How Christianity Remade the World

In the context of the pagan classical world, the Christian faith was a shocking, even unfathomable inversion of the values systems and structures of the time. In that embattled context, its explosive growth was unimaginable. Today, however, Christianity is often considered boring or backwards.

How might we better discern and understand the radicalism of Christianity’s origins, its impact through the centuries, and its enduring formational power? 

Historian Tom Holland’s landmark book Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World, calls attention to these puzzles and paradoxes:

 ”Dominion was written as an attempt to stress test my hunch that Christianity really had been the most seismic and revolutionary development, not just really in the history of the West, but probably globally. And and I’m relieved to say that I was satisfied that it had been what I was setting out to show that it had been.” – Tom Holland

We trust this conversation will fire your imagination anew, and help you see with new eyes how the inverted values and priorities of God’s kingdom continue to disrupt the patterns of the world, and shape our cultural assumptions.

This podcast is an edited version of our Online Conversation recorded in February, 2025. You can access the full conversation with transcript here.

Learn more about Tom Holland.

Episode Outline
00:00 Introduction to Dominion and Tom Holland
03:09 Tom Holland’s Journey to Writing Dominion
03:48 The Alien World of Classical Antiquity
06:32 The Impact of Christianity on Western Civilization
07:33 The Crucifixion and its Historical Significance
10:42 The Uncanny Character of Jesus
13:13 Early Christian Persecution and Martyrdom
16:59 Paul’s Radical Teachings and their Legacy
21:37 The Doctrine of Original Sin and Human Dignity
27:51 Christianity’s Influence on Modern Politics
32:17 Tom Holland’s Personal Reflections on Christianity
36:38 Viewer Questions on American Politics and Christianity’s Influence on the Family and Sexual Mores
49:50 Tom’s Closing Thoughts and White Tiger, by Poet RS Thomas

Authors and books mentioned in the conversation:
 The Rest is History (podcast)
The Histories by Herodotus, translation by Tom Holland
Rubicon, Millennium, Persian Fire, Pax, Dominion, by Tom Holland
 The City of God, by St. Augustine of Hippo

Related Trinity Forum Readings:
City of God, by St. Augustine of Hippo
 The Strangest Story in the World, by GK Chesterton
Why God Became Man, by Anselm of Canterbury
A Practical View of Real Christianity, by William Wilberforce

Related Conversations:
The Fall, the Founding, and the Future of American Democracy, with Tracy McKenzie
The Strangest Story in the World: G.K. Chesterton & the Incarnation, with Dale Ahlquist
Lincoln in Private: Leadership Behind Closed Doors, with Ron White

To listen to this or any of our episodes in full, visit ttf.org/podcast and to join the Trinity Forum Society and help make content like this possible, join the Trinity Forum Society

Special thanks to Ned Bustard for our podcast artwork.