All The East Is Moving | Tom Holland | First Things | 17th July 2016

Not until the early 18th century did Western Europe begin to feel permanently secure against invaders from the East, after the Ottoman Empire had failed in its second attempt to conquer Vienna in 1683 and was finally in retreat. No longer at war with Islam, Western Europe had less need to define itself as Christ­endom, and could favour secular values over religious ones. We have come to believe that secular values will always prevail in modern societies: Is it time to revisit that assumption?