From the Publisher...

Can Civilization Collapse?

The average schoolchild in the Western world learns at some point in his curriculum about the fall of the Roman Empire. The image of a once seemingly invincible world power disintegrating into dust troubles us when we think of our own complex world. Is it possible that civilization as we know it could suddenly collapse?

The intricately enmeshed global society man has built may be far more vulnerable than we think. It’s a world where, as they say, a butterfly flapping its wings on one side of the planet can cause a hurricane on the other side. How fragile is a civilization?

In the last century European archaeologists sifted the sandy soils of the Euphrates flood plain in search of lost cities. The ruins they found were at one time at the heart of civilization. Those cities were filled with art and literature and agricultural abundance. There, in today’s Iraq, the archaeologists discovered the ruins and artifacts of once-proud Assyrian and Babylonian cultures.

The effect on those romantic travelers was perhaps different from what it would be today. After all, they were living in an era of faith in their civilization, of pride in its achievements. The powerhouse nations of Western Europe dominated the world’s trade and industry in the bustling 19th century.

We live in a world far less certain of its moorings, not nearly as confident of its future. A modern visitor to those same sands of Iraq might conclude that the civilization we know could end up the same way as those of old: as a pile of windswept rubble. We could find our civilization as fragile as the Assyrians or Romans found theirs to be.

In all of this can we find a source of assurance about the future? Is there any comfort to be found for this anxiety over civilization?

There is, but not before some tragedies that must occur. In a book as old as those Middle Eastern ruins, the One who can give comfort says that in fact He has played a role in the downfall of arrogant civilizations: “I will punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his haughty looks” (Isaiah 10:12). “And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans’ pride, will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah” (Isaiah 13:19).

Yet God confirms that He will play a role in the future of ancient peoples. A time will come when “Israel will be one of three with Egypt and Assyria–a blessing in the midst of the land, whom the LORD of hosts shall bless, saying, ‘Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance’” (Isaiah 19:24-25).

How is it that the God who punishes civilizations to the point that their glory disappears will restore them in peace and harmony?

The answer is all bound up in the truths explained in this issue’s lead articles about the prophesied return of Jesus Christ. God purposes a grand design in all that He does and allows. He reminds us of His control with these words: “Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure’” (Isaiah 46:9-10).

Can our civilization collapse? Without a doubt. Will it be restored in such a way that peace and prosperity are guaranteed? That is the message of the Bible, the ultimate good news.

–David Hulme

(c) 1997 United Church of God, an International Association