Will History Repeat?

     One of the most widely read books of all time is “The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.” Written in 1788 by Edward Gibbon, it sets forth five basic reasons why that great civilization withered and died.
These were:
1. The undermining of the dignity and sanctity of the home, which is the basis for human society.
2. Higher and higher taxes;  the spending of public money for free bread and circuses for the populace.
3. The mad craze for pleasure;  sports becoming every year more exciting, more brutal, more immoral.
4. The building of great Armaments when the real enemy was within, the decay of individual responsibility.
5. The decay of religion; faith fading into mere form, losing touch with life, losing power to guide the people.
     The oft-heard warning that “history repeats itself” has an ominous meaning in the light of the above.

- Selected; via The Central Message, the weekly bulletin of the Central church of Christ in Paducah KY.  Jim Faughn serves as an elder and preacher for the congregation.  He may be contacted through the congregation's website at: http://www.centralchurchofchrist.org