{"id":41997,"date":"2025-09-11T08:00:48","date_gmt":"2025-09-11T15:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=41997"},"modified":"2025-09-08T08:30:50","modified_gmt":"2025-09-08T15:30:50","slug":"the-prequel-to-our-cultural-moment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/the-prequel-to-our-cultural-moment\/","title":{"rendered":"The Prequel To Our Cultural Moment"},"content":{"rendered":"

That a slave, \u2018a slight, frail, despised woman\u2019, might be set among the elite of heaven, seated directly within the splendour of God\u2019s 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.[1]<\/strong><\/a><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In the same way that The Hobbit<\/em> lays the groundwork for The Lord of the Rings<\/em>, Tom Holland\u2019s Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World<\/em> serves as a cultural prequel to the world we live in today. It\u2019s not a story about hobbits, wizards, and dragons, but of a crucified Son of God, apostles, bishops, revolutions, and a slow reshaping of human values.<\/p>\n

Tom Holland articulates the profound shaping influence on Western society of the mystery of a crucified Messiah, which lies at the heart of Christianity. He suggests that frameworks of our moral imagination are inextricably linked to Christian thought, regardless of someone\u2019s acknowledgment. In fact, it is so woven into the Western way of being that one no longer recognizes it as Christian. He argues, \u201cEven to write about it in a Western language is to use words infused with Christian connotations. \u2018Religion\u2019, \u2018secular\u2019, \u2018atheist\u2019 are not neutral. All, though they derive from the classical past, come freighted with the legacy of Christendom.\u201d[2]<\/a> Holland shows how values that feel universal today, such as compassion, human rights, and equality, did not emerge from Athens or Rome, but from Jerusalem and the radical message of a crucified God.<\/p>\n

This idea of Christianity\u2019s shaping of the West is also one of the themes explored by Mark Sayers in the podcast This Cultural Moment<\/em> with John Mark Comer. While Holland provides the historic analysis, Sayers provides the cultural GPS in this present moment in history. Holland shows us how we arrived, and Sayers provides us with navigation through the present cultural fog into the future. Sayers’ work dovetails seamlessly with Holland’s thesis, particularly through his recurring theme of the “kingdom without the king.” In This Cultural Moment<\/em>, Sayers describes our current era as a “third culture”. The \u201cthird culture\u201d has inherited Christianity’s ethical framework, with values like compassion and equality, but rejected the source. He argues that secular society craves the benefits of the Kingdom of God (social justice, personal freedom) without submitting to the King (Jesus Christ). This isn’t just abstract. Sayers points to real-time examples, like cancel culture on the progressive left or Christian nationalism on the right, both borrowing from Christian moral fervour, but devoid of the grace and forgiveness at the heart of our faith.[3]<\/a> Reading Holland alongside This Cultural Moment<\/em> is like getting the prequel and the sequel<\/p>\n

One of the things that I found compelling in the book was the sacrifice and courage it required down through the centuries to develop and cultivate the Christian worldview. Holland highlights Irenaeus, a second-century bishop, as a key figure in this process. Holland claims, \u201cIrenaeus knew perfectly well that he was competing for customers in an open market. Hence his enthusiasm for the momentous new concept of orthodoxy. Beliefs, after all, did not patrol themselves. They had to be promoted, and upheld against their rivals.\u201d[4]<\/a> This passage underscores the competitive intellectual environment of the early Christian era, where diverse philosophical and religious traditions, such as Gnosticism, paganism, and other Hellenistic ideologies, contended for dominance.<\/p>\n

Irenaeus\u2019 efforts to articulate and defend Christian orthodoxy required not only intellectual precision but also came with considerable personal risk. In an era when persecution of Christians was commonplace, advocating for a unified set of beliefs was an act of defiance against both Roman authorities and rival sects. Holland illustrates how Irenaeus\u2019 work laid the foundation for a standardized Christian doctrine, which was essential for the faith\u2019s survival and expansion. I am grateful for the courageous and sacrificial faith of the church fathers and mothers.<\/p>\n

However, while there are numerous examples of courage, sacrifice, and compassion, there is also considerable evidence of the dark side of Christianity. Holland doesn\u2019t shy away from exposing the darkness. When the church chose dominance through coercion, marginalizing dissent, and aligning themselves with political authority the more troubling facets of Christianity come into view.<\/p>\n

The dual historical trajectory of Christianity made me ponder about the present and future orientation of Christianity. The church has embodied both the radical humility of Christ and the ambitions of worldly power. \u00a0This compels me to wonder what will characterize this current era of Christianity. When future generations examine Christian witness, what stories will emerge? Will the church be remembered for its faithfulness to the teachings of Christ or for its infatuation with popularity, dominance and self-interest?<\/p>\n

These questions also cause self-reflection, because they are personal. In this cultural moment, what kind of leader will I choose to become? What kind of leaders will I develop? What kinds of churches will we cultivate as a movement? The challenge before me is to discern whether I will continue to walk in the way of Christ, embracing the costly path of humble sacrifice and forgiveness, or whether I will succumb to the seductions of power and control.<\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Tom Holland, Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World<\/em>, First US edition (New York: Basic Books, 2019), 111.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Holland, Dominion<\/em>, 13.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> \u201cThis Cultural Moment | Podcast on Spotify,\u201d Spotify, accessed September 7, 2025, https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/5vc4AILCeO1HDAQV8jE8J4.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Holland, Dominion<\/em>, 113.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

That a slave, \u2018a slight, frail, despised woman\u2019, might be set among the elite of heaven, seated directly within the splendour of God\u2019s 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.[1] In […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":204,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","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":[3011,2627],"class_list":["post-41997","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dglp03","tag-holland","cohort-dlgp03"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41997","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\/204"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41997"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41997\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42009,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41997\/revisions\/42009"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}