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A review by bennought
Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years by Diarmaid MacCulloch
5.0
Easily one of the best books I have ever read. MacCulloch tackles the monumental task of tracing a history of all of Christianity with clear prose, wit, and incredible intelligence. He begins 1000 years before the birth of Jesus, in order to create the context of the world into which he was born and how that context created Jesus as a person, his disciples, the general movement, and the reactions of the authorities. More importantly, he traces the history of the three major 'Churches': Latin (Western), (Eastern) Orthodox, and the Church of the East. The first two will be familiar to most, but the third covers a set of denominations that were predominant in the ancient Middle East, spread at an early stage all the way to China, and could very likely have ended up being the leading force in Christianity.
While MacCulloch does a very good job of explaining the differences (often minuscule) between different denominations and sects, I still often found myself a bit confused on technicalities in doctrine and theology--especially when ideas or concepts resurfaced 500 pages later. That said, he almost always provides the page numbers when an idea or group was discussed, so it is possible to easily flip back and forth to refresh one's memory. Of course, the sections on the Latin Reformation period and the wars of religion is one of the clearest and best researched ([b:The Reformation: A History|53946|The Reformation A History|Diarmaid MacCulloch|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170434975s/53946.jpg|52597]). But, he does a great job of showing trends and differences in the history of Christianity across the Globe and through time. I was especially pleased with the time he spent on the Ethiopian Church. I would, though, have preferred if he could have spent more time on Latin America and Asia. Maybe, to make up for that, he could have spent a little less time on some of the 18th and 19th century movements in Europe and America.
In the end, though, this is a monumental piece of scholarship that will easily be *the* general survey for years to come. MacCulloch has outdone himself here, and I for one look forward immensely to reading more of his work, and can't wait to see what he will be working on next.
While MacCulloch does a very good job of explaining the differences (often minuscule) between different denominations and sects, I still often found myself a bit confused on technicalities in doctrine and theology--especially when ideas or concepts resurfaced 500 pages later. That said, he almost always provides the page numbers when an idea or group was discussed, so it is possible to easily flip back and forth to refresh one's memory. Of course, the sections on the Latin Reformation period and the wars of religion is one of the clearest and best researched ([b:The Reformation: A History|53946|The Reformation A History|Diarmaid MacCulloch|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170434975s/53946.jpg|52597]). But, he does a great job of showing trends and differences in the history of Christianity across the Globe and through time. I was especially pleased with the time he spent on the Ethiopian Church. I would, though, have preferred if he could have spent more time on Latin America and Asia. Maybe, to make up for that, he could have spent a little less time on some of the 18th and 19th century movements in Europe and America.
In the end, though, this is a monumental piece of scholarship that will easily be *the* general survey for years to come. MacCulloch has outdone himself here, and I for one look forward immensely to reading more of his work, and can't wait to see what he will be working on next.