Christianity

The First Three Thousand Years

By: Diarmaid MacCulloch

Narrated by: Walter Dixon

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)

Detailed, Thorough and you will listen over again

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

The book provided hours of enjoyable learning of Christianity with great detail and little bias. I would highly recommend if you appreciate a well written history collection

Who was your favorite character and why?

There is no favorite character involved in this other than Christ, but as you listen through the ages you will appreciate each leading king or person of interest for that era.

Which character – as performed by Walter Dixon – was your favorite?

Walter Dixon was the favorite character. His voice was easy to keep my attention through the 40 plus hours

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Bring a comfy pillow, we are going to be here awhile

Any additional comments?

Every aspect of this audiobook was well done. Sound quality, narrator and the book itself.

a fine introduction to the history of Christianity

interesting presentation of the the history of the Christianity. Author offers a sympathetic objectivity. Listen carefully because he is also pretty funny!

Not as 'biased' as other reviews state

The author comes from a Christian background. He makes digs, but not unfairly or uncritically. He admits his viewpoint at the beginning in the introduction. He has a skeptical outlook which is the ideal for a scholarly work on Christianity. And his intent behind challenging or denying the authenticity of scripture is not done as an attack, it's done because it is important to the narrative to understand the cultural, historical, and literary context the writers and scribes were working from. Reviewers who have said he speculates a lot are correct, but that's a given when working with early Christianity; there are not a lot of primary sources.

I am an atheist/buddhist. I grew up Christian. I am not into polemics against a religion for their own sake. People who think this author has "an axe to grind" are ignoring the many places where he speaks very favorably about the sincerity and faith of various figures. They are also ignoring that most of the digs are clearly made from a friendly, if not loving, place from someone who was raised in the faith.

Too Much and Yet Too Little

This book is extremely hard to follow. It is not really chronological and is too much information with too many players to present it in the manner in which the author does. Perhaps it would be better read than listened to . . . I'm not sure. I would not recommend this book. The parts in which I found tidbits of interest were just that, tidbits. The overall theme is that the history of Christianity is a history of power struggle and politics. While I am certain that is true it could be far more interestingly written.

good book

well written, interesting, thought provoking eye opening. I gained new insights into the history of my beliefs.

Good Overview Marred by Poor Narration

A very interesting broad overview of the history of Christianity. The author writes with clarity, command of his subject, and a wry style that is utterly lost on the narrator. In addition to being unable to recognize a witty aside, the reader is unable to pronounce an astounding variety of names, place names, and words. Even the mispronunciations are not consistent, making the text harder to follow. It is still possible to listen to the book, but it is far less enjoyable than it might have been.

Christianity The First Three Thousand Years

This book cover a great deal of history. The timeline jumps over and over again backward to cover a different trail and that is very confusing. However the book is very good and I would recommend it.

World History through the lens of Christianity

This is a monumental book which surprises with its depth and breadth of coverage. Nothing is left untouched. The story is told well. One chapter pulls you to the next. The narrator is good, but he mispronounces some esoteric words. Perhaps I'm being picky, but I find it a little disturbing to hear "Thessoloniki" mispronounced especially when I lived there, and its not just Greek city names that get flawed narrations. However, this is a small price to pay for the best history of Christianity ever written. A must read for every Christian and non-Christian. You will fully understand this religion's impact on world history and often wish that this mighty faith had taken some less violent turns. However, every turn and development is in this book and explained in detail. You will understand Christianity and the world as never before when you are done.

Not a good first book on the subject matter

I have no background in the subject matter and found the book incredibly difficult to follow since he's constantly throwing out terms that are new to me. Soon as I understood one theological school of thought he'd throw another one at the listener, and by that time I would be completely confused and wonder what the point he was trying to make in the first place.

I think the book is probably a fairly good history, but a listener must have some kind of religious background to fully appreciate the discussion points brought up by this thorough history on a topic for which I still know almost nothing about.

Fantastic

Exactly what I was looking when searching for an audiobook about Christianity and Hebrew history. Author gives ample homage to the roots of Christians and speaks about the Greeks and Jews in the era before Jesus. I love the many quotes from the Bible that are referenced as well as the connection to non-religious history which support the events of the Old Testament.

The narrator was just awesome. His speak pattern and intonation was perfect, pausing and putting emphasis where needed, truly drawing me into the story.

I didn't like the author's blatant disregard for religion in general in the beginning of the book. But I suppose that's all for the better, as he is clearly not biased to write through a religious viewpoint but rather to tell history as fact.

I - as a Christian with a practical (read: factual) view of the world and of history - was pleased to discover through this audiobook that historic events in the Bible are supported by non-Biblical historic records.

One thing I would tell the author is to not confuse what is written in the Bible with what Christians follow today. Specifically I'm referring to Christmas, which is never mentioned in the Bible.

Talking more specifics: I liked to have confirmed through the audiobook how historians are baffled by bits of the Bible about Melchizedek, King Cyrus. History has no explanation why those people existed and did what they did, only Bible reveals that. And also how there was no consensus between early Christians what the Holy Spirit was. Actually, just recently these mysteries were revealed and made clear.

I was very disappointed to find out that there was only a brief mention about the Counsel of Nicea in 321 AD and that the author had not mentioned that it was then that the official day of rest for the Christians was changed from Saturday to Sunday by emperor Constantine and that the Passover - a tradition also kept by Christians at the time - was abolished 4 years later. Today there are only a handful of churches who keep Sabbath and only one church that keeps all the feasts of God.

At the same time I was pleased to have confirmed through non-Biblical references that the Catholic Church was overthrown Europe-wide by the French Revolution, a fulfillment of Bible prophecy.

I was happy to have confirmed that Korea did not accept Christianity until the 20th century, an important fulfillment of Bible prophecy. Of course I have my own bias in regards to this, as I firmly believe that the true Christian church comes from Korea, again, to fulfill Bible prophecy.