Article

An introduction to Tom Holland’s ideas about the influence of Christianity on the modern world

Using the argument claim hexagon to summarise Tom Holland's ideas

Francis Miller

28 Feb 2025 ●

Tom Holland Featured

Introductions — No 1

The Introductions series is designed to provide introductions to important thinkers, concepts and books. The content is created by asking ChatGPT to produce an analysis  based on my argument claim hexagon model and a description of the assumptions used. The aim is to show the kind of analysis that can be produced using the model.

 

 

Below is an analysis of Tom Holland’s core ideas regarding Christianity using the argument claim hexagon model. This framework breaks arguments into six types of claims: (1) fact, (2) cause and effect, (3) definition and classification, (4) interpretation, (5) evaluation, and (6) action. This is followed by a section on the key assumptions underlying Holland’s perspective.The focus here is on Holland’s own arguments—especially as presented in works like Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World—rather than on secondary assessments of him or his broader influence.

1. Fact Claims

Nature of Fact Claims
Fact claims present statements rooted in historical research or verifiable observations. Tom Holland, as a historian, bases many of his points on recorded events, cultural practices, and textual analysis.

Examples of Holland’s Fact Claims

  1. Historical Spread of Christianity
    • Claim: Christianity originated in the eastern Mediterranean in the 1st century AD and, over the centuries, became the dominant religious framework throughout much of Europe and beyond.
    • Evidence: Church establishment in Rome, the eventual Christianization of the Roman Empire, and subsequent missionary efforts are documented in historical and ecclesiastical records.
  2. Continuities and Innovations from Antiquity
    • Claim: Christian concepts such as universal human dignity and moral obligations to the poor drew on, but also radically diverged from, Greek, Roman, and Jewish precedents.
    • Evidence: Holland cites primary sources (e.g., Paul’s letters, Patristic writings) and contrasts them with classical texts like those of Cicero or Seneca.
  3. Transformation of Cultural Norms
    • Claim: Institutions (e.g., universities, hospitals), ethical frameworks (e.g., charity, humility as virtues), and social movements (e.g., abolitionism) were shaped by Christian theology and practice.
    • Evidence: Holland points to charitable orders in medieval Europe, the role of monasteries in preserving learning, and the explicitly Christian motivations cited by many abolitionists.

These historical “facts” form the empirical foundation for Holland’s broader arguments about Christianity’s central role in shaping Western (and global) moral and cultural landscapes.

2. Cause and Effect Claims

Nature of Cause and Effect Claims
These claims link historical developments or societal changes to specific Christian beliefs or practices. Holland contends that Christian ideas catalyzed far-reaching transformations in how people think and act.

Holland’s Cause-and-Effect Reasoning

  1. Doctrines of Universal Human Worth → Emergence of Human Rights
    • Claim: Christian teaching about each person’s inherent dignity (cause) led, eventually, to Western ideas of human rights (effect). Even secular versions of human rights, he argues, trace back to Christian assumptions.
    • Mechanism: Belief in the Imago Dei (humans created in God’s image) and Christian charity norms influenced philosophical and political movements that codified human rights.
  2. Christian Moral Framework → Condemnation of Cruelty
    • Claim: As Christianity spread, it reshaped attitudes toward practices like gladiatorial games, infanticide, and cruelty to slaves (cause), helping delegitimize them in Christianized societies (effect).
    • Mechanism: The Christian ethic of compassion—embodied by Christ’s suffering—undermined the social acceptability of spectacles of violence.
  3. The Reformation → Debates Over Individual Conscience
    • Claim: Protestant emphasis on personal faith and scripture (cause) reinforced the importance of individual conscience (effect), laying groundwork for modern ideas about personal liberty and freedom of thought.
    • Mechanism: Protestantism’s focus on each believer’s direct relationship with God challenged institutional authority and expanded the notion of personal responsibility and autonomy.

Holland typically argues that certain Christian principles—particularly those that emphasize compassion, equality, and the sanctity of the individual—have had profound, long-term causal effects on Western civilization.

3. Definition and Classification Claims

Nature of Definition and Classification Claims
These clarify how Holland defines key terms or groups historical phenomena. In his work, Holland often classifies different phases or expressions of Christianity and contrasts them with pagan or secular traditions.

Holland’s Core Definitions and Classifications

  1. “Christian Revolution”
    • Claim: Holland classifies the rise and evolution of Christianity—from a persecuted minority faith to a global religion—as a “revolution” in moral and cultural terms.
    • Reasoning: He highlights how Christian tenets inverted established hierarchies and introduced new ethical frameworks (e.g., caring for the weak as a moral imperative).
  2. Distinction Between Pagan and Christian Morality
    • Claim: Holland distinguishes classical pagan moral codes (e.g., valorizing strength, honor, social status) from Christian values (e.g., humility, universal love, charity).
    • Implication: This classification underpins his argument that Christianity’s spread fundamentally altered societal ethics.
  3. Continuity vs. Radical Break
    • Claim: Holland sometimes categorizes Christian developments as both continuations of Jewish or Greco-Roman intellectual traditions and radical breaks from them, illustrating a complex interplay of inheritance and innovation.

By defining Christianity primarily as a moral-cultural revolution that reoriented societal values, Holland sets the stage for his interpretations of Western history.

4. Interpretation Claims

Nature of Interpretation Claims
Interpretation involves how Holland “reads” historical events, texts, and cultural trends—providing meaning that goes beyond mere facts.

