The Strange Death of Europe – Part 4 – Christianity
by David Robertson, theweeflea:
So near. Yet so far. In this final part of my review of Murray’s brilliant book we come to consider the heart of the matter. What can be done to stop Europe, as we know it, dying? Murray has a sort of answer but it is not nearly adequate enough. In part 1 we looked at the overall thesis of the book – that Europe has become too meaninglessly shallow to cope with the difficulties it faces. Firstly from immigration (part 2) and then from Islam (part 3). I would argue that, uncomfortable as it seems, in that it does not fit in with the Western Liberal view of humanity, Murray’s thesis is incontrovertible. So what can be done about it?
In part 4 we now look at how he identifies the problem as Europe losing its soul – i.e. it’s Christianity. Again I will let Murray speak in his own words and comments afterwards.
Meaningless, Meaningless, Everything is Meaningless
“With the help of such thinkers (as Nietzsche) it is easier to recognise that what was already affecting Germany in the late 19th century was not a tiredness caused by a lack of muesli or fresh air, but an exhaustion caused by a loss of meaning, an awareness that the civilisation was ‘no longer accumulating’ but living of a dwindling cultural capital. If that was the case in the late 19th century then how much stronger is the case today, when we live on even smaller portions of that inheritance and breathe even further away from the sources that gave that culture energy. (p209)
Citing Stephen Spender who was in Germany in the 1930s – “the trouble with all the nice people I knew in Germany is that they were either tired or weak”. Why were the nice people so tired? Existential tiredness is not a problem only because it produces a listless type of life. It is a problem because it can allow almost anything to follow in its wake.” (p216)
The loss of meaning is everywhere. People seek and find it in many different ways, from the valuable (family, friends, faith) to the shallow (fantasy, entertainment, drugs). But the loss of ultimate meaning means that everything becomes insignificant. Never has Ecclesiastes been more relevant than in today’s Western culture. When I preach on this book I often have people coming up and saying ‘wow, I cannot believe that is in the bible’. Meaninglessness is the disease of our times. The Gospel is the cure.
Related Posts
Tags
Share This
