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)

Too hard for me..

It felt like reading an encyclopedia. That's difficult on an audio book when you don't know much on the topic at hand..

Great Listen

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Very Good Listen and explains a lot about what is happening today in Religious Turmoil.

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

No

Long, as it should be

This was a very long listen. Well worth it. There were times when the pronunciation by the narrator irked me, but it’s over 40 hours long! Give the guy a break! The contents was very thorough; as others have commented, a global history through Christianity. I recommend this as a long haul that, when you arrive at the end, leaves you humble.

Excellent Guide for Deeper Study

It is extremely hard to do a summary of 3000 years of evolution of a religion— but this book does a great job.

It can’t possibly do justice to every topic it touches—but the reader has plenty of guidance to study on his own.

As for bias, yes, you sometimes hear the limp wristed, somewhat pathetic ultra liberal bias of a lapsed believer that is so common these days. But it is easy to ignore and appreciate the depiction of the complex tapestry of historical Christianity.

Very thorough and balanced...but oh, the narrator

I "read" this book as part of an Education for Ministry (EfM) class, for Year 3 (Church History), and I have mixed feelings. The book is staggering in its scholarship, well researched and pretty well balanced in giving both grace and well-earned criticism to the long history of Christianity. If a reader finds this "too biased," I might venture to say that they are merely uncomfortable.

Now, as an audiobook, I have to say that it was a little painful. The narrator has a halting way of speaking, and the few times I followed along in the physical text, I was amazed to find that there were not, in fact, anywhere near as many periods, dashes, or ellipses as I thought because he read with so many pauses! I also feel as though no one assisted him with pronunciation. These weren't differences in pronunciation...they were actually incorrect, and distracting. I usually give narrators a lot of leeway because it is NOT an easy task, especially for nonfiction of over 1,000 pages!! But I feel decidedly MEH bordering on YIKES about this one this time.

Surpised

The information is clearly huge in scope and the author appears to be well acquainted with the various influences on the development of Christianity in the west as well as the east. Early one a bias against the validity of the Christian faith begins to come out with unnecessary criticism and surprising praise for the faith of Islam. So, it becomes hard to accept this as an unbiased history.

read the book, but do not accept ever assertion!

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

This was time well spent, a lot of time. The author has the idea that he is writing a complete history of Christianity. He alludes to the fact that he is a modern British author, and a friend of Christianity, which is code for "I no longer believe in Christ, I am too modern for such a view, but I appreciate the things the Christian culture has brought to the world." One gets the idea that McCullough was writing for his peer group of secular, atheistic British scholars. His has done his home work, and his detailed descriptions of much of the historical processes of the institution of the Church is informative and interesting. However, he makes unsupported assertions throughout the book criticizing the motives or the church which is distracting and often shocking in a book that is supposed to be a clear history of the church. One gets the idea that this is a piece of rebellion against the author's father, who was a priest in the Church of England.

What did you like best about this story?

Clearly I did not really understand the way the institutional church split into western, eastern and Russian churches. Often the politics of various leaders of nations worked to co-opt the leaders of the church to get the church to support the secular leaders. Often church leaders were forced to make political decisions for the good of the church as an institution. There were great leaders and weak leaders of the various churches throughout the ages, but the church survived. I also did not understand the development of the Coptic Christians in Egypt. Fascinating reading, but keep in mind the author has a political, secular agenda and watch for his unsupported assertions about the church's leaders and their motives.

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

This was a good audio book.

Did Christianity inspire you to do anything?

Yes, I was inspired to do much more research due to the unsupported assertions concerning the motivations of various church leaders that the author makes. This additional research has been wonderfully confirming of development of the Christian culture in the west and the key role the church has played in creating the civilization of charity we have today.

Any additional comments?

Listen to the book, but keep your ears open. I bought a copy of the book as a reference and have used it concerning the historical facts that are presented.

Awesome, Epic!

OK. I'm only 3/4 of the way through this epic read, but what a fascinating story.

There are many "aha!" moments when you get a sudden insight into why the church (or churches in their various forms) - and society in general - is the way it is today. I find this actually makes christianity in all its various forms more accessible and understandable.

If there is a pattern in the history of the church and christianity, it seems to parallel secular society: good ideas and rulers rise to the top, give way to corruption and abuse over generations, leading to reformations and revolutions. And so it goes...

A timely reminder to me to keep going back to the bible as the main source of Christianity, and a warning to be wary of dodgy translations (such as the russian sect that, due to the misinterpretation of one word, castrated themselves).

I find the author to be genuinely sensitive to the beliefs, and the history and motives behind the traditions, of christianity. The book is instructive, informative and entertaining.

Awesome, epic read.

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!

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.