3rd Book: Dominion - Tom Holland

Dominion by Tom Holland:

Dominion is a formidable book. Published in 2019 yet it is also a book I’ve been wanting to read for years.

I’ve only ever read one other like it[i] for its mastery of the subject, fluency in writing and vivid language which brings to life both history and philosophy. It’s a bit of a beast but worth the effort. I’m still buzzing from it now, 6 weeks after completing it.

Jesus talks of a tiny mustard seed growing into an enormous tree and of yeast spreading imperceptibly yet comprehensively through dough. I’ve often wondered about the influence of Jesus, not just on the Christian religion (the largest in the world, still growing world-wide) but also on culture, philosophy, laws and the arts.

Tom Holland’s book, Dominion, is an ambitious attempt to do just that, to measure the influence of Jesus on history and the modern world. An ambitious aim. Starting from ancient Kingdoms and philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle, it stops to understand the Nicene Creed, Augustus, Luther, Calvin, Galilleo, Darwin, Neitzche, to name a few. The book then gathers pace and soars to a crescendo in the 20th Century taking in Hitler, Himmler, Tolkein, the Beatles, Band Aid, Mandela, 9/11 and #Metoo campaign. I would recommend it to anyone, Christian or otherwise. It’s made all the more intriguing, appealing and convincing because Tom Holland, as he professes at the end, is not actually a Christian himself. He also does not spare the savage historians pen of judgement on Christianity’s worst crimes, of which there are plenty over 2 millennia!

Firstly his grasp of Christian theology and Scriptures is so insightful. Time and again he reveals how the words, stories and actions of Jesus, coupled with the words of Paul have inspired courage in people from lowly peasants, to the brightest minds, to the most powerful leaders. His argument is that the words in the gospels and the letters of Paul have radically altered the culture, laws and moral practices of the world. From challenging abandoned babies in rubbish dumps in ancient Rome, the fight to abolish slavery, challenging Sati (sometimes spelt ‘Suttee’) in India, the barbaric practices of the New World, to taming sexual power into one of mutuality between partners. Time and again Holland brings alive the culture and thinking of an age, unpacks the challenges and shows how Christians have slowly, imperceptibly changed the world view in those countries / cultures.

The fundamental tenants of Christianity: that all men and women are created equal; the teachings of Jesus: love your neighbour - indeed even your enemy; and the words of Paul ‘In Christ: there is neither male nor female, Jew nor Gentile, slave nor free’; has inspired: UN Declaration of Human Rights, US constitution, and countless leaders in the past 2 millennia. These words have also strengthened the oppressed to have a spiritual sense of worth which gives them the power to strive for change.

Of course, people will rightly point out the vulgar atrocities and colossal abuse of power by the Christian religion. There will be no surer critic of that than Holland and yet he points out that ironically we are now judging them (whether we realise it or not) through the lens of Christian values and also that, so often, it was the same Christ inspired people that challenged and changed said powers, Empires and abuses.

There is so much more in the book worthy of drawing attention to (it took me over an hour to read through my kindle highlights), but doing so would make this blog too long. So, I’ll just share a some of the points which most interested / were new to me:

I’ve often had a private thought that even Marx, at his route, was influenced by Christian thinking. I remain no expert, but Holland argued the same. While on the one hand Marx argued religion was an ‘opium for the people’ on the other: his father was a church leader and grand-father a Jew. Behind the science of his economics, Holland argued, was a man sub-consciously echoing the influence of his upbringing and Biblical prophets: ‘Each according to his ability, given according to his need’ mirrors the early church who ‘shared everything they had so there was no needy amongst them.’ (Acts 4).

The influence Christianity has had on education: Early universities from Oxford and others across Europe were founded by some of the greatest Christian minds and thinkers of their time. While theology was the primary subject in the early days, maths, philosophy, natural sciences soon followed. Endorsed by the belief from Christian leaders that learning honoured God and was ‘loving Him with all your mind’:

‘To identify the laws that governed the universe [for example] was to honour the Lord God who had formulated them. This conviction, far from perturbing the [Christian] gatekeepers of the new universities was precisely what animated them.’

These lead to discoveries such as Galilleo and the telescope which made it’s way, via the missionary Matteo Ricci, to the mighty empire of China in the 1600s.

And to the recent #Metoo campaign, though it has no direct linkage to the church nor has it been particularly lead by Christian voices, is actually the legacy, so argues Holland, of centuries of Christian challenge to ‘managing man’s sexual desires’. A modern call to repentance, a modern fight the Christian faith has been battling for 2 millennia. A battle which, is still needed. Holland highlights how virtually every culture Christianity confronted used marriage and sex as a power-tool for men. How slowly, sometimes through the might of rule, other times through subtle influence, they brought in the notion not just of monogamy, but also mutuality of pleasure between man and women, based on the words of Paul. What I’d also never considered but Hammond argued convincingly is that the Christian faith has introduced the concept of ‘choice of partners’ particularly female choice. No longer is marriage dictated by the patriarch as a way of enhancing and strengthening the family honour, power and prestige (with daughters useful pawns). Something we take for granted but people like St Valentine and others fought hard to achieve.

One of the other many things I was unaware of was the Christian, German psychiatrist: Richard Von-Krafft-Ebing. He was the first to categorise sexual habits. The term ‘homo-sexual’ and ‘heterosexual’ were coined by him (along with others such as masochism, sadism). When placed in the context of 2 Millenia, they are relatively new terms. Von Krafft Ebing concluded that the church should support same-sex relations on the same criteria as heterosexual ones. ‘Homosexuals, he declared, might be no less familiar with the ‘noblest inspirations of the heart’ than any married couple’. (Longer quote is worth reading below)[ii] I suspect one day the wider church will agree…….though it will take some time to get there.

The above isn’t even enough to be called a trailer. But how do I sum up my reaction to the book:

Often the Gospel writers record that people looked at Jesus and were amazed (according to Google: 23 times). This book has left my head and spirit marvelling, yet again, still further, with even deeper appreciation in wonder and awe at how this penniless, itinerant, low-status man, whose short career ended in poverty, humiliation and torture has had such influence on the world without even a single written word accredited to his hand.

Perhaps my feelings are best expressed in those ancient words:

‘This man truly’ as the Roman centurion who’d overseen his death concluded, ‘was the son of God.’ (Matt 27, 54)

[i] The State of Africa by Meredith [ii] ‘Christianity raised the union of the sexes to the sublime position by making women socially the equal of man and by elevating the bond of love to a moral and religious institution. It was not despite believing this but because of it, that Von-Krafft-Ebing by the end of his career had come to believe that sodomy should be de-criminalised. Homosexuals, he declared, might be no less familiar with the ‘noblest inspirations of the heart’ than any married couple. Huge numbers of them, inspired by his research, wrote to him sharing their most intimate yearnings and secrets.