Arnold J. Toynbee was a 20th century British historian who studied the rise and fall of some 26 civilizations in his massive 12-volume work “A Study of History“, identifying a common theme for their collapse. They did not collapse from an external foe but from internal decay and disintegration. Britannica concludes that “Many critics complained that the conclusions he reached were those of a Christian moralist rather than of a historian. His work, however, has been praised as a stimulating answer to the specializing tendency of modern historical research.”

The Biblical book of Judges illustrates a cyclical pattern of Israel’s moral decline, where “everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25). This period was marked by lawlessness, idolatry, immorality and social chaos, illustrating a direct link between moral decay and societal collapse.

Toynbee’s findings echo the warnings in Scripture. “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who turn darkness to light and light to darkness” (Isaiah 5:20). The prophet Jeremiah also highlighted the corruption and deceit prevalent in society, stating, “They have taught their tongues to lie; they weary themselves with sinning” (Jeremiah 9:5). The Apostle Paul describes the moral decline of humanity in his letter to the Romans stating, “Although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts” (Romans 1:21). This passage outlines the inevitable progression from a rejection of God to a complete moral collapse, resulting in a society filled with “every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity” (Romans 1:29).

Toynbee’s conclusion was blunt: the United States is repeating the fatal mistakes of Rome and America’s moral authority is collapsing under the weight of its own power. If Toynbee was right, I argue that America’s moral decay indicates we are past the point of no return for cataclysmic collapse and judgment. The only thing we can now hope for is a figure like Josiah in the Old Testament to temporarily delay a certain and inevitable judgment. Yes, Nineveh repented at the preaching of Jonah and the promised judgment was witheld – but only temporarily. Nineveh was destroyed in 612 BC, approximately 150 years after Jonah preached to the city around 760 BC. This time lapse incurred a continual decline in the city’s moral state, leading to its eventual destruction.