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A review by matthewb
A History of Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years by Diarmaid MacCulloch
5.0
It's hard to review this without overloading with superlatives.
The sheer volume of information contained within it is staggering. You could listen to it on repeat for years and still glean new insights into this remarkable history. Because the history of Europe and the history of Christianity or effectively one and the same up until the last few centuries there is such a vast syllabus of material to cover. Then once the religion expanded globally even more countries and their particular cultures, histories and politics get caught up in the mix.
It has been on my shortlist of big (> 1000 page) "project" books I wanted to read, along with the Bible and [b:A New History of Western Philosophy|14828803|A New History of Western Philosophy|Anthony Kenny|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348542984l/14828803._SY75_.jpg|13273658], and there is a sense of accomplishment having finished it, though I have by no means exhausted it.
I would recommend it to anyone who is ready for it - I put it that way because there can be a tension between a blossoming spiritual life and a realisation of the depth of corruption, conflict and politicking that has been ever-present in the life of the Christian church that can stifle a fledgling faith. I probably wouldn't have been ready to read this a few years ago. Having spent a few years around theologically-minded, very smart people, I felt like I had a robust enough foundation to dive into this wasp's nest. Even still, the excoriating reasonableness of the academic historian presents a challenge and forces a pious reader to confront their beliefs with a new appreciation for their various origins, a process which can be unsettling.
But if the God we worship as Christians is the perfection of truth, then assimilating the (at times) ugly earthiness of our faith is ultimately only going to bring us closer to Him.
The sheer volume of information contained within it is staggering. You could listen to it on repeat for years and still glean new insights into this remarkable history. Because the history of Europe and the history of Christianity or effectively one and the same up until the last few centuries there is such a vast syllabus of material to cover. Then once the religion expanded globally even more countries and their particular cultures, histories and politics get caught up in the mix.
It has been on my shortlist of big (> 1000 page) "project" books I wanted to read, along with the Bible and [b:A New History of Western Philosophy|14828803|A New History of Western Philosophy|Anthony Kenny|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348542984l/14828803._SY75_.jpg|13273658], and there is a sense of accomplishment having finished it, though I have by no means exhausted it.
I would recommend it to anyone who is ready for it - I put it that way because there can be a tension between a blossoming spiritual life and a realisation of the depth of corruption, conflict and politicking that has been ever-present in the life of the Christian church that can stifle a fledgling faith. I probably wouldn't have been ready to read this a few years ago. Having spent a few years around theologically-minded, very smart people, I felt like I had a robust enough foundation to dive into this wasp's nest. Even still, the excoriating reasonableness of the academic historian presents a challenge and forces a pious reader to confront their beliefs with a new appreciation for their various origins, a process which can be unsettling.
But if the God we worship as Christians is the perfection of truth, then assimilating the (at times) ugly earthiness of our faith is ultimately only going to bring us closer to Him.