Posted on 02/27/2020 8:48:36 AM PST by C19fan
I hate long drives, but the one redeeming aspect of them is that I get to do something I never do otherwise: listen to audiobooks. Driving to and from Dallas is a 16-hours-plus trip from Baton Rouge. I made it with my wife and kids this past weekend, for a wedding. On my son Matt’s recommendation, I listened to historian Tom Holland’s book Dominion: How The Christian Revolution Remade The World.
Before I say anything about the book, I want to recommend a cool piece of technology. It’s illegal to drive with standard earbuds in, so Matt let me borrow his bone-conduction headphones, by Aftershokz. They work by sending the sound into your aural canal through your bones. You can hear the audio with perfect clarity, even though your aural canals are open, allowing you to hear traffic sounds, and sounds in the car. An amazing device. I wouldn’t buy a pair for myself, because I’m usually driving alone, and use the car’s sound system. But on this trip, when I wanted to listen to the audiobook while everybody else in the car had other plans, they were terrific.
Now, the book. It’s Holland’s account of how Christianity revolutionized Western culture, and the world. Back in 2016, Holland, whose work focuses on ancient Greece and Rome, wrote an op-ed for New Statesman talking about how he had changed his mind about Christianity. Excerpts:
(Excerpt) Read more at theamericanconservative.com ...
Pretty good read.
I may read the book.
I have read three of the books on your list. I may try this one. Holland was a novelist before becoming a historian, so his books usually have a good narrative drive to them. Also, I just finished a Bible study class on Acts of the Apostles, so this book should fit right in.
I have placed this as an audiobook hold through my library. Thanks for the tip.
I have visited the Roman Colosseum twice, and both times I stood there, looking out at the arena, and wondered how on earth could anyone have ever sat there and watched another human being be eaten alive, drug behind bulls, sat on fire, etc. How could that be possible for the citizens of Rome? How could a culture that was so advanced, in engineering and architecture,with its Senate which supposedly spike for the citizens, tolerate such a thing? The only answer I could come up with was that before Christ, life had no intrinsic meaning or worth. So, it did not bother most spectators to watch such savagery because they did not consider the victims’ own humanity at all, or couldn’t have tolerated it. Christianity did indeed make us more humanized and compassionate towards our fellow man. In places devoid of Christian sympathy today, you still see this disregard for the preciousness of human life, every human life, born or unborn.
The Romans had no qualms about infanticide either, and it was common for unwanted infants to be left on the streets, to die of exposure. Early Christians took in these infants and nourished them, as they did for the many, many widows whose husbands died in the constant Roman military campaigns.
Very interesting article. Thank you for sharing!
Ping!
I have my own favorite writers, and read historical fiction as well. I enjoy British history, and mystery novels based in the medieval period. Susanna Gregory and Michael Jecks are two of them, but there are others I enjoy as well. I also read a lot of non-fiction historical books too. I’ve usually got four or five books of various genre going at a time, not including the one I read on my Kindle at bed time. I’m currently reading a book on John of Gaunt, who is supposed to be my 18th great-grandfather...well, at least that’s what Ancestry.com says.
I have always found that hard to understand. The Roman civilization is one of the most impressive in history, yet they could be incredibly cold-blooded. Tom Holland's book Dynasty calls the Romans the "children of the wolf". Romulus & Remus were allegedly suckled by the she-wolf, and Holland suggests that even though that story is a myth, there was something of the ruthlessness of the wolf in the Romans.
Wowza! Does it make you feel a great connection to what he is describing? I've read that there is such a thing as trace memory in our DNA.
Not so much. First off...I'm a woman. The guy was a multi-millionaire along the lines of Rockefeller...the 4th son of Henry III. He owned multiple castles...I never owned a home. He was a warrior who liked to rattle his saber, but who didn't win very many battles. He is described as a good father, although he had several illegitimate children, most with his mistress Katherine Swynford (maiden name Roet), whom he took as his third and last wife, and he legitimized his children with her. He was great friends with Geoffrey Chaucer. Katherine's sister Philippa married Chaucer. Gaunt's son Henry of Bolingbroke overthrew Richard II, and became Henry IV. Henry was Gaunt's son with his first wife Blanche.
I traveled to England in 2006 to take a bus tour of the British Isles. I went back the following year for a 10-day stay. I knew nothing of my ancestry at the time, but ended up visiting a lot of the places associated with the various English ancestors I've been connected to. Since my traveling days are over, I now have to be satisfied with learning more about them through books, and historical documentaries. But I'm enjoying it all the same.
Yes, it would have been much easier for them to behead the 6000 Spartacus protesters, but instead they crucified them, a much more painful way to die.
Must have been some of that "trace memory" DNA! Sounds like a couple of wonderful trips. Nice chatting with you!
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