PDF Summary:Dominion, by Tom Holland

Christianity's influence on Western civilization runs deeper than you might think. In Dominion, Tom Holland examines how Christian principles have shaped modern values, institutions, and beliefs—even among those who consider themselves secular. He argues that Christianity represents the most significant transformation in Western history, fundamentally altering how societies think about power, law, and human rights.

Holland traces Christianity's controversial origins, including the scandalous nature of Jesus's crucifixion and Constantine's efforts to unify the faith. He then explores how Christian concepts became embedded in Western culture, from Gratian's revolutionary legal principle of equality before the law to the elevation of marriage and women's status. You'll discover how ideas like human rights and secularism itself are rooted in Christian thought—and why even secular humanists unknowingly carry forward a Christian legacy.

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(Shortform note: Legal historian Samuel Moyn, in The Last Utopia, challenges the idea that human rights are a natural outgrowth of Christian canon law. He argues that the contemporary politics of human rights took shape only in the 1970s, when “human rights” crystallized as a new, distinctive moral and political project after the exhaustion of earlier utopias such as nationalism and revolutionary socialism, rather than as the natural culmination of a continuous tradition extending over the long span of Western history. This view suggests that the authority and global appeal of human rights may not fundamentally depend on their Christian and medieval roots.)

Holland adds that a secular perspective also depends on concealing its roots. To gain acceptance among Jews, Muslims, Hindus, and people from other religious traditions, it cannot risk appearing insignificant outside Christianity. In Europe, secularism has been secularized for such a long time that people easily lose sight of its true beginnings. By accepting its principles, you inevitably adopt some Christian characteristics.

(Shortform note: Holland’s claim that accepting the principles of a secular perspective inevitably means adopting Christian characteristics may not be true in all contexts. For example, in The Promise of India’s Secular Democracy, political theorist Rajeev Bhargava argues that India’s secular perspective is explicitly grounded in its own multi-religious history, not in Christian characteristics.)

Next, let’s examine the reordering of power and law, and then the elevation of social welfare and moral principles.

The Reordering of Power and Law

Gratian's work on church law helped establish the idea of equality before the law. Holland describes how, in approximately 1150, this monk compiled the Decretum, an extensive collection of church laws. His work was based on the notion that, to God, all souls have equal value, and justice can only be achieved if the law is based on this premise. He claimed that any law contradicting this principle should be excluded.

This idea challenged the traditional belief that laws should uphold differences in social status. Instead, Gratian argued that the law should ensure that everyone is treated justly, without consideration of their social standing, financial status, or family background.

The Papal Reform Movement and the Legal Revolution

Gratian’s Decretum was written during a period of significant change in the Catholic Church. In the 11th and 12th centuries, the papal reform movement sought to centralize the Church’s authority and establish the pope as the supreme leader of the Christian world. At the same time, the rediscovery of Roman law and the rise of universities led to a new emphasis on legal scholarship and the development of canon law as a distinct discipline. In Law and Revolution: The Formation of the Western Legal Tradition, Harold J. Berman argues that this period marked a “legal revolution” in which the Church’s legal system was transformed into a coherent, systematic body of law grounded in theological principles.

The Elevation of Social Welfare and Ethics

Christianity elevated women's status and marriage. Holland points out that it made women equal to men in marriage and turned marriage into an institution rooted in ethics and faith. The Church’s insistence on monogamy represented a transformative idea about marriage based on shared affection and love. Individual rights began to surpass family rights.

(Shortform note: In Band of Angels, historian Kate Cooper argues that Christianity didn’t make women equal to men in marriage. She says that while Christian teachings changed the ideals of married life, they didn’t change the fact that men had more legal authority than women.)

The Enduring Cultural Legacy

Christianity has profoundly shaped Western values and beliefs. Holland asserts that even secular humanists are influenced by Christian ideas, such as the notion that humans have rights, are born equal, and deserve sustenance, shelter, and protection from oppression. These aren't self-evident truths but Christian beliefs.

The idea of secularism is also Christian. The notion of a secular-religious duality predates the Reformation by centuries. The word “secularism” itself is Christian, as is the French term “laïcité,” which originated in 1842. Secularism illustrates Christianity’s endless capacity for evolution.

Are Rights and Equality Uniquely Christian?

Many dispute Holland’s claim that rights, equality, and secularism are specifically Christian beliefs. In The Idea of Justice, Amartya Sen argues that ideas of justice, political liberty, and public reasoning have arisen in many different societies across the world. He explains that it’s a serious error to treat these commitments as the exclusive preserve of any particular civilization or religious tradition. What are today called “human rights” are best understood as elements of a general ethical language, available to and developable by people in very different cultural settings, rather than as the parochial creation of one region or historical experience.