Holland’s Interpretive Framework

  1. Reassessing Western Heritage
    • Claim: Holland interprets many “secular” Western values (e.g., human rights, equality, moral concern for the marginalized) as fundamentally Christian in origin. He challenges the notion that these values are purely Enlightenment inventions.
    • Method: Citing historical continuity, he argues that Enlightenment ideals often rest on Christian bedrock—even if Enlightenment thinkers positioned themselves against organized religion.
  2. Centrality of the Cross
    • Claim: The image of the crucified Christ is, in Holland’s view, a radical moral symbol that upends classical ideals of power and victory. He interprets the Cross as a dramatic statement that empathy for suffering is paramount.
    • Method: By comparing Greek and Roman attitudes—where gods were typically exalted in power—he highlights how the notion of a suffering deity was revolutionary in shaping an ethic of compassion.
  3. Syncretism and Adaptation
    • Claim: Holland often interprets Christianity as adaptable and syncretic, absorbing local traditions and reinterpretations over time. This adaptability explains how Christian ethics remain a powerful cultural force across diverse eras and regions.

Overall, Holland reads Western (and global) moral evolution through a lens that places Christian theology and practice at the heart of enduring ethical norms.

5. Evaluation Claims

Nature of Evaluation Claims
Evaluation involves Holland’s judgments about Christianity’s overall role and value—both historically and in the modern world.

Holland’s Evaluations

  1. Positive Assessment of Christianity’s Moral Legacy
    • Claim: Holland views many Christian ethical contributions (e.g., dignity of the weak, emphasis on compassion) as profoundly positive. Even modern secular humanitarianism, he contends, owes a “massive debt” to Christian moral logic.
  2. Complexity and Contradictions
    • Claim: Holland acknowledges that institutional Christianity has also been implicated in violence, oppression, and hypocrisy—but he still evaluates the overarching moral ideals as transformative in a largely beneficial sense.
  3. Critique of Amnesiac Secularism
    • Claim: He critiques modern Westerners who detach progressive ideals from their Christian ancestry, suggesting this leads to a historical amnesia. He values a more honest reckoning with the tradition’s roots.

In essence, Holland’s stance is that while Christianity’s history is not spotless, its moral framework remains integral to understanding Western ethics—evaluated in predominantly appreciative terms.

6. Action Claims

Nature of Action Claims
These state what Holland believes people or societies should do, given his analysis of Christianity’s impact. Though less prescriptive than purely moral theologians, Holland does offer some implicit directives.

Holland’s Prescriptions for Action

  1. Recognize Christianity’s Foundational Role
    • Claim: Modern societies, especially in the West, should acknowledge and “remember” the Christian underpinnings of many of their moral and political ideals.
    • Reasoning: He suggests that forgetting or denying these roots can undermine the very values we cherish—like human rights or equality.
  2. Engage Historically, Not Ideologically
    • Claim: Holland advocates a historical approach that sees the evolution of moral ideals within a Christian context, rather than simplistic narratives (e.g., “everything good comes from the Enlightenment alone”).
    • Reasoning: A deeper historical awareness, he argues, can foster a more nuanced civic discourse about the future of these values.
  3. Maintain the Ethic of Compassion and Humility
    • Claim: Implicit in his work is the suggestion that the Christian virtues of humility and concern for the vulnerable are worth preserving—regardless of one’s personal religious stance—since they have been so central to humane progress.

Though Holland is not primarily a policy advocate, these action claims underscore a call for historical self-awareness and a continued commitment to the compassionate ethos that emerged from Christian teachings.

Key Assumptions Underlying Holland’s Ideas

  1. Western Values Have a Coherent ‘Genealogy’
    Holland assumes that moral principles do not arise spontaneously but develop out of specific historical and cultural contexts. He treats the West’s moral genealogy as traceable primarily to Christian sources.

  2. History as a Driver of Moral Change
    His framework assumes that historical events—such as the spread of early Christianity under Roman rule—are the main catalysts for deep moral shifts, rather than purely philosophical abstractions or evolutionary “inevitabilities.”

  3. Ideas (and Narratives) Shape Societies
    A core assumption is that religious narratives (especially the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ) profoundly shape a culture’s moral and social ethos. Holland thus foregrounds story and belief over material or economic forces as decisive in moral formation.

  4. Continuity Between Christian Past and Secular Present
    Holland presumes a continuity that runs through medieval Christendom into the modern secular West. He sees the modern era not as a radical break from Christianity, but as a transformed outgrowth of it.

  5. Universality of Moral Debates
    Finally, Holland suggests that moral concerns—like caring for the weak or championing equality—are not inherently “natural” or “universal” but are strongly conditioned by inherited Christian convictions in the West. He thereby treats these convictions as historically contingent yet widely embraced in Western societies.

Conclusion

Applying the argument claim hexagon model to Tom Holland’s ideas on Christianity reveals how his historical narrative and analysis unfold:

  1. Fact Claims: The documented spread of Christianity and the historical record of its moral and cultural practices.
  2. Cause and Effect: The ways Christian principles influenced social norms, legal codes, and values like human rights.
  3. Definition and Classification: Framing Christianity as a moral and cultural revolution, distinguishing pagan vs. Christian ethics, and recognizing the religion’s complex development.
  4. Interpretation: Viewing secular Western values through a Christian lens, with the symbol of the crucifix as a revolutionary moral statement.
  5. Evaluation: Generally positive about Christianity’s overarching moral legacy, despite historical contradictions, and critical of modern forgetfulness of these roots.
  6. Action: Urging societies to remember Christianity’s historical role in shaping contemporary morality, promoting humility, compassion, and a nuanced historical perspective.

Underlying these claims is the assumption that cultural values have a traceable “genealogy,” that Christian teachings are foundational to Western ethics, and that present-day secular ideals remain closely connected to a Christian moral legacy—even if many Westerners are unaware of those roots.