History of Christianity

This was the textbook for a class by this name at the University of Missouri in 1985 which I lost somewhere. A book I read and re-read afterwards until losing my copy. Paul Johnson wrote a completely thorough history which is very readable and quite informative. Highly recommended for one and all.

For such a major topic, I think he covers it quite well. It is indeed the history of Christianity. Though a Christian himself he neither glosses over Christian atrocities nor denegrades any one sect or any other religious belief (though the reference to Mohammed as a monophysite has me baffled, but then again I am not as conversant with Islam as I could be). He refuses to drag God through the pages of his book, which is a very good thing. After all, the subject matter is the HISTORICAL perspective of Christianity, not the theological, and besides he is dealing with a multitude of sects which ALL claimed to be inspired and the true Christianity. I found it quite engaging, not dry and technical, though it is definitely not a primer on the topic.

Desde los tiempos de San Pablo, y a través de los primeros concilios de la iglesia, hasta nuestros días, Johnson ofrece una amplia panorámica de una religión que durante más de dos milenios ha ejercido mayor influencia en el destino de la humanidad que cualquier filosofía. Nos cuenta cómo nace la fe y cómo se defiende su existencia, qué sucedía en los primeros concilios y sínodos de la iglesia, cómo creen ahora los cristianos y por qué siguen teniendo fe.

Johnson's book is very readable besides its very ambitious scope. He presents history of christianity in a very unbiased way. His emphasis of Christian Renaissance, his criticism of the way some Christian missionary activity was carried out and his tremendous ability to describe both the intellectual evolution of the Catholic church as well as its relationship to each historic period make this book the very best introduction to the historical development of Christianity.

Johnson's history of christianity is simply a masterpiece. The book will not let down the reader that not only want to learn about the rise and evolution of christianity but also wants to take some lessons out of it. Written with sincerity, though Johnson is an english catholic, the book describes the most important periods of christianity depicting the major trends and changes in the history of the religion that shaped the spirit of the western culture. Johnson's chronicle starts with the birth of a jew in an obscure corner of the Roman empire and ends when Paul VI becomes pope, and so it leaves the reader without almost the last 30 years of history. However, this book is a must read: the way Johnson gathers the facts of history together in order to describe the main trends and seizures is magnificent. Therefore, through a pleasant reading, one learns, for instance, the evangelization of Europe, the struggle for power between the pope and the european rulers in the middle ages, the causes and consequences of the reform and the wars of religion, how the secularization process started in the western world during the XVIII century, and many other things. The books shows also the evolution of the philosophical and social perspectives on christianity, from Agustin to John XXIII, and through the work of personalities like Thomas, Inocentius III, Beckett, Erasmus, Luther, Pascal, Locke, Leon III, Pius X, among others. Finally, two strengths must be emphasized. First, the book shows how the history of the last 500 years of christianity has been shaped by two antagonical forces: on one side, humanist and liberal forces (developed by people like Erasmus and John XXIII), and on the other side, ultra-conservative and retrograde forces (represented by Pius X for example). The book's second strength is the analysis of the XX century period (up to 1970's). There Johnson condemns brilliantly Pius XII's undersantable but unforgivable cowardness during Nazi rule in Europe and shows the dramatic changes that led to the second Vatican council and the unresolved problems left after the council finished. In the end, Johnson says, the way the catholic church will lead with these unresolved problems (for example about the government and decision-making within the church) will be one of the most important factors shaping the history of christianity for the next decades.

It amazed me how Johnson could sort through all the details of two millenia of Christianity and present them in an order that was not only rational, but spellbinding. His committment is to honest investigation, yet he demonstrates that despite the truth about some of the horrors of church history, the Christian faith indeed has something to offer the individual and the world. Paul B