Recently, I watched a conversation between historian Tom Holland (not the actor) and atheist philosopher AC Grayling. During the respectful debate, Grayling challenged Holland to name "one thing" that Christianity had done for humanity.
To put it in context, Grayling argued that the societal contributions of Christianity came from other ancient sources and therefore Christianity was not unique in its contributions. In other words, the world would not have been affected much if Christianity had not existed.
While Holland countered eloquently, I listed briefly some unique societal contributions by Christianity.
1) Philosophy of science
While ancient India, China and Greece came up with scientific discoveries, the scientific philosophy (that included major ideas of experimentation and formal logic) was developed with the background of Christian theology. China, India and Greece did not even come close to uncovering that philosophy.
It had been argued that without Christianity establishing that a logical God would create an understandable world, science as a philosophy would not be thought about.
2) Universality of rights
Another unique thing that Christianity brought was the universality of rights. God revealed to Apostle Peter in Acts 10 that the idea of being God's children was not a matter of genetics (i.e. being Jews) but a matter of belief.
In doing so, Christianity laid the foundation of Universal Human Rights, since all humans are seen to be children of God.
3) Presumption of innocence
Another great contribution that Christianity laid was the idea of the presumption of innocence: that one was considered innocent till proven guilty.
Formally formulated during the Inquisition, the presumption of innocence drew inspiration from Abraham's negotiation with God over the destruction of Sodom (Genesis 18). From the Inquition came many modern systems of law and order, one of which is English Common Law.
Recommended readings:
James Hannam (2009) God's Philosophers
Rodney Stark (2005) The Victory of Reason: How Christianity Led to Freedom, Capitalism, and Western Success
For reference to the video:
