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Britain’s Contribution to the World Part 02

In our first part, we looked at the unique and powerful contribution Great Britain has made on civilisation. Areas of parliamentary democracy, constitutional monarchy, and even technology, were cited.

One article is not enough, thus we continue to explore this important topic.

Cause of Freedom: Britain has made 2 major contributions to the cause of freedom. First was the abolition of the slave trade by committed Christian William Wilberforce. Through immense perseverance, Wilberforce was able to turn the tide on this lucrative but iniquitous practice. Yet there is more - twice in the 20th century Britain played a key role in the defeat of euro-fascism, during the first and second world wars. History would have been greatly altered had they lost!

The Commonwealth of Nations: This 52 nation association, mostly from former British colonies, cooperates in trade, defence and fraternity. The Queen is the symbolic head and the Secretary-General has executive power. The commonwealth is a unique concept in post-colonial history.

Economic contributions: These include free-trade, free-market, mercantilism, capitalism London was and still is a great global financial hub. The British Empire in the 19th Century started the process we now know as globalisation, or more accurately, ‘Anglo-globalisation,’ which sought the free movement of goods, services, capital, people, and ideas worldwide. Britain’s contribution to the luxury car market include Aston Martin, Bentley, Rolls Royce, Jaguar, developed by British engineers.

Sport: Yes, the British gave the world cricket, bridge, and snooker. Yet it can also be argued that many of the sports involving kicking a ball around the field also came out of Britain. It helped to standardised the structure and rules of many famous sports, like with football, rugby, and tennis, giving it an oversized role in modern sport. It is fascinating how former British colonies, now independent nation-states, are addicted to British-derived sports like cricket.

Newton’s laws: Sir Isaac Newton was a famous British mathematician and physicist. In the field of physics, he documented and outlined 3 important laws of motion: Law One: A ‘resting’ inanimate object remains so unless provoked or prompted by an external force; likewise, an object in motion will remain so unless interfered by an external object. Law Two: An applied force on a given object equals the rate of change at its momentum. Law Three: For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. He also documented the phenomena of universal gravitation. Newton is arguably one of the greatest scientists in history, along with Albert Einstein.

The English language: This is one of the greatest of exports of Britain. Though it is the mother tongue of 450 million, it is spoken fluently by over 2 billion worldwide. English is the true modern-day lingua franca, the international language, as Greek was in the ancient world.

English literature: Along with English language is world-shaping English literature. The most famous, of course, is William Shakespeare, but don’t forget Britons Charles Dickens, Rudyard Kipling, John Milton.Charlotte Bronte, Emily Bronte, Agatha Christie, Geoffrey Chaucer, John Donne, Samuel Johnson, Joseph Conrad, Christopher Marlowe, Jonathan Swift, and John Keats. This is only a partial list.

In this department, it needs to be said that the single-greatest contribution to English language and literature is not the Oxford English Dictionary, valuable as it is. It is the King James Bible, which, more than any other literary piece, has helped to shape the English language as we know it. KJV is replete with idioms that we used on a regular basis. Here is a partial list


   A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush;
   A drop in the bucket;
   A fly in the ointment
   A house divided against itself cannot stand
   A leopard cannot change its spots
   A man after his own heart;
   A multitude of sins;
   A sign of the times
   A two-edged sword;
   A voice crying in the wilderness;
   A wolf in sheep’s clothing;
   All things must pass;
   All things to all men
   Am I my brother’s keeper?
   An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth;
   As old as Methuselah;
   As old as the hills;
   As white as snow;
   As you sow so shall you reap;
   Ashes to ashes, dust to dust
   At his wits end;
   Baptism of fire;
   Beat swords into ploughshares;
   Bite the dust;
   Blessed are the peacemakers;
   Born again;
   Breath of Life;
   By the skin of your teeth;
   Can a leopard change his spots;
   Cast the first stone;



Even famous atheists sing high praises of the King James Bible and its role in forming modern English. One commented that ‘Not to know the King James Bible is to be, in some small way, barbarian.

Though there are at least two dozen other English translations in the modern vernacular, two-thirds of all Americans who own a Bible (89%) have a King James. In addition, of those who actually read their Bibles, a whooping 82% read KJV. http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/religion/2011-04-21-king-james-bible.htm#

In the developing world, especially those which were part of the British Empire, KJV is the beloved version of choice. It’s role in literature and church life has been incalculable.

Protestant Christianity and Mission

Being initially a reluctant leader of the reformation, Britain gave the world Anglicanism, Methodism, and Scottish Presbyterianism. It hosted the world-impacting Welsh Revival in 1904. Men and women of God from Britain include Charles Spurgeon, Rees Howell, George Mueller, Thomas Beckett, John Wycliffe, William Tyndale, John Wesley, Charles Wesley, William Wilberforce, Florence Nightingale, Elizabeth Fry, JRR Tolkein, CS Lewis, Eric Liddell, John Stott, famous British missionaries Hudson Taylor, William Carey, Dr. David Livingstone, Jackie Pullinger, and Gladys Aylward. All these, and more, have left a God-size legacy to the nation and the world.


TO BE CONTINUED:

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