{"id":129,"date":"2014-05-07T21:28:23","date_gmt":"2014-05-07T21:28:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/beta.dminlgp.com\/?p=129"},"modified":"2014-08-11T21:49:23","modified_gmt":"2014-08-11T21:49:23","slug":"how-did-we-get-here-from-there","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/how-did-we-get-here-from-there\/","title":{"rendered":"How Did We Get Here from There?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Jared Diamond\u2019s book, Germs, Guns and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies, is his attempt to answer the question, \u201cWhy did history unfold differently on different continents?\u201d* \u00a0I found the book to be well written, easily understood, and well researched. \u00a0Diamond writes with a breadth of knowledge and global travel experience. \u00a0He goes on to more specifically identify his subject, \u201cwhy did human development proceed at such different rates on different continents? Those disparate rates constitute history\u2019s broadest pattern and my book\u2019s subject.\u201d2 \u00a0Through the course of his book he makes the case that the development of peoples on the various continents is the result of the availability of food and animals to domesticate. \u00a0This availability then facilitates the establishment of dense populations which, in turn, facilitates the resources to develop the capacity and tools to defend, wage war, and overcome other peoples.<\/div>\n
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\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Diamond goes on to chronicle how that the developing Europeans transported germs that further deteriorated the strength of foes they encountered in their dispersion, namely in the Americas.\u201d3 \u00a0He then cites a number of other factors that contributed to the strength of some peoples over against others: writing, the earth\u2019s axis with impact on weather, and societal competition. \u00a0He makes a summary declaration of sorts, answering his initial question, \u201cthe striking differences between the long-term histories of peoples of the different continents have been due not to innate differences in the peoples themselves but to differences in their environments.4<\/div>\n
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\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 I found his rationale both intriguing and compelling, though not ultimate. \u00a0Too his credit, he does not claim that his book is the final word on the question of global societal development. \u00a0I agree with him that this subject is very complex and there are no simple solutions. \u00a0Questions that may be of importance regarding this subject are:<\/div>\n
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  1. What impact did certain people have on their societal group \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 and\/or other groups\/continents? \u00a0(i.e. Napoleon, Plato, Jesus Christ, etc.)<\/li>\n
  2. What role, if any, did faith\/religion play in societal development?<\/li>\n
  3. Is there any relationship between types of morality and societal strength?<\/li>\n
  4. I also wonder if globalization follows the tracks of Diamond\u2019s theory?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n
    \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 As I read the book I thought about the development of discipleship in different cultures. \u00a0Here in the west it has become, generally, an academic pursuit focusing on the intellect, namely: theological or faith information. Only recently has there been some interest in Eastern perceptions of discipleship, an important interest because, after all, the Judeo Christian faith is Eastern. \u00a0The Eastern view of discipleship is more holistic and looks for how a faith is lived more than how it is explained. \u00a0My travels have mostly taken place in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. \u00a0In that limited arena I have witnessed the export of Western type discipleship (meet weekly, use manual, fill in blanks from noted bible references, etc.).<\/div>\n
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    \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 However, I have seen some refreshing exceptions, mostly in Central Asia. \u00a0They are, generally, more holistic in their expectations, meaning that they want truth that works, that is applicable to real life situations. \u00a0They respect intellectual development but they need to see faith in action and they want their \u2018capacity\u2019 to apply their faith increased! \u00a0In short, they want wisdom! \u00a0I saw this more so in the rural areas of Kazakhstan. \u00a0Perhaps it is because the city, the densely populated zones, have an image expectation that is different than that of the rural person who is not driven by economic pressures that require an image \u2018persona.\u2019<\/div>\n
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    \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Diamond\u2019s theory includes the idea that societies that leveraged available resources in the context of their favorable environs to gain global status and have global impact. \u00a0It would seem that a similar strategy could help the discipleship advance. \u00a0However, do both social development (closely construed with economic power) and discipleship advance rely upon similar resources? \u00a0It would seem to me that pursuing the Kingdom and pursuing the kingdom may take different tracks.<\/div>\n
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    \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 I enjoyed the book and am grateful for the assignment. \u00a0I am also stimulated to understand how discipleship is expressed in different cultures and how the gospel can be promoted in a way that leverages various cultural perspectives.<\/div>\n
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    \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Question: \u00a0Have you seen differing ways of making disciples that results in mature Jesus followers? \u00a0Where? \u00a0What was unique?<\/div>\n
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    1 Jared Diamond, \u201cGerms,\u00a0<\/em>Guns and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies<\/em>,\u201d (W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.: New York, NY, 1997), Kindle Edition, 9.<\/div>\n
    2 Ibid., 16.<\/div>\n
    3 Ibid., 183.<\/div>\n
    4 Ibid., 389.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Jared Diamond\u2019s book, Germs, Guns and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies, is his attempt to answer the question, \u201cWhy did history unfold differently on different continents?\u201d* \u00a0I found the book to be well written, easily understood, and well researched. \u00a0Diamond writes with a breadth of knowledge and global travel […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[52,2],"class_list":["post-129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-diamond","tag-dminlgp","cohort-lgp3"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=129"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1449,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129\/revisions\/1449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}