Do you think that you’re weird? No, really stop and think about it. I’ll give you a minute. Now do you think that you’re weird? If you don’t, then maybe this article will help. If you’re reading this, you are likely from Western society, most likely in America but maybe in Europe or even Australia. As a member of western society, have you stopped to think about how you are vastly different from the rest of the world? That difference makes you WEIRDER than your fellow citizens of Earth in other non- western societies. This is what pastor and writer Andrew Wilson discusses in his new book Remaking The World: How 1776 Created the Post-Christian West (Crossway, 2023).
Using the acronym WEIRDER, Wilson describes how being Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democractic, Ex-Christian, and Romantic make us different from the rest of the world. Borrowing from the work of anthropologist Joseph Heinrich, who coined the term WEIRD, Wilson expounds this idea to include Ex-Christian and Romantic. How does being WEIRDER makes us different? Most of the world is not any of the seven characteristics of western society. By and large much of the world is not well educated, but is agrarian, poor, and not ruled by democratic governments. Even from a religious perspective, even with the global prominence of Christianity much of the world has not been touched by the Christian faith, making them pre-Christian. Lastly, much of the world does not hold a Romantic worldview. In fact it is quite the opposite, due to many of the other factors mentioned above.
In the book, Wilson discusses each of the seven characteristics that make us WEIRDER using examples from the year 1776. Although much of what has shaped the modern West was brewing long before 1776, Wilson argues that this year was pivotal in making us WEIRDER. Today when we think of the year 1776, American readers will go straight to the events that occurred in Philadelphia in July, the drafting and signing of the Declaration of Independence. Yet this singular event, although very consequential to the making of the modern world, is only one part of the story. Many other events, inventions, and ideas helped shape the western world that we know today. These other factors are the bulk of Wilson’s argument.
As we think back to how modern Western society was, in many ways, birthed in and around the year 1776 it is easy for us to look back and think that those events happened in ancient history. Yet Wilson argues a point that is echoed by American historian Jon Meacham, that in fact those events were only the day before yesterday. Wilson illustrates his point with a story that sounds hard to believe, which is that John Tyler (1790-1862) the tenth president of the United States, has a grandson still living today. At first glance it seems that this cannot possibly be true. Yet as you look at the details it makes more sense. President Tyler was widowed and remarried later in life. His new wife bore him a son 9 years before is death in 1862. The son, Lyon Tyler had children later in life as well, one of which is Harrison Tyler born 1928. Yet when you think about the fact that a man, still living today, whose great-grand parents were married in 1776, the events of that era seem less distant.
What events in 1776 made the world WEIRDER? To make his argument flow a littler better, Wilson deviates from the acronym slightly. In chapter three, he discusses how the world shifted westward by telling the story of two British ships: the Resolution and the Endeavor. The story of these ships capture the spirit of expansion of western civilization into the New World and beyond. In chapter four Wilson highlights the story of the American Revolution and how that birthed a new form of democracy that has helped open the way for democracies to flourish throughout the world. In chapter five, he discusses how the Enlightenment brought about significant leaps forward regarding education, and who should be educated. We take it for granted today, but the education of everyone in society is very much a western and Enlightenment idea.
In chapter six, Wilson discusses how being ex-Christian is not a recent phenomenon. It was born out of the Enlightenment and many of the American founders were not orthodox Christians. Yet the “self-evident truths” on which the Declaration of Independence draw from are not as self-evident as they may appear, but are in fact biblical. Chapter seven, highlights how the Enlightenment led to an increasingly industrialized society through new inventions that have transformed daily life. Chapter seven discusses how Romanticism has made western society more individualistic, less dependent on family structures, etc. Finally, in chapter eight Wilson discusses the fact that many of the amenities that are found in western culture make us the wealthiest societies on the planet.
Most of the seven carasteristics about western culture that make us WEIRDER are taken for granted, and we would find it hard to “survive” without them. Yet much of the world does. Being WEIRDER doesn’t make western culture better, it just makes it different from non-western societies. Understanding this can help us better understand ourselves, and other cultures as well.
Wilson makes a compelling argument for modern western society was formed and how it is different from much of the rest of the world. Much of what citizens of western society take for granted, is simply not the case in the global south. Today fear permeates across some parts of the west because of demographic shifts and changes in worldview, etc. Yet as followers of Jesus we have hope. Western civilization, and America in particular, is not, as Abraham Lincoln claimed “the last best hope of earth”, the gospel is. And America is not, as Ronald Reagan put it, “a shining city on a hill”, the Church is. Yet the Church and the gospel, are not just for westerns, they are for all people. The mission of the Church is to propagate the gospel, the good news of Jesus, until the whole world hears. In the final two chapters of the book, Wilson exhorts Christians to keep our eyes on Jesus and to seek opportunities for sharing the gospel in a WEIRDER society.
I would commend Remaking The World to you as an excellent study of modern western society. For the Chicken Little’s of the world, Wilson reminds us of the gospel. The book is a must read for pastors and church leaders who desire to lead their churches toward embracing gospel opportunities in an ever shifting society. It is an excellent resource for thoughtful Christians who desire to better understand the world in which we live, and how to navigate in that changing world. Western civilization has brought many good things to the world, but Jesus is better.
Editor’s Note: This title was received by publisher in exchange for an honest review.
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