In Which I commend the work done by the Book Redeeming the West

Good morning, my friend! I wish you a happy Friday and a happy Weekend! You also let me know if you are well, and if the weather where you are is pleasant, I hope that may be the case. This post is going to be a complement to the one of yesterday, August 20th of 2026. I really wanted to do so, and I am happy I could do it! It will be a bit of a long set of well earned and worth expressing compliments to the work of the authors I am going to mention, I would love to jump right into it! So, shall we?

I did mention yesterday this incredible book I had the most privilege of reading/listening to, as I went for the audiobook. Redeeming the West: A Christian Argument for Reason and Individualism, written by Cody Lilbot, that I follow on Twitter/X, Jacob Brunton, and Ryan Graber, does the much important move that I had thought of, on my own, isolated, before. It bridges the gap between the Objectivism of Ayn Rand, and a true and in depth interpretation of the Bible and of christian ethics, showing both are compatible and even desirable together. It is important to mention, Mrs. Rand is strongly an atheist, as he saw christianity in the light of "a mystical and altruist view of human nature, therefore bad and to be rejected". That is a fair accessment of at least part of Christianity, and specially the one taken by pagan Stoicism and Kantian ethics. She grew up in a intellectual judaic family in the orthodox Russian Empire. Owning a small grocery shop, his family lived for a while in a vibrant empire moving fast towards the modernity of its european equals. That until World War 1, and the rest is quite a dramatic history. Point is, being served by the orthodox interpretation of the christian faith, one focused on suffering and enduring the immense burdens of sin, one can imagine why she rejected it.

The authors are very aware of that, and though they recognize Rand's work as great, which it is, they cannot just borrow everything from her philosophy outright. They instead go in depth reviewing what went wrong on the preaching of their christian faith, what went right, and going to the source of the true creed, the Bible, they reach conclusions remarkably similar to that of Mrs. Rand. That Christianity is a creed of reason, of life affirming values, and that of individual nourishment, not sacrifice. How could it be anyway, a life denying creed of altruism, if the human life is sacred, and much of the old testament's law is focused on protecting human's dignity, property and life, from what may be. The new testament's new covenant being an affirmation of the creeds of the old through a more concentrated frame, and opened to the world, while the old testament was focused on the people of God, the Hebrews.

That is indeed a book fundamental to restore the west, and in fact the whole world, to a christianity of actual love and human flourishing, one of freedom and of choosing. I was skeptical at first, when I got it on audio, and it was a reason I listened on audio instead of reading outright. My doubts were if I was going to learn anything I did not with the work, given I know a lot about Rand already, and I did not know the extent of how deep christian intellectual efforts could go. The book was a beautiful surprise, in fact it is why I want to do things, why I read, why I risk losing my time: I may be surprised by a life-changing point to complement my thought and contribute to my intellectual journey. That book is absolutely it. As the Romantic Manifesto by Rand, one that I did listen on audio, but I as well may read it on the side, because it is so good and so positive.

I wanted to say this, and this is the reason I brought fourth another post, so close to the other one, it needed to be conplemented. Not all books are worth of anyone's time, your eyes and are not a toilet. They really don't need to see crap, it should be to see good things. No witchcraft, which Marxism actually is, specially on the Eric Voegelin interpretation, the one I have largely embraced, but light, good ideas. 

With that, I of course wish you a wonderful weekend and the best! I will be back around next week, preferably the sooner, and in the weekend I am not sure if I will write on this blog, because of the two I already did, so close to one another. I may instead either update my Substack side-blog, or work on a drawing, or frankly just rest and try not to feel guilty about it. We'll see. I am grateful to have you here, and I see you real soon, farewell, Cheers!!!