The Dark Side of Christian History

Once again we shall read the comments based upon the "Kill the messenger" mentality. As a writer and "serious" researcher of Western Theology, I have read countless books on the history of the church (and written one or two as well), and this book is among the best. The ability to place before the reader a large number of ideas in a straightforward and easy to grasp manner while remaining objective is not always easy or even possible. Still the author has managed to do this rather well. No one could possibly mistake my stance on my own writing, but this book I find much more neutral. A must read for anyone in the church, or considering it. Not a judgement of religion, just a simple stating the historical reality. This in itself will be enough to offend many.

I met Ms. Ellerbe shortly after the book's publication and was very impressed with her openess and her vast understanding and knowledge of the Orthodox Christian Church history. She states clearly from the start that the book is not designed as a slam on Christianity ~ nor that she favors any other religions over it. Helen Ellerbe spent 7 years researching and verifying the information contained within her book ~ and she used actual Church documents for it. We always hear about the 'good' work of the Christian Church ~~ Ms. Ellerbe, without rancor, and with a factual and unbiased point of view based on scholarly research, gives us the 'other side' of the Church's story ~ and corrects quite a bit of history at the same time.

I'm in favor of any book that debunks Christian Myths. This book was well written and informative. I particularly appreciated the author's take on the antiquated belief that we need to fear God. If you enjoyed this book you might also wish to read An Encounter with a Prophet by Clyde A. Lewis

This is a wonderful book. I'm glad it is finally out. All of the religious intolerance of the early church is brought to light. The facts should not be used as a reason to hate the church; but, they help us all understand that claims of a divine right to speak for God are all false. If you liked this book , I would also recommend the book An Encounter With A Prophet. The author of An Encounter With A Prophet would no doubt be burned at the stake if organized religion still had the power it had in the middle ages.

The Dark Side of Christian History is one of those rare finds. This book was written in a concise fashion and details the horrors, both spiritually and physically, that the early Church visited upon members of society. I found Helen Ellerbe's research to be thorough, citing many historical documents and publications. Contrary to a statement made by another reader, this book is highly accurate and credible. Many individuals have no knowledge of the atrocities committed by the church. Without understanding these events, we can never progress beyond them. The era of the Inquisition and the Witch Hunt is over, but religious intolerance is still with us, rearing its ugly head. With the help of provocative books such as this, I believe we can move past religious intolerance - once and for all. On a final note, I am Wiccan, and although I believe that present-day Christians should not be held responsible for the Church's brutality of the past, I would like to see our Christian brothers, sisters and leaders acknowledge, accept and learn from these events.