Historian Tom Holland: Islam, Christianity & the West

Christianity's Radical Break

Holland begins by emphasizing the profound mentality shift Christianity introduced in the ancient world. Unlike the earlier Greco-Roman and Jewish traditions, Christianity redefined the meaning of suffering and power through the emblem of the cross—a method of execution that was both agonizing and humiliating, reserved primarily for slaves and enemies of Rome. Christianity inverted this symbolism, proclaiming that the crucified man, Jesus Christ, was victorious over his oppressors. This represented a radical reorientation of values from strength, dominance, and public spectacle to humility, compassion, and universal dignity.

The early followers of Christianity experienced a degree of embarrassment about the crucifixion, as evidenced in the writings of Paul, who recognized that proclaiming a crucified god was scandalous both to Jews and Greeks. Over time, artistic depictions eased into a more sanitized image of Christ on the cross, but by the Middle Ages, the emphasis on Christ's suffering became central to religious art and liturgy—a cultural process that desensitized Western civilization to its violent connotations. Holland explains that this inversion of classical values, where the weak are not merely victims but morally superior, constitutes one of the foundational legacies of Christianity that still underpins much of Western thought.

Holland traces Christianity's roots to a confluence of Jewish, Greek, Persian, and Roman influences. The Roman Empire's infrastructure, with its universal order and wide-reaching empire, provided the stage for Christianity's universal message. Philosophical traditions, especially from Plato and Aristotle, deeply influenced Christian theology, while Persian moral dualism shaped its conception of good and evil. Amid this merging, Paul's vision of a universal brotherhood within Christ challenged entrenched social divisions such as ethnicity, gender, and social status, planting early seeds for ideas that would evolve into abolitionism and democratic values.

However, Holland acknowledges Christianity's paradoxical nature. Though originating with a message of compassion and equality, Christianity's institutional and historical expressions have often been marked by violence, persecution, and internal divisions. The scripture's complexity allows for diverse interpretations, and the tension between lofty ideals and human failings has generated the religion's multifaceted history.

Christianity, Empire, and the Legacy of Slavery

Holland addresses how Christianity shaped imperial endeavors and the moral debates surrounding slavery, particularly during the European colonization of the Americas. The Spanish conquistadors, largely motivated by Catholicism, brutally subdued advanced indigenous civilizations and justified their actions through a mix of material greed and sincere religious zeal. The church itself was not monolithic; figures such as Bartolomé de Las Casas protested the cruel treatment of native peoples and opposed the exploitation justified by biblical sanction.

In contrast, the British Empire's Protestant roots provided a distinctive trajectory. Protestant emphasis on personal spiritual experience and scripture reading fostered abolitionist sentiments, especially among Quakers and evangelical groups, who championed the abolition of slavery despite the Bible's acceptance of slavery as a social reality. This religious impulse energized public campaigns against the slave trade, influencing international law and naval enforcement to curtail slavery globally. Holland highlights the complicated interplay of religion, empire, and economics that shaped abolition, while also pointing out the enduring irony that the institutions responsible for colonialism sowed the moral grounds for anti-slavery activism.

Emerging Post-Christian Trends

Holland notes that today's Western societies are largely secular but remain deeply shaped by their Christian heritage. The moral and legal frameworks that define liberal democracies owe much to Christian ideas, even if those frameworks have been stripped of overt religious language. He discusses how the past few years, particularly in movements like those following 2020's social upheavals, reveal a kind of secularized, mutated Christianity. These movements adopt forms reminiscent of Protestant traditions—such as symbolic acts of penitence or iconoclasm—but divorced from their original theological context. This evolving "post-Christian" culture embraces ideals like diversity and kindness, which are Christian in origin but now repurposed without explicit religious faith.

Holland warns that Western society may be at a critical juncture—a "great choke point"—where the previous cultural certainties derived from Christianity are fragmenting, leaving room for a diverse range of competing ideologies and spiritualities, including the resurgence of Islam, political extremism, and various progressive movements.

Islam

Turning to Islam, Holland provides a comparison that highlights a fundamental difference between Christianity and Islam regarding the secular. Christianity, he explains, uniquely introduced the idea of separating the sacred and the secular—a notion crystallized in Jesus' famous dictum to "render unto Caesar what is Caesar's, and unto God what is God's." This theological innovation laid the groundwork for church-state separation, which became a hallmark of Western civilization.

Islam, by contrast, is a totalizing way of life, lacking a native concept of the secular. The religion governs not only spiritual matters but also social, legal, and political life, making the Western model of secularism difficult for many Muslims to adopt fully. Muslims often resist being categorized simply as members of a "religion" in the Western sense, as their identity and practice extend beyond that limited frame.

Historically, Islam dominated vast regions and rivaled or surpassed Christendom in power, with a civilization as complex and ancient as the West. Islamic law, including its early acceptance of slavery, posed significant challenges during the colonial era when Muslim polities encountered European powers demanding adherence to emerging international laws often derived from Christian-influenced western thought. In response, Muslim societies have wrestled with modernity through processes akin to "Protestantizing" Islam, seeking reform and reinterpretation to align with contemporary realities.

However, this process remains deeply fraught. Islamist fundamentalism, adopting a rigid literalism, rejects many modern values and envisions a harsh, uncompromising reassertion of scripture. This has caused great anxiety in secular societies, given the tension between Islamic totalism and Western secular liberalism. Holland acknowledges the difficulty in forecasting the future of Islam in multicultural societies, noting both the inevitability of accommodation and the potential for friction.

The Future of Western Civilization

Holland concludes by reflecting on possible trajectories for Western civilization now that its Christian foundations seem to have eroded. He outlines three broad possibilities: continued advance of secular liberal values (a form of post-Christianity), the resurgence of authoritarian or fascist alternatives as Christian inhibitions weaken, or a revival of Christianity itself with new vitality. Added to these is the growth of Islam in the West as a significant and influential religious force.

These competing influences mean that the future is uncertain and potentially volatile. Holland's optimism lies in the potential for pluralistic coexistence, though he admits to lingering worries about extremism and cultural fragmentation.

He also critiques the cultural arrogance inherent in Western secularism's belief it can subsume all traditions, pointing out that this assumption is unique and unprecedented in human history. Realizing the deep historical and cultural roots that underlie modern identities may help foster a more respectful understanding of religious and cultural differences moving forward.