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)

A brilliant overview

MacCullough has managed to present a long, and exhaustively complex story in an interesting and clearly understandable manner. He treats his subject matter respectfully, focusing strictly on the historical record and not taking a religious stand. Walter Dixon, the narrator, does a good job as well reading clearly and briskly, not getting bogged down in sometimes hugely complicated text.

Wow! Exactly what i wanted to buy!

this Is A VERY well written , thorough study of Christianity. An objective , academic, scholarly one. I thought the narrator was also very good, despite complaints about his "American accent"..he was as good if not better than many british narrators. very sober, well pronounced, objective , clear tone throughout. highly recommend if want to get at the truth of Christianity's rise and power in past 2,000, or 3,000 years.

The best book on the history of Christianity.

Neither a hack job nor a paen to Christianity. Includes the distortions, mistakes, misunderstandings, and hate filled conflicts as well as the pain that went into trying to interpret Christianity correctly. Anyone who loves to learn about the historical twists and turns of Christianity will find this an enjoyable read!

Scholarship, intimacy, depth of knowledge .

Rarely have I been so moved by a book of history. Rather, I felt as if a friend was explaining a subject in a private room, with only myself in attendance. This is what it must feel like to be tutored by a master. The depth of his knowledge, the shades of meaning implied by the words used by the original writers is explained, by a friend who want to make sure that I understand the implications, and all of the nuances in someone’s philosophies. While I have read many other histories, this one breathed life into dry dissections of those writings. I found myself rushing back to the books, hardly able to wait for the next section. The writing is accessible, conversational , while filling in the gaps, that must exist when a person is not a linguist and scholar of archaic languages. I can not begin to explain what a joy and pleasure it was to have found this book.

Exhaustive and exacting.

I am in awe of MacCulloch for his ability to treat so large and controversial a subject with intelligence, wit, and clarity.

Long but well worth the time

Clear concise and enjoyable treatment of a complex and wide ranging topic. Your knowledge and appreciation of Christianity will be greatly enhanced.

Generally quite good

I think it's interesting how folk from the more "conservative" side of the spectrum tend to call something "biased" if they don't agree. Rather, MacCulloch comes from a specific scholarly school in the study of religion. This is not a question of bias, but one of approach. I tended to disagree with him on some fine points, such as the bit in Corinthians where Paul allegedly instructs women not to speak, but also, in the same book, tells women that they need to cover their heads when they prophesy. MacCulloch just calls that an "unstable" contradiction where my understanding is that this might have been an interlineation by some copyist. So is MacCulloch biased? Of course he is, to the extent that we all approach the world from different world views. But generally, we just happen to disagree on that point.

Despite my occasional disagreements, I found the book ably written, giving me a lot to mull over. New material that I hadn't read before. That's always the glory of good writing. It's never a good thing to take in anything as "gospel truth." One should always read from a variety of sources, because there may be a new take on the subject that will also be compelling.

The reader, Walter Dixon, is really quite good. He reminded me of a good university professor, rather than a random audiobook reader. He was easy to listen to and never irritated me. I found that his reading kept me listening, while I walked, drove, and made dinner. I even tried to listen while doing some work work, but I kept getting distracted so had to turn it off.

Highly recommended.

Astonishing book, but oddnesses in the reading.

I have nothing but high praise for the book. It is an enormous undertaking, and it succeeds remarkably well. I have one personal problem with the audio presentation: the narrator possesses a very good, very smooth voice. I wish he had taken the time to look up some of the words instead of just deciding on a pronunciation. It was very disturbing to the flow of the book to hear a word pronounced in an unfamiliar way.

Great Overview/Whisper Sync is helpful

This is a comprehensive overview of Christian history. I purchased the whisper-sync to be able to more easily access this book as a reference. Do you remember when, where and why the Chalcedon council took place? Or the 95 theses, or the orthodox views on transubstantiation? It's well researched and pretty thorough. Not a gripping read, but worth the investment if you are interested the history of the most influential religion of the West.

Please God Make It Stop

If you could sum up Christianity in three words, what would they be?

"Way Too Long". The final 9 hours of the book covered just 200 years of recent Christian history, little of which was particularly noteworthy. I felt this came at the expense of some of the detail of Reformation and Counter Reformation periods in the early Renaissance. While the lack of detail about very early Christianity necessarily leads to some non-linearity overall, this book could have been shortened by several chapters and still have provided the depth required by the reader.

What other book might you compare Christianity to and why?

"Martin Luther, Renegade and Profit" by Lyndal Roper. Both were neutral yet critical examinations of historical events in Christianity with insightful commentary on their far reaching implications.

Any additional comments?

One criticism - the author makes the contemporary habit of referring to the lands and people's south of Judea as Palestine and Palestinian. This is a distinctly 20th century ethnonym for people living in a region assigned a toponym that really only came into common usage in the 18th century, and then largely among Europeans (particularly the French). It arises from the Roman name of "Syria Palestina" given to the region after they put down the Jewish Revolts, using the name of Israel's ancient enemy (Philistines) to erase Israel from contemporary memory. In other words, it's a European name, and quite historically inaccurate. The Turks meanwhile referred to places today identified with Palestine as Gaza, Acre, and Syria. Locals invariably referred to these places a Philistia, Judea, Canaa, and Syria as well as Jordan and Gallatia. In a historical context, saying "Palestine" for events prior to about 1800 reflect Western biases.