The following student report was submitted by Ambassador League Agent Lauren L. during the 2008-2009 League.
Mission: Reading - Book Report on What If Jesus Had Never Been Born? by D. James Kennedy
I have never picked up a book before that uncovered such a magnitude of truth in my entire life - oh wait, I have. That book was the Bible. But, of course, the truths covered in D. James Kennedy’s book, What if Jesus Had Never Been Born?, are straight from the Bible.
The book dives into the course of human history, examining just where and when the influence of Christ’s doctrine had empowered (and harmed) the human race. Kennedy makes the point that if Jesus never came to Earth:
- Human life would be very cheap if not worthless
- Women would be no more than objects of sexual pleasure to men
- Charity would never have existed
- Education would not be held in such a high regard, if it existed at all
- The United States of America wouldn’t exist
- Freedom itself would not exist or it would be the exclusive domain of the elite
- Modern science would not exist
- Capitalism and the free enterprise system would not exist
- Sexually-transmitted diseases and homosexuality would wipe out the human race
- Medicine would not be as widespread if not nonexistent
- People would have no reason to establish laws, causing the human race to be a barbaric uncivilized one
- Art would not be as widespread or as well-crafted
But above all of these influences, the most important one:
- People’s lives would not be changed, ultimately altering the course of human history.
Quite literally, if Jesus had never been born, Satan would be in control of planet Earth. But because of the blessing of Christ, we don't have to live in fear and pain. God has mercifully sent us His only Son to teach us the right way to live. More often than not though, we have rejected His teachings and substituted our own moral-less ones. And that fact is more prevalent today than it ever has been.
Kennedy doesn't focus on just the sinful downfalls of our society today, though. He takes a careful look at Godless cultures and centuries past and how they have fallen without Christ. And some of the things he mentions are shocking! Romans would burn children, Americans would abandon their elders, and people would eat one another. But once Christ came in to each of these cultures, they changed their ways. And because they changed their ways, their lives improved greatly.
What a savior we have that can look past all the times we have hurt Him and His creation and He can forgive us! More people have been killed over the last century because we have rejected Christ than people killed at the hands of Christians over the past two thousand years. Praise Jesus that he is merciful! Praise Him that we are saved!
