Book Review...
When Nations Die
by Jim Nelson Black
Tyndale House Publishers, Wheaton, Illinois, © 1994
Review by John R. Schroeder
Bill Bryson's new book, Notes from a Big Country,
has only been on the market in Britain for a few weeks, and already
it has vaulted to the top of The Sunday Times' best seller
list. This travelogue about America makes for generally very pleasant,
entertaining reading.
Certainly millions around the
world will undoubtedly buy and read Bill Bryson's new book, but in
stark contrast only a relatively few thousand have purchased When
Nations Die, an important work about the darker side of American
life. But to ignore the unpleasant and to pretend that bad things
are not happening would be fatal to our civilization.
In recent years a number of useful
books have been published about the gradual weakening of traditional
standards and values in the Western world. When Nations Die is
one of the best on the subject-perhaps mainly because it is anchored
historically to the common problems of past civilizations and the
American author's fundamental principles are basically under-girded
by biblical teachings.
Jim Nelson Black has had 25 years
experience in several facets of the publishing field. He has conducted
research at the University of Paris and received an award from a
noted French academy. The book itself is well written and reader
friendly, with many quotable statements.
For instance, Jim Black observed
that "The entire nation must pay the price for the arrogant defiance
of Divine Authority. The law of the land is no longer an inviolable
standard. American justice is often unjust, and too many judges no
longer subscribe to even common sense principles."
The author also points out that
every single one of the ten reasons for the decline and fall of past
civilizations is "alive and well" on the contemporary American (and
Western) scene. The ten warning signs are:
Crisis of lawlessness
Loss of economic discipline
Rising bureaucracy
Decline of education
Weakening of cultural foundations
Loss of respect for tradition
Increase in materialism
Rise in immorality
Decay of religious belief
Devaluing of human life
Although Mr Black concentrates
on the United States, the British do not escape his attention entirely: "Britain,
on the other hand, has turned even further away from its moral and
political heritage in pursuit of a socialist utopia. And short of
some miracle or a great spiritual awakening, even greater despair
and some final collapse may be in the picture for Great Britain in
the years just ahead."
Although the United Church of
God could not endorse everything written in When Nations Die (especially
some aspects of the author's political approach), reading this book
would enlarge our understanding of what is currently happening to
our Western civilization.
To conclude on a note about America
this book observes: "This nation desperately needs a complete refocusing
of its views and values, a complete turnaround in its morals and
behavior." WNP
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