Over about the last half decade, I have watched from distance with great interest the rise of intersectionality and identity politics, otherwise known as the woke movement, sweep over the United States and much of the anglosphere. In that time many commentators have remarked on it’s religious characteristics, particularly how much it resembles Christianity. While most are only able to do a surface comparison, classical and medieval historian Tom Holland traces the deep influence of Christian history on the present cultural moment in the English-speaking West. In the interview below, Mr. Holland with great care expertly discusses the enduring legacy of Christianity, the present social and cultural turmoil, the future and much more.
Much of what he discusses in the interview above can be found in much greater depth in his latest book Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World.
Though considering himself an atheist, Mr. Holland over the last couple of years has himself undergone a spiritual awakening regarding the importance of Christianity, which he discusses in a brilliant conversation with renowned historian of early Christianity Rev. N.T. Wright which you can watch here.
Header image source: @incunabula