There is Nothing New Under the Sun
Vanity of vanities, says the Teacher,
vanity of vanities! All is vanity.
What do people gain from all the toil
at which they toil under the sun?
What has been is what will be,
and what has been done is what will be done;
there is nothing new under the sun.
Is there a thing of which it is said,
“See, this is new”?
It has already been
in the ages before us.
The people of long ago are not remembered,
nor will there be any remembrance
of people yet to come
by those who come after them.
-Ecclesiastes 1:2-5, 9-11
“There is nothing new under the sun.” This phrase kept echoing in my mind as I read Tom Holland’s book, Dominion How the Christian Revolution Remade the World. While Holland’s aim is to uncover the profound and often overlooked influence of Christianity on Western culture—revealing how many values modern society takes for granted are rooted in the Christian worldview—I found myself drawn instead to how history so often seems to repeat itself. There were and always have been power struggles, political strife, war, those on the inside and those on the margins, religious superiority, if it’s happening today it also happened yesterday. There is nothing new under the sun.
It makes me wonder if this is because humans are evolutionarily hardwired for survival of the fittest. We don’t just want to be in control, we need to be in control. We need to win the war, make the money, secure the limited resources so that we can survive. I was talking to a biologist after church on Sunday who pointed out that humans are selfish creatures because we are biologically programmed to watch out for our own interests.
But are we just our biology? Don’t we also have an amazing capacity for imagination, moral reason, and compassion? Are we to always ever be what survival of the fittest makes us to be? Or, can we choose a different path?
In reading this book, it seems that Christianity challenges humans (at least those in the West) to choose a different path, but that our evolutionary instincts keep bringing us right back to where we started: looking out for number one.
In some ways Dominion left me wondering why I even do what I do.
If God created us with these self-preserving instincts, and then calls us to self-sacrifice, what’s the deal? Maybe it’s about growth, about becoming more than just our biological programming. Maybe the struggle itself is part of the point.
As an example of how the call of Christ calls us to another way yet how we continue to find ourselves in a sin-loop (I’m claiming that word), Holland points out how the early Christian challenge to the Roman Empire’s social and political norms mirrors ongoing struggles in our society today. In the Roman world, power and dominance were celebrated, mercy seen as weakness. Early Christians, Paul especially, however, taught a radically different message: that strength is found in weakness and that the greatest among us are those who serve others. Holland writes, “The Son of God, by becoming mortal, had redeemed all humanity. Not as a leader of armies, not as a Conquerer of Caesars, but as a victim the Messiah had come. The message was as novel as it was shocking.”[1] Yet, we’re still wrestling with this same tension between power and humility today. We see it in our political leaders who’d rather call people derogatory names and puff themselves up, threatening vengeance, than admit they don’t have all the answers. We see it in corporations that prioritize profits over people, treating employees as disposable resources rather than valuable human beings. We see it in our healthcare system, where the sick are turned away because they lack insurance, as if their worth is determined by their ability to pay. And we see it in our ongoing debates about immigration, where we struggle to balance national security with compassion for those seeking a better life. In all these areas, we’re confronted with a choice: Do we embrace the path of power and self-interest, or do we choose the more challenging road of humility and service? While the Christian worldview certainly challenges our discernment, it seems that our selfish ambitions, our biological drive to look out for ourselves, continue to dominate the choices we make.
Yet, as Holland argues, the Christian story also offers hope for transformation. The teachings of Jesus, especially the emphasis on forgiveness, humility, and care for the marginalized, have inspired countless movements for justice and reform. I still remember when the organizers of Live Aid recruited many big stars to record, “Do They Know it is Christmas?” a “one-off charity record, (that) succeeded in raising so much money for famine relief that it would end up the best-selling single in the history of the UK charts.”[2] Holland claims this was a “project born of the Christian past.”[3] The abolition of slavery and apartheid was also driven by Christian convictions about the dignity of every human being. In South Africa, Desmond Tutu declared that that apartheid was “totally un-Christian, evil and heresy” sparking the assertion that “if it was as a theological construct that apartheid had been built, then it was as a theological construct that it would need to be dismantled.”[4]
So, while humans are selfish and prone to repeating the sins of the past, the Christian worldview insists that change is possible through grace and repentance.[5]
Perhaps our responsibility as Christians is returning again and again to the radical teachings of Jesus who turned the values of the world upside down. While there may be “nothing new under the sun” perhaps the hope lies in trying to live out his teachings of compassion, humility, care for the least of these, and even, perhaps the most difficult and threatening to our biological wiring, love for enemy.
[1] Tom Holland, Dominion How the Christian Revolution Remade the World, Basic Books, New York, 2019, 103.
[2] Ibid, 497.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Ibid, 502.
[5] Ibid, 503.
14 responses to “There is Nothing New Under the Sun”
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Hi Kally,
Great post. I felt you were speaking from the pulpit on this one.
You wrote, we see it in our ongoing debates about immigration, where we struggle to balance national security with compassion for those seeking a better life.
So true. On Thursday, I am sharing my NPO with my bible study, I am leading with scripture that should guide our behavior to the refugee. I know that some if not all of the audience will be hostile to the ideas of Deut 10:18 (Orphans, widows and the foreigner amongst us). They will as you say, claim security over compassion.
My argument will be that one does not preclude the other. We shall see how that goes.
Shalom.
