Rector’s Reflections
Monday 3rd February 2025
Why Thomas More Matters
In a previous reflection, I shared some thoughts on how Thomas explored various possible vocations. Was he to be lawyer? A Scholar and a writer? A family man? Or did God want him to retreat completely from the world, to spend his time as a cloistered monk, focussed entirely on prayer and worship? In the end, Thomas felt that he was called mainly to two vocations : the vocation of a lawyer, and the vocation of a family man. But he continued an interest in the world of scholarship, and he also found time to write several books. You may be intrigued: what sort of books did Thomas write? Do these books have anything to say to us in our own day? I shall write about some of Thomas’s books in the days ahead, and you may well be surprised by the extent to which these works of 16th century literature can still be relevant to us today.
Thomas’s most famous work is Utopia, first published in Latin in 1516, when Thomas was in his mid 30s. By this time, he had already established himself as a successful lawyer and politician. The book was written in Latin, in part because Thomas wished to display his credentials as a Humanist scholar, and in part because Latin was used and understood by most of the reading public across Europe. In short, Thomas was writing a serious book for the educated general public.
Thomas’s Utopia proved to be incredibly influential. It was translated into a variety of European languages, including English, and it established a whole genre of literature, in which authors write about a future world which is in effect heaven on earth – a world where everything is wonderful. Such Utopian literature can serve as a satire on how things are at present – a clever way of criticising the status quo. It can also be much subtler than might appear, in that the author can intend that their proposed “utopia” will be realised by readers to quite the opposite – not a “utopia” at all, but rather a “dystopia”. Such authors use the Utopian genre to warn their readers about possible dangers that lie ahead – for example, not every development in science and technology is to be welcomed with open arms. For the last hundred years or so, Utopian themes have often been explored through the genre of Science Fiction. Indeed, there is an argument that Thomas is the father- or perhaps the godfather- of modern Science Fiction.
I recommend reading Thomas’s Utopia, or re-reading if you read it some years ago. It describes a society in which there is complete economic equality, where everyone has enough to eat and everyone has a roof over their head. Property is held in common, and religious toleration is practiced. However, the society is highly authoritarian, patriarchal and hierarchical. No one is allowed to be idle, and every aspect of life is regulated.
What did Thomas mean by writing this book? The short answer is that there is no agreement on Thomas’ purpose. It might simply be a clever satire on contemporary society, and nothing more than that. It might well be that Thomas, the practical lawyer, never imagined that anyone would ever take the book seriously as a blue print for a future society. And what of religion? Thomas was a committed Catholic, and yet he envisaged a society in which there seems to have been only a limited role for the Christian faith. Was Thomas harbouring religious doubts? It seems unlikely.
The debate over the meaning of Utopia continues. It is interesting to note that in his later life, Thomas rejected the book, refusing to allow it to be translated from the original Latin into English. He was worried that if it were translated into English, it would be read by the uneducated, who would misunderstand it. Needless to say, Thomas’s wishes were ignored, and the book was indeed translated in to English, and widely read.
However one interprets Utopia, Thomas had the courage to write down some thoughts on how things could be different from how they are now – he had the courage to imagine a different social and economic set-up, which would be characterised by fairness and equality. One can look at the world which Thomas imagined, and find it either winsomely attractive or deeply repulsive - opinions will differ. But at least Thomas offered a vision of a different world.
Where are Christians today offering a vision of a fairer world? A world of economic equals co-operating for the common good? Is such a world even possible? Is it desirable? What do you think?