For Part One, Part Three, or Part Four, click the link you wish.
We continue with President N. Eldon Tanner's talk, "Choose You This Day", a talk about making a deliberate choice to serve the Lord as the wisest thing we could do in life.
He continues in this vein, talking about the unconscious patterns that people exhibit when they don't make that choice.
The Quote
In his book Civilization on Trial, published in 1948, Arnold J. Toynbee seems to catch this message, as he refers to the rise and fall of civilizations, and recognizes the reason for their declines. He defines history and its pattern of repeating itself, and then he says:
“Our present situation is formidable indeed. A survey of the historical landscape in the light of our existing knowledge shows that, up to date, history has repeated itself about twenty times in producing human societies of the species to which our Western society belongs, and it also shows that with the possible exception of our own, all these representatives of the species of society called civilizations are already dead or moribund (dying).
Moreover, when we study the histories of these dead and moribund civilizations in detail, and compare them with one another, we find indications of what looks like a recurring pattern in the process of their breakdowns, declines, and falls. We are naturally asking ourselves today whether this particular chapter of history is bound to repeat itself in our case. Is that pattern of decline and fall in store for us in our turn as a doom from which no civilization can hope to escape?”
He goes on to express his opinion that the pattern of earlier successes or failures does not necessarily have to be repeated. He says: “As human beings, we are endowed with this freedom of choice, and we cannot shuffle off our responsibility upon the shoulders of God or nature. We must shoulder it ourselves. It is up to us.” He suggests what we should do to be saved, politically, economically, and religiously, and states: “Of the three tasks, the religious one is, of course, in the long run by far the most important.” (New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 38–40.)
The British Historian
Arthur Toyenbee wrote lots of works - some imposing works. His 12-volume work, "A Study in History" is the longest.
His book quoted here, "Civilization on Trial" feels like the Reader's Digest version of his more scholarly works. However, I went to look for these specific quotes, and pages 38-40 are missing from the online version!
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| Nooooooo! |
As convenient as the Internet can be, not everything comes out the way I would wish.