Russell,
By this time you will have already shared your NPO with your bible study. I do hope it went well for you. Your NPO is so important. Prayers friend.
Kally,
“There is nothing new under the sun.” scares me in this era. It makes me question whether we will continue to make the same mistakes and not grow learn from the past. I am fearful and sad when I think that history may repeat itself in the worse way.
Hi Kally,
It’s hard not to lose hope sometimes. Holland’s book was hard to read even though his point was hopeful about the positive impact Christianity has made. I wonder what our forefathers in the faith would think about the state of Christianity in the world now? I think you stated our key stance very well, “Perhaps our responsibility as Christians is returning again and again to the radical teachings of Jesus who turned the values of the world upside down.” It’s a work in progress, cyclical as it may be, but the radical teachings of Jesus and responses to them are creating change.
Have a wonderful Christmas!
Jenny,
I appreciate your question, “I wonder what our forefathers in the faith would think about the state of Christianity in the world now?” In fact, I always appreciate your questions. Thank you for helping me to dig deep.
Kally,
Excellent post that really has me think that what you and I do does have great value. Somehow we always drift from center as humans and need to be drawn back over and over again. Pastoral ministry should nurture that kind of drawing. You mentioned “Perhaps our responsibility as Christians is returning again and again to the radical teachings of Jesus who turned the values of the world upside down.” You definitely nailed it. A daily walking out of the upside down life… Simple but yet profound.
Appreciate the post Kally, very honest and I feel some of that myself. History seems to be 2 steps forward, 1 step back, then 4 steps forward then 5 steps back.
I think Christ’s life and teachings was about 50 paces forward, then we inevitably took several steps back, but something was forever changed in the West, which is why I appreciate this book. I read Dominion about a year ago. While reading a friend of mine relapsed pretty bad, so I took him to Vanderbit and watched the nurses, doctors, and EMT’s work while I was in the waiting room. I just so happened to be in the part of Holland’s book that discussed hospitals arising due to Christian monks. This made me wonder if the hospital I was sitting in with the sick, the poor, and the hurting at that very moment would exist without Jesus. Then I thought, “Is this part of the kingdom Jesus spoke of coming to earth and we’re oblivious that it worked?” Of course healthcare these days is complex, but a lot about the book caused a deeper appreciation for my faith and what we do in ministry. It’s been such a pleasure getting to know you Kally and hearing your stories and insights. So happy for this new season of ministry you’re in now! Godspeed on this last part of the program!
I brought up this point to one of my friends this week – that hospitals and healthcare started with Christian values.
And then the CEO of UHC was killed.
You mention that healthcare is complex. Yes. Yes, it is.
We’ve definitely tangled up Christian care for the sick with capitalism.
Oh, I’m sorry to hear that about the CEO.
Why do you do what you do? Because you have a heart and a mind that keeps challenging the sin-loop evident in our culture and lives.
Seriously, Kally, this was a really great post; good processing. Herere’s one of my big takeaways:
“if it was as a theological construct that apartheid had been built, then it was as a theological construct that it would need to be dismantled.”
So much of the fruit of twisted theology has broken the world, so why do we do what we do, as pastors? To provide the theological constructs that help dismantle what has been built by wrong theology.
Oh, and one more thing: I listened to “Do they know it’s Christmas” last night driving my teenage daughter home from church.
Being in school with you has been a gift over the last couple of years. You are a great thinker, a compelling writer, and, from what I can tell, a strong pastor. I’ve been blessed by your wrestling with stuff out loud.
See you at the finish line!
Isn’t that the challenge? “…Returning again and again to the radical teachings of Jesus who turned the values of the world upside down.”
So good, and so true. Oh, and so hard! All the more important to keep coming back to that plumbline and recalibrating ourselves to it’s power and truth.
Kally, you are a treasure. I love your voice and your heart. They beat so clearly and consistently. Grace and Peace to you my friend!
Hey Kally,
Thanks for your wonderings (that’s how I was reading them, anyways)…they offer a good perspective–that even though lots of good Christian values are embedded in Western culture–so are a lot of other bad values that seem to naturally arise in our sin-sick hearts. So we see both playing out in real time both in the ‘secular world’ and the church–and we’ve seen it for all of human history. That reality might rightfully tone down the triumphalistic tendencies in the evangelical tribe (yay!)…but I find it also presents a compelling and beautiful invitation to make the hard choice and ‘pick up our cross’ and do, as Mother Teresa says, “Small things with great love”….and in so doing, be a part of humanity bringing goodness and grace into the world–until God decides to make all things new again. Grateful for the small part you’re playing down in your neck of the woods…
Kally,
The challenge, as you mentioend, is living like Jesus every moment of our lives. . . in our words, thoughts, and actions. How bright is our lamp or how salty is our salt? I appreciate your vulnerability, evident in all of the thinking you have shared in your posts.
It has been fun getting to know you these last three years. Praying that God gives you greater clarity in your ministry context and continues to use you in the building of His kingdom.
In some ways it feels like we’ve come so far from the days of the Roman Empire’s dominance, full of all sorts of cruel and unjust practices. The western world values equality and compassion, at least to some extent. On the other hand, as you say, we are “still wrestling with this same tension between power and humility today.” Matthew 20:25-28 comes to mind: “Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Serving and giving up our lives, that certainly goes against the power-hungry majority in any era or culture.
Thank you, Kally, for your compassionate heart, for shepherding your people well and for being part of our cohort. I appreciate you!