Tom Holland's 'Dominion' Highlights Christianity's Shaping of the West

Historian Tom Holland’s book *Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World* argues that Christianity is the foundational cultural force behind modern Western civilization. He credits Christian thought with the emergence of philanthropy, rational science, secularism, freedom of expression, universal human rights and the concept that every human life has intrinsic, sacred worth.

The book notes that the majority of people in the United States, United Kingdom and Germany still identify as Christian, and that many ideas now taken for granted – from modern philanthropy to concepts of equality – trace back to medieval theologians and Christian doctrine. Reviewers such as Hanne Nabintu Herland and Simon Vincent emphasize Holland’s claim that Christianity’s ethical standards have permeated later ideologies, from communism to feminism.