The year was 1976. A young man wanted my support to win the election to the Village Council. I asked him, “As Chief, what will you do to ensure that women do not have to haul water on their heads?”
He asked a counter-question: “What will women do the whole day if water is pumped into their homes?
“Well, shouldn’t the village council organize education, skill development and employment opportunities for women? Or should one become the Chief only to loot public funds in partnership with politicians and civil servants?
Back then, every day, women spent hours manually grinding wheat or barley. They couldn’t dream of inspiring their children to explore A.B.C.—atoms, bacteria, or the cosmos.
Why had India remained technologically stagnant for ages? Most Hindu ashrams were built near rivers. They taught techniques to kill the mind through meditation. Religion did not inspire anyone to cultivate the mind to establish human dominion over nature through science and technology.
The Bible challenged India’s dehumanizing worldview. A woman — a human being — should not have to do what can be done by an animal or a machine; by non-human energy: watermill, gravity, windmill, solar, chemical or electrical. Toil (repetitive labour that requires neither mind nor free choice) is a curse upon human sin. That curse was nailed upon the cross on Calvary. The Gospel is that human beings can be delivered from sin and its consequences, including mindless toil.
In “The Book That Made Your World: How the Bible Created the Soul of Western Civilization,” I have studied the rise of medieval technology in Western Europe. It was the Bible, not human need, that birthed technology. In its sequel, “This Book Changed Everything: The Bible’s Amazing Impact on Our World,” I explored how medieval technology developed into the modern industrial age. A few weeks ago, Dr. Blesson Paul shared with us how the Bible transformed Indian agriculture. We need researchers to study how the Bible created modern India, which is making impressive technological progress.
These studies will result in a multi-volume series on How the Bible Created Modern India.
Thank you for your participation and partnership
Vishal Mangalwadi
