The indispensability of Christianity to the Age of Enlightenment/Classical Liberal model

From How Intellectuals Found God by Peter Savodnik.  The subheading is Almost 150 years after Nietzsche said ‘God is dead,’ some of our most important thinkers are getting religion. Peter Savodnik meets the new theists.

Over the past decade, I have become increasingly convinced that practicing Christianity is inseparable from the successful working of the Age of Enlightenment/Classical Liberal world model built in the West.  That was certainly the view of many of the founding fathers who tended towards deism rather than a specific branch of Christianity.  

It is almost indisputable that religious observance and church attendance are constructively beneficial for individuals and families.  But beyond that utilitarian perspective, there is mounting evidence, it seems to me, that for the Age of Enlightenment/Classical Liberal model to work, people need to share some of the founding precepts of Christianity.  Just which ones are the most critical I do not know but I suspect that they include something along the lines of:

Respect for rule of law and responsibility for actions (Old Testament)

Love, mercy, forgiveness and redemption (New Testament)

Tolerance and Openness through universal humanism (we are all God's Children)

Whether there is indeed a movement back towards Christianity among intellectuals, I do not know.  But I am increasing confident that there needs to be such a return by everyone.