How Christ Changed the World: A Synopsis of Dominion, by Tom Holland-Part 2

As I said in my last blog, I believe Dominion, by the British historian Tom Holland, is the most important  books written this century. It is a book about the domain of Jesus Christ; His majesty and power as it has grown over the centuries, to become the most powerful cultural force ever known to mankind. 

          One reason Christianity has become the world’s most powerful religious and cultural force is the willingness of Christians to suffer and die for their faith. 

Chapter 4: Belief: A.D. 177, Lyon

           In this chapter Holland introduces us to Blandina, a 15-year old slave girl who died for her faith. “All Christians, no matter where they were, had to live with the knowledge that they might be lynched….[Blandina] was a slave, ‘a slight, frail, despised woman’; that she might be set among the elite of heaven, seated directly within the splendour of God’s radiant palace, ahead of those who in the fallen world had been her immeasurable superiors, was a potent illustration of the mystery that lay at the heart of the Christian faith….The willingness of Christians to embrace excruciating tortures…was founded on an awesome conviction: that their Saviour was by their side.”

           Christianity has always been beset by various heresies. But in this era they all seemed to have one thing in common: the denial that Jesus Christ might literally have suffered death.

           One of the leading lights of this era was Irenaeus. He never doubted for a moment that he was engaged in a battle of ideas. Holland says the Christian church created something never before seen in the world. A citizenship not based on birth, descent, or legal status, but on belief alone.

           Holland then moves his narrative to what was probably the greatest city in the Roman world—Alexandria on the north coast of Egypt. There, emperor worship was demanded, and enforced with violence. Out of this cauldron came one of the great figures of Christian history—Origen. “To live in Alexandria—even for the most devout follower of Christ—was to experience the full dazzling potency of Greek culture.” The Greeks and Romans built towering monuments to their religion and culture but Origen knew Christianity had something better. A monument made of “living stones.” It was Origen who first said, “Whatever men have rightly said, no matter who or where, is the property of us Christians.” In other words, all truth is God’s truth. 

           The third century A.D. saw the Roman Empire begin to unravel. There had to be a reason. The pagans decided it was because their gods were offended. So everyone was ordered to pay homage to them. Some refused such worship, among whom was Origen. He was tortured terribly and died within a year of his wounds. But within two generations the persevering Christian church finally was declared a legal religion by the Emperor Constantine. He discovered something new and interesting about the faith. For Christians true religion did not consist of proper rituals or sacrifices. It consisted of correct belief. Thus, the emperor summoned Christian leaders to a council in the city of Nicaea and there the bishops did something that had never been done before. They made a “declaration of belief that claimed itself universal.” And although he did not know it, Constantine, by accepting Christ as his Lord, had imported directly into the heart of his empire a new and unpredictable source of power.

Chapter 5: Charity; A.D.362, Pessinus

           Julian the Apostate became the Roman Emperor around A.D. 360. He was chagrined that worship of the pagan gods had fallen off precipitously. What Julian failed to realize was that “the gods cared nothing for the poor. To think otherwise was ‘airhead talk.’’ Julian proposed combatting the new faith with a pagan religion of his own. However, “the young emperor, sincere as he was in his hatred of the Galilean teachings, and regretting their impact on all he held dear, was blind to the irony of his plan for combatting them…” What was this plan? It was irredeemably Christian. He wanted to out-Christian the Christians. We see the same thing today. The atheists and self-described pagans who comment on my channel claim to be better people than Christians. How do they judge themselves better? By Christian standards of course!

           Julian learned an iron law of charity. Compassion for the poor cannot be summoned out of nothing. In other words, atheism and paganism and all the other modern religions have no power to change the human heart. Holland uses as his example two of the most powerful Christians of the era—the brothers Basil and Gregory. The logic that summoned compassion out of these two wealthy brothers, “derived from the very fundamentals of their faith.” There was no human existence so wretched that it did not bear witness to the image of God. It was at this time—the fourth century A.D.—that Gregory, took that logic of the image of God to its logical conclusion. He called for the abolition of slavery. So far as we know, he is the first to do so and he did it on the basis of the Christian worldview.

           “Lepers and children were not the most defenceless of God’s children.” Across the Roman world, “babies abandoned by their parents was a common sight.” Up to this time virtually everyone was accepting of parents exposing their unwanted children, thus killing them. That is, until Christians arrived on the scene.  Many were like Macrina—Gregory and Basil’s sister.  She rescued abandoned girls and took them home to raise as her own.

           Meanwhile, in Gaul—in what would be modern day France, a new kind of hero was emerging—a Christian one. He is seen as heroic not because he wields political or military power but because he eschews both. Martin of Tours becomes a bishop precisely because he does not want to be one. Martin wields power because he rejects it, laying down his life for the weakest of his subjects.

           On the north coast of Africa—obscure by any account—there arises at this time one of the brightest lights in the history of the human race. Augustine. Augustine is famous for a host of reasons. I remember in graduate school at a secular university reading about his towering influence on the study of history. In this chapter Holland focuses on Augustine’s rejection the teachings of Pelagius who was sort of a modern liberal, arguing that people are basically good and can live righteous lives under their own power. According to Holland Augustine held, “That Christians might live without sin was not merely fantasy; it was a pernicious heresy.” It was a fallen world we live in but one that could be delivered by light from heaven. Man’s basic nature is today one of the most important doctrines being debated and the rejection of the Augustinian view is extremely destructive.  We will see how this begins to play out in future blogs.