Tom Holland, Dominion: The Making of the Western Mind (aff) (London: Abacus: 2019). 594 pages.
Tom Holland is a popular podcaster and a prolific author. He specializes in Greek and Roman history. He is also a great storyteller. In this volume, he traces how Christianity transformed western thought and how it continues to exert a powerful influence. He begins his massive overview (594 pages) with ancient Greeks and Persians and then traces thought patterns all the way to the modern “woke” culture.
Holland presents a grand survey of more than 2,000 years of history. He often tells fascinating stories and highlights little-known moments that proved to be turning points. Holland is at his best when he draws out the flawed humanity of many of history’s heroes. He is a widely read historian with a penchant for an interesting story. However, due to the scope of his undertaking, he is also forced to skim over many significant events and to overstate or overgeneralize others for the sake of time.
I have less confidence in Holland’s theological credentials. He is certainly more liberal in his views than I am, and he makes several statements about Scripture with which I disagree. Often when citing a letter in which Paul says something controversial, Holland attributes it to people who wrote after Paul’s time but credited the apostle (259, 266, 366).
Holland does offer numerous interesting insights. He notes that there is surprisingly little evidence of crucifixion before that of Jesus (xv). The practice occurred, but descriptions of it are scarce. He also notes that crucifixion was so shameful that for several centuries, Christians were unsure how to handle the image of Jesus on the cross. It wasn’t until around 400 AD that the cross became something Christians treasured (xix).
Holland posits at the outset that “To live in the western world is to live in a society still utterly saturated by Christian concepts and conceptions” (xxv). He adds, “So profound has been the impact of Christianity on the developments of western civilization that it has come to be hidden from view” (xxix).
Holland includes an interesting discussion of the Greek gods, one of his areas of expertise. Gods such as Zeus only descended among people for the purpose of rape and caprice. Holland notes, “The gods, inscrutable and whimsical as they were, rarely deigned to explain themselves. They certainly never thought to regulate morals. The oracle of Delphi might offer advice, but not ethical instruction” (15). To do so would have made them hypocrites. Holland reveals how the Greek gods could not compete with the holy, loving God of the Jews. The Romans, having deified Caesars as depraved as Nero, could not offer anything on a scale that Christians could (80).
Holland notes landmark moments in the Christian Church. He details when, after 1,000 years, the church began to insist that priests remain celibate (207). He notes the first people executed for heresy (207). He points out how the church sought to free itself from the control of the state but struggled with corruption when it became its own state. Holland covers numerous issues the church wrestled through the ages including whether women could be priests, how to approach slavery, and how to address homosexuality. He also points out how often the church based its views on Aristotle, though he was obviously not a Christian (258, 292). Aristotle said, “The female is, as it were, an inadequate male” (258). Holland outlines how radically different the Christian view of marriage was compared to other world religions and cultures (267).
Holland takes an interesting look at how even atheists from the French Revolution or later were forced to draw on the Christian well to develop their values. He notes that in the present day, “In a country as saturated in Christian assumptions as the United States, there could be no escaping their influence—even for those who imagined that they had” (514). He adds, “Two thousand years of Christian sexual morality had resulted in men as well as women widely taking this for granted. Had it not, then #MeToo would have had no force” (515). He also states, “Any condemnation of Christianity as patriarchal and repressive derived from a framework of values that was itself utterly Christian” (516).
Holland argues that Christian values are so deeply imbedded into western culture that it does not even recognize when its thinking is based on Christian principles. He summarizes, “As it was, the retreat of belief did not seem to imply any necessary retreat of Christian values” (517). He notes, “Just as Nietzsche foretold, free-thinkers who mock the very idea of a god as a dead thing, a sky fairy, an imaginary friend still piously hold to taboos and morals that derive from Christianity” (521).
Holland posits that Christianity has exerted an unprecedented, powerful influence on the world. He claims, “Repeatedly, like a great earthquake, Christianity has sent reverberations across the world” (523). He continues, “. . .nor even if churches across the west continue to empty, does it seem likely that these standards will quickly change” (525).
This book is interesting. I’m a historian, so I was familiar with much of what Holland covered. At times I could see areas where his theological background was thin. He made a few statements he failed to substantiate. Nevertheless, for a broad overview of the major themes in church history, he provides a stimulating read.
His overall point is made well. Though we might not agree with everything the church did through the centuries, there is no doubt that it has exerted an enormous impact on western thought. Even critics of Christianity have often been forced to draw on Christian teachings and values to shore up their own beliefs.
For someone interested in learning how Christianity has impacted western thought, you may find this major read worth your investment.
Rating: 3
