{"id":31255,"date":"2023-02-22T21:32:11","date_gmt":"2023-02-23T05:32:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=31255"},"modified":"2023-02-22T21:32:11","modified_gmt":"2023-02-23T05:32:11","slug":"i-didnt-read-the-book-but-i-did-stay-at-a-holland-ay-inn-express-last-night","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/i-didnt-read-the-book-but-i-did-stay-at-a-holland-ay-inn-express-last-night\/","title":{"rendered":"I Didn’t Read the Book, but I Did Stay at a Holland-ay Inn Express Last Night"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tom Holland\u2019s book Dominion<\/em> is a wonderful book for anyone interested in the ubiquitous nature of Christianity in global development, particularly Western thought. Holland\u2019s book is about 500 pages long and broken into three sections, which outline this development from Christ to today. Fortunately for me, Dr. Clark only assigned us to listen to Tom Holland\u2019s Theos Lecture from 2022. The lecture was quite difficult to track without a deeper understanding of the book, but once I had a good grasp of his context, I was able to hear his lecture more clearly and within the proper frame.<\/p>\n

Holland\u2019s premise can be summed up in this phrase: The development of Christianity is the single most transformative development in Western history. [1]<\/sup> So many Western, and thus global assumptions are based in the Christian revolution to the extent we take them for granted. I was fascinated by Holland\u2019s take on the impact of Christianity on the development of western liberal democracy. The assumption that all people are valuable, Holland argues, is unique within the majority of human history. It was the Christ event, and subsequent development of the church, which brought about the value of the week being equal to that of the strong. Likewise, Holland would assert, no other religion has done more for historically marginalized people (the poor, women, enslaved people etc.) than Christianity<\/p>\n

One review by reads, \u201cHolland argues that all \u2018western\u2019 moral and social norms are the product of the Christian revolution. He is haunted by St Paul\u2019s claim that God chose the weak and foolish things of the world to shame the strong [\u2026]\u201d [2]<\/sup><\/p>\n

I\u2019m fascinated by Holland\u2019s premise that Christianity is at the foundation of so many cultural assumptions of care for the poor, for the outcast, for the weak, the vulnerable. In at least one podcast I listened to, Holland expands on how Christianity has impacted social services like geriatric care, single parents, public education, etc. What is seen as standard assumptions in many cases, has its origins in Christian values.<\/p>\n

Holland\u2019s work provides a historical framework, centered on Christianity, that naturally aligns with shadow work. Shadow work is by nature focused on the lost, hidden, neglected, rejected parts of human beings. It values that which confounds the established cultural narratives and stratifications, which often exclude marginalized people from grace of God, be it education, healthcare, living wage etc.. Shadow work and Christianity both value the \u201cleast among us\u201d because this is where God resides.<\/p>\n

However, this is not how Christianity is viewed by many today. The institution, its theology, and its political entanglements, embody a Christianity that fetishizes its own survival which borders on a sort of narcissistic grandiosity.<\/p>\n

Such narrow vision marginalizes many who don\u2019t fit within its dogmatic scope. The lack of understanding and dehumanization put forth by many powerful Christians again queer and transgender folk is case in point. Fascist lawmakers across the United States, and the West generally, are enacting laws that deny people the dignity of personhood based on sexual orientation\u2013dignity, which Holland would say is essential Christian. Criminalization of poor people is on the rise, not just among radical conservatives, but among mainstream republicans. A heritage and almost genetical ethic of hospitality to strangers is being exchanged for protectionist measures in the name of God.<\/p>\n

Our dear friend, Carl Jung, the son of a Swiss Reformed pastor, was deeply, if not primarily impacted by Christianity. Jung described his church experience, and particularly his first communion, an almost stale reenactment. As a direct product of the Enlightenment, Swiss Reformed experimentalism had become centered on right belief and become lifeless.<\/p>\n

Jung never lost connection with the Christ myth\u2013he carried a bible in his back pocket throughout his adult life\u2013but his world expanded beyond the persona of this faith to include the expansiveness of the unconscious. Jung\u2019s perspective and the Christian ethic of hospitality and inclusion overlay one another beautifully in the story of Demon Possessed Man<\/a> in Mark 5. It perfectly displays the value placed on the oppressed, while also providing opportunity for the oppressor to redeem their disowned, scapegoated projections.<\/p>\n

In summation, I don\u2019t know if I\u2019d love Tom Holland\u2019s book, but I\u2019m at least made curious by his foundational premise. I have many thoughts on how the framework of Jungian psychology and the practice of shadow work may provide pathways forward. Yeah, maybe ask me questions about that in the responses!<\/p>\n

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[1]<\/sup> Tom Holland, Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World<\/em> (Basic Books, 2019). 23.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/sup> Terry Eagleton, \u201cDominion by Tom Holland Review \u2013 the Legacy of Christianity,\u201d The Guardian<\/em>, November 21, 2019, sec. Books, https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/books\/2019\/nov\/21\/dominion-making-western-mind-tom-holland-review.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tom Holland\u2019s book Dominion is a wonderful book for anyone interested in the ubiquitous nature of Christianity in global development, particularly Western thought. Holland\u2019s book is about 500 pages long and broken into three sections, which outline this development from Christ to today. Fortunately for me, Dr. Clark only assigned us to listen to Tom […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":147,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2627],"class_list":["post-31255","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-holland","cohort-lgp11"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31255","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/147"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31255"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31255\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31256,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31255\/revisions\/31256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31255"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31255"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31255"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}