History of Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years

MacCulloch is a provocative and engaging host who keeps your interest in a fast moving story. In six, one hour segments, he is hitting the highlights of the huge social movements that have accompanied the ebb and flow of Christian history. As he says in the beginning he is following the life of the church, the institution, which is another level than that of the spiritual lives of the millions of individual Christians. It's not all that different from what we see in the New Testament where Jesus reserves his most serious criticism for the religious leaders as opposed to the lives of individual seekers after God. The many tragedies are baffling and often they reflect this gulf between the two levels. The institutions usually reflect the unending human need for power, wealth and authority or at least having friends in high places who have the power. Several times through the story he questions how far the institutions move away from the original and simple teachings of Jesus. There are certainly places where you could find a different society, the "new community," but they are the exception so they don't show up very often in this fast moving over-view. It reminds you of the question whether Christianity has failed or just hasn't been tried. One of the overarching positive patterns is that the church continually adapts to new circumstances and cultures and this shows its true vitality and prospects for the future though it puts Christian groups at such odds with each other and worse, outright war. You come away feeling the huge diversity that has made up the Christian Church for the past two thousand years. Hopefully this could help to teach us to respect one another better as opposed to fighting over our differences. The production is very well done and hopefully will make people want to read the book or at least consult it to enrich their learning.

I started with MacCulloch's book and was so impressed with the depth of information and the craftsmanship of his writing style. I had the audiobook version, so i had missed things like maps and photos to help supplement the subject matter (i do not know if the book would have this either, but i realized i wanted it as i listened to the audiobook). I was so delighted to see that MacCulloch also provided this dvd series, which is also rich with information and, of course, plenty of visuals to help provide a better sense of the history that is being told. I highly recommend reading the book before seeing the dvd series, which helps fill many of the gaps that cannot be covered in a mere 6 hours. If the book is too daunting then i still recommend the dvd series, which will hit the hight points. MacCulloch is a great author, and a great host in the dvd series. If you really want to know the history of Christianity (accepting the reality that it is not as perfect as some 1 star reviewers might wish to believe) then MaCulloch provides a very fair, objective, reality-based account. Bravo! Thank you for your work Mr. MacCulloch!

MacCulloch presents a surprisingly straightforward and clear history of a very weighty topic that others render intensely boring. He presents with humour and verve many of the controversial aspects and ideological clashes within Christianity, especially in its early centuries. He also does a wonderful job of explaining the Reformation and Counter-Reformation without bogging down in the complexities of that era. My only regret is that the series is too short and I would have enjoyed twice the length. It left me very curious to learn more about the topic, so much so that I embarked on reading the companion volume to the series which contains much of MacCulloch’s same humour and verve.

Diarmaid MacCulloch has done an excellent job condensing the history of Christianity down into six hours. One of the hardest things to do in a documentary is to keep in engaging, and by keeping the History Channel-like cheesy "re-enactments" down to a minimum and by traveling to present-day locations instead, he keeps the audience riveted. It is important to keep in mind that this history is a history of the Christian religion--a history of how it spread through the world. It does not claim to be commentary on scripture or church tradition. Keeping this in mind, it is an excellent introduction to the historical movement of Christianity in its first 2,000 years.

I have read Diarmaid MacCulloch's History of Christianity several times in addition to several of his other books. I had seen the BBC programs based on the book when it was first released and wanted to own a copy. MacCulloch is a very engaging historian. His enthusiasm for his material shows at every instance. He is both scholarly in that he has read extensively in his field as well as appealing to the non-specialist with a delightful editorial voice. I highly recommend both the DVD's and the book.

Narrator Diamaid MacCulloch take the viewer on an in-depth historical journey on the origins of Christianity, which began its roots in the Middle East. This was a fascinating look at how the Romans and Constantine usurped Christian teachings and made Christianity the official religion of the Roman empire. This series is an outstanding accompaniment to anyone taking a course or interest in Christian Theology.

One of the best and most informative books I have ever read, and now in DVD. Excelent!

Look why are you selling DVD’s in the USA that can not be played in any of our equipment??

DVD étaient nouveaux, est arrivé en excellent état. Je l'ai vu tout grand contenu historique et culturel. Les questions soulevées sont des considérations fondamentales pour l'analyse du christianisme..