{"id":31241,"date":"2023-02-22T12:33:36","date_gmt":"2023-02-22T20:33:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=31241"},"modified":"2023-02-22T12:33:36","modified_gmt":"2023-02-22T20:33:36","slug":"a-new-concept-im-not-so-sure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/a-new-concept-im-not-so-sure\/","title":{"rendered":"A New Concept? I’m Not So Sure."},"content":{"rendered":"

In Tom Hollands comments during the \u201cTheos Annual Lecture\u201d he captured the essence of his book Dominion: The Making of the Western Mind<\/em>, articulating just how influential Christianity has been in the shaping of society. Holland, an accomplished historian, author, and broadcaster with the BBC focusing on historical documentaries, provides the audience with a deeper understanding of universalism, humanism, and the origins of the Amsterdam declaration. From the onset of his lecture, Holland attempts to set a foundational understanding that much of Western thought and functioning, even those that outright reject a Creator God or the authority of the Bible, are in fact significantly influenced by Christianity at their core. He states,<\/p>\n

\u201cTo live in a Western country is to live in a society that for centuries and in some cases millennia has been utterly transformed by Christian concepts and assumptions. This I think is no less true for atheists that it is for believers. So profound has been the impact of Christianity on the development of Western Civilization that it has come to be hidden from view.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He discusses that while humanism and universalism would claim that all are equal and have value, it was in fact the Bible that first articulated and proclaimed that all have inherent dignity, simply in who they are. This is not a new concept. He states that, \u201cthe humanist assumption that atheism and liberalism necessarily go together is plainly just that, an assumption. It is not truth that science offers moralists but a mirror.\u201d Holland continues his discussion on humanism dogma articulating that \u201cmorality is part of intrinsic part of human nature based on an understanding and concern for others finds no more corroboration in science than did the dogma of the Nazis did anyone not fit for life should be exterminated.\u201d The attempt for universalism and humanism to claim agency over such concepts that were embedded into scripture from the origin of the world demonstrates the lack of understanding of history and just how influential Christianity has been on the shaping of society. He ends his lecture stating that the \u201cwellspring of humanist values lies not in reason or evidence-based thinking but in history \u2013 the history of Christianity.\u201d As Dr. Clark mentioned at the beginning of the semester, \u201cwe cannot understand the world without understanding Christian antecedents.\u201d<\/p>\n

While I can admit that much of his lecture lived in a system of thought that resides much higher than my own, I found myself considering of the following connections and questions:<\/p>\n