they still are intrinsically valuable and they are precious image bearers of God. All these atrocities are unthinkable because the Christian worldview has permeated the institutions of our society. It's in the air we breathe, right? And we don't even realize it. But everything around us has been changed by the word who became flesh, dwelt among us, and literally transformed our reality. Well, that's all I have for you today. If you've enjoyed this episode, I encourage you to share it with a friend. And also, don't forget to subscribe to my podcast, and that way you won't miss any future episodes.

And again, thank you for listening. I look forward to thinking out loud with you next time. I'm going to be able to be.