Our Shadowed World: Reflections on Civilization, Conflict, and Belief by Dominic Kirkham (Westar Studies Series, Cascade Books, Eugene OR, 2019).
Pbk. 216 pages. £15.99.
Back in the late 1980s, when I was teaching ethics to sixth formers, I remember being struck by a question in our text book Living Philosophy by Ray Billington:
Should we look back over the history of civilization as a progression from Cave men (& women) (unspeakable) to The Roman Empire (civilized but not very) to Twentieth century top people (morally mature), or a regression from Classical Athens through the Renaissance to Nazi Germany?. The question provoked much discussion amongst the youngsters.
At the very beginning of Dominic Kirkham’s book we are left in no doubt that such questions are simplistic: ‘Civilization is often seen as the opposite of savagery – the living city rising above the threatened wilderness, a progressive idea leaving in its wake a more primitive state. It is part of the narrative of this book that this understanding is quite mistaken. Rather, I contend, civilization brings its own form of savagery; and the greater the cities and the more “advanced” the civilization, the greater the scale of savagery.’ (p. ix) Be warned: this book challenges not only our assumptions of the history of civilization and our analysis of the our present age, but the nature of humanity itself and the sort of societies humans create.
Dominic Kirkham may be familiar to SOF members through articles in this magazine and his book From Monk to Modernity first published by SOF, launched at the 2015 conference and now in a second edition released at the beginning of this year. In that book he describes how, after spending many years in a religious order, he was driven to meet the challenge of modern thinking, an exercise he found both freeing and frightening. Our Shadowed World continues that personal odyssey.
Those who have read his first book, which takes a broad sweep from Neolithic times to the twenty-first century and considers our human quest for meaning and a good life, will know how he is well able to tackle wide-ranging and complex subjects. He has been a member of a religious order, a chaplain, a priest, a teacher and community activist, His breadth of thinking, knowledge and experience, his thoughtfulness and humility make him well-placed to tackle such huge theological, political and sociological issues.
The book is in three parts: ‘A Savage Civilization’, ‘A Conflicted Species’ and ‘A Ravaged Earth,’ and despite these rather doom laden titles, Kirkham writes well and with humour. The beginning of Part Two is an example of his ability to combine personal experience. He takes us deftly from a causal conversation with a churchwarden while erecting a Christmas crib to TV’s Through the Keyhole, then onto Lew-Williams’ The Mind in the Cave and Inside the Neolithic Mind , via a walk through some of our great medieval cathedrals, all within a few pages.
I found the final part of this book the most challenging. Where is the hope? Where lies the solution?
He quotes Ernest Fromm, the German-born humanist philosopher: ‘In the nineteenth century God was dead, in the twentieth century man is dead’ and, Kirkham continues, we may well have to add, ‘in the twenty-first century, nature is dead.’ (p.170) Kirkham’s response is born out of practical ministry and his own personal odyssey through the history of humanity: ‘This may seem a hopeless predicament, but paradoxically hope is no longer an issue. The surgeon who stands by the bedside expressing pious hope for a better future is at best irrelevant, at worst a deadly co-conspirator. What humankind needs is skilful, decisive action that will bring about a different future. Hope is no more than a plea that something we have not ever imagined might turn up, and thus can be a fatal illusion. Only well-focussed and concerted actions will change things for the better.’ (p.171) I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It isn’t expensive – less than a night out at your local theatre, or a meal at your favourite restaurant – and every bit as stimulating and life-enhancing.
Stephen Mitchell is a retired priest and former chair of the SOF Steering Committee. He is author of God in the Bath and Past Perfect.