It’s amazing how many educated people have never heard of William Wilberforce. In case you have never heard of him, he almost single-handedly ended slavery in England. As such, he completely changed the rest of world history.

The only full-length text that he wrote (as far as I’m aware) was published in 1797 with the title “A Practical View of the Prevailing Religious System of Professed Christians, in the Middle and Higher Classes in this Country, Contrasted with Real Christianity” (titles were a lot longer and more descriptive back then). Modern publications of this book sometimes have the title “Real Christianity” or “Practical Christianity.” This book is Wilberforce’s explanation of why faith makes a nation great and how the lack of it brings about a nation’s downfall. It’s an idea we don’t hear much today, but Wilberforce’s words hit home and are as relevant now as ever.

-Matt Brumit

Junior humanities major