Scan barcode
A review by davehershey
Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years by Diarmaid MacCulloch
4.0
This is probably the best one-volume history of Christianity that you can find. So if you want an overview of church history, and don't mind wading through a 1000 page book (though, with 2000 years of history to tell, how much shorter could such a book be?) this book is for you.
I have to admit, MacCulloch almost lost me in the early part when he said the biblical book of Philemon was later used to support slavery by Christians. Admittedly, me disagreeing on this is like a flea barking at a pit bull, but I have never heard of anyone using Philemon in this way. My understanding is that Philemon is one book of the Bible that questions slavery.
That aside, it is a fantastic book. Perhaps the best thing is that MacCulloch does not forget about non-Western Christians after 450 AD but tells the story of Christians in Asia and Africa, eventually in Muslim dominated lands (Nestorians, Monophysites). This gives the book a more worldwide and less western focused feel.
I have to admit, MacCulloch almost lost me in the early part when he said the biblical book of Philemon was later used to support slavery by Christians. Admittedly, me disagreeing on this is like a flea barking at a pit bull, but I have never heard of anyone using Philemon in this way. My understanding is that Philemon is one book of the Bible that questions slavery.
That aside, it is a fantastic book. Perhaps the best thing is that MacCulloch does not forget about non-Western Christians after 450 AD but tells the story of Christians in Asia and Africa, eventually in Muslim dominated lands (Nestorians, Monophysites). This gives the book a more worldwide and less western focused feel.