Dominion clearly shows how significantly the western mind is in debt to the great well-springs of Jesus’s teachings and the subsequent actions of the many Christians who put their faith into practice to create the age of what Holland terms" modernitas". We are told of Emperor Julian providing an embryonic social welfare state in 362 building on the earlier examples of Basil and Gregory who devoted their lives to the poor with the former establishing what was in effect the first hospital. Holland has all the talents of an accomplished novelist: a gift for narrative, a lively sense of drama and a fine ear for the rhythm of a sentence. Tom Holland’s Dominion recounts the history and impact of Christianity from the crucifixion of Jesus to the Beatles’ “All You Need Is Love”. Holland argues that all “western” moral and social norms are the product of the Christian revolution.

Krafft- Ebing , German scientist raised a Catholic he took for granted the primacy of Christian marriage as a lifelong institution He stated that “Christianity raised the union of the sexes to a sublime position by making woman socially the equal of man and by elevating the bond of love to a moral and religious institution.Dominion is full of martyrs and saints who bear testimony to the power of the Christian message to inspire love of one’s fellow man and woman, including charitable and selfless acts.

In balance to these negatives, there were many instances of truly magnificent people who shed life's pleasures and comfort and devoted themselves to spreading the word of God.C. Grayling has rejected Holland's interpretation of Christianity's influence on modern morality, [21] [22] meeting Tom Holland for debate on the subject.

So profound has been the impact of Christianity on the development of Western civilisation that it has come to be hidden from view. If all men were equally redeemed by Christ and equally beloved of God, then there would no hierarchies or rank.A further point of interest was how the Jewish community in Prussia modified their identification with a Jewish nation to that of Jewishness as a religion a fact which was enforced upon them by Prussan regulations. It should be read as an enjoyable introduction to both Christian history and a challenge to reflect on why we think the way we do - a challenge that is all the more interesting knowing that Holland himself had previously thought that our values owed more to pre-Christian classical values than Christian ones and all the more poignant when we consider how part of his reflection occurred whilst walking through a ruined town in Syria only lately liberated from Islamic State fighters who had been crucifying and taking slaves.