Christianity

The First Three Thousand Years

By: Diarmaid MacCulloch

Narrated by: Walter Dixon

Length: 46 hrs and 29 mins

Publisher's summary

Once in a generation, a historian will redefine his field, producing a book that demands to be read and heard - a product of electrifying scholarship conveyed with commanding skill. Diarmaid MacCulloch's Christianity is such a book. Breathtaking in ambition, it ranges back to the origins of the Hebrew Bible and covers the world, following the three main strands of the Christian faith.

Christianity will teach modern listeners things that have been lost in time about how Jesus' message spread and how the New Testament was formed. We follow the Christian story to all corners of the globe, filling in often neglected accounts of conversions and confrontations in Africa and Asia. And we discover the roots of the faith that galvanized America, charting the rise of the evangelical movement from its origins in Germany and England. This audiobook encompasses all of intellectual history - we meet monks and crusaders, heretics and saints, slave traders and abolitionists, and discover Christianity's essential role in driving the enlightenment and the age of exploration, and shaping the course of World War I and World War II.

We are living in a time of tremendous religious awareness, when both believers and non-believers are deeply engaged by questions of religion and tradition, seeking to understand the violence sometimes perpetrated in the name of God. The son of an Anglican clergyman, MacCulloch writes with deep feeling about faith. His last book, The Reformation, was chosen by dozens of publications as Best Book of the Year and won the National Book Critics Circle Award. This awe-inspiring follow-up is a landmark new history of the faith that continues to shape the world.

©2010 Diamaid MacCulloch (P)2010 Gildan Media Corp

Critic reviews

"Assuming no previous knowledge on the part of readers about Christian traditions, MacCulloch traces in breathtaking detail the often contentious arguments within Christianity for the past 3,000 years. His monumental achievement will not soon be surpassed." ( Publishers Weekly)

"A work of exceptional breadth and subtlety." ( Booklist)

Massive Scope Works Against It

What did you like best about Christianity? What did you like least?

I enjoyed the first few chapters about the early church, especially the analysis of Origen and Augustine's theology, and the effects of neo-Platonism on Christian thinking. After that, however, I lost interest for different reasons: while the chapters on the variants of the eastern church were too detailed and sometimes just plain dull, subsequent chapters on the medieval and especially the renaissance church seemed rushed and raised more questions than they answered. The author seems more concerned with the "what" than the "why," which isn't unusual for a historian, but I would have liked more explanation of, for example, why the ideas of Lutheran and reformed theologies were so appealing to people at the time. Unfortunately when the author does explain the appeal of ideas, he's frequently reductive, as when he tries to explain iconodulia as a result of the need for certainty and tangibility in troubled times. I guess it would be an impossible task to achieve in a one volume history, but I wish he'd given as much play to the importance of ideas in later chapters as he did in those concerning the early church.

Would you recommend Christianity to your friends? Why or why not?

Maybe to those who want an overview. It's certainly a jumping off place for further reading.

Which scene was your favorite?

I liked the chapters on the early church. There's a feel in those chapters for how compelling the new theology must have seemed to its early adherents and teachers. I also enjoyed hearing about the application of Platonist ideas to scriptural interpretation and to the development of theology.

Could you see Christianity being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

Hasn't the BBC already done this?

Any additional comments?

The narrator deserves a lot of credit for his stamina and for the majority of times his pronunciation of foreign terms was correct. A few quibbles about the ancient Greek, but altogether an excellent job. I hope he got a lengthy vacation after narrating this work.

History with a spin

The narrator mispronounces names and words, which I found irritating. And the author does allow his personal feelings to bleed through. An example is his antipathy for Paul.

Explore the underpinnings of Christianity

What made the experience of listening to Christianity the most enjoyable?

I enjoyed the narrator's conversational and attention-holding manner, and the fluid and appealing way the author writes of the Roman Empire's version of Christianity versus the flavors of the other Christian rites.

What other book might you compare Christianity to and why?

I've not read such a comprehensive approach to this subject, before, so I would not compare it at all.

Have you listened to any of Walter Dixon’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No, I have not.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No.

Any additional comments?

A quality book with an outstanding narration

Not for transient listeners

What did you like best about Christianity? What did you like least?

LOTS OF INSITE INTO EARLY CHRISTIANITY, BUT NOT SOMETHING I WOULD LISTEN TO WITHOUT BEING ABLE TO REALLY TAKE IN. THERE WAS ALOT OF INFORMATION AND I THINK IT IS MORE STUDY MATERIAL THAN JUST LISTENING MATERIAL. WOULD DO GREAT FOR OTHERS JUST NOT WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR.

If you’ve listened to books by Diarmaid MacCulloch before, how does this one compare?

N/A

Have you listened to any of Walter Dixon’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

N/A

Could you see Christianity being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

NO

A Readable and Relevant Epic

The breadth and depth of scholarship is veiled in the unassuming and unadorned, though thoroughly readable, prose. I hold to the historic truth of the Christian truth claims regarding the person and work of Christ and confess a version of reformed Protestantism, so my own convictions diverge from the author's but I am most appreciative and awestruck by this tome. Heartily recommended.

awesome!

awesome, long overview of Christianity and its 2,000 year history. even at 46 hours long, the author can only scam many of the most important topics of Christianity. The Avid Reader will be left wanting more details about specific areas. this book is a must-buy for anybody interested in history of religion, the history of Christianity, or just spirituality in general.

Wonderful book!

Very long and very thorough!

My only criticism is that the narrator works really hard to correctly pronounce non-western names, but botches the names of some well-known western figures. (Most annoyingly, he repeatedly refers to Max Weber as if the name starts the same as the word "web".)

good but...

Well written at the start, very well preformed but has rather strange editorial asides that do not add anything to the narrative, and they are very USA centered.

the closer one gets to the present the slower the book gets, until it is almost bullet point.

If you are looking for a pretty detailed overview of Christian history, with context, this is a good listen...if very long!

Interesting Throughout

It is remarkable how many interesting stories are in this book about the evolution of the church and doctrine, the paths not taken, the personalities. Great history. I love this book.

Scholarship written to a general audience

An example of outstanding academic scholarship written to be approachable to the informed general reader in history of Christianity. While I come with a non-catholic eye to the subject, Dr MacCulloch’s presentation of the early, medieval, reformation& counter-reformation are even-handed and grounded in the historical literature.

The narrator speech is more rapid and less distinct than other audiobook narrators, but this did not significantly detract from my listening pleasure.