The Idea of God

Book excerpt: What holds society together? How does civilization survive from collapsing in on itself? In this work, Kenneth A. Dobbs describes how religion is the cause of civilization’s rise and prosperity. Beginning with psychological theories on human nature, Dobbs establishes that humanity needs the religious values of truth, beauty, and goodness to flourish. He then proves this psychological theory by analyzing religion’s role in the historical developments of civilization in Mesopotamia, Egypt, Jerusalem, Greece, Rome, and Christendom. He also responds to rebuttals and objections against the thesis that religion is still necessary for modern civilization. The Idea of God explores the historical, political, and philosophical implications of both the implementation and rejection of religion within human civilization. Dobbs articulates religion’s necessary role in civilization, while also provocatively predicting Western civilization’s fate for rejecting religion: societal collapse. The book follows a long intellectual tradition of historians and philosophers who have argued a similar thesis including Polybius, St. Augustine, Arnold Toynbee, Russel Kirk, Richard M. Weaver, and Christopher Dawson. Dobbs reintroduces these classical ideas to the modern world.