"Some moderns with no religious beliefs, of course, have high ethical standards and often show humanitarian concerns quite independent of Jesus' teachings. Professor Schmidt, however, tellingly shows how such secular morality could hardly have been possible without prior Judeo-Christian ethic that influenced generation after generation. Any "noble pagan" today recoils, for example, from the thought of killing babies, but "noble pagans" of antiquity prior to Christianity did not so recoil."
"People who today see murder and mass atrocities as immoral may not realize that their beliefs in this regard are largely the result of their having internalized the Christian ethic that holds human life to be sacred. There is no indication that the wanton taking of human life was morally revolting to the ancient Romans. "
"When modern secularists show compassion today upon seeing or hearing of some human tragedy-for example, massive starvation, earthquake disasters, mass murders-they show that they have unknowingly internalized Christianity's concept of compassion."
"As Josiah Stamp has said, "Christian ideals have permeated society until non-Christians, who claim to live a "decent life" without religion, have forgotten the origin of the very content and context of their decency."
"During World War II on a remote island in the Pacific, an American solider met a native who could read, and the native was carrying a Bible. Upon seeing the Bible, the solider said, "We educated people no longer put much faith in that book." The native, from a tribe of former cannibals, replied, "Well, it's good that we do, or you would be eaten by my people today," this is only one illustration of how Christ's magnanimous influence has taught people that human life is sacred. It is one of Christianity's outstanding legacies."
