A History of Christianity (Pelican S.) - Softcover

Johnson, Paul

3.93

999 ratings by Goodreads

9780140222975: A History of Christianity (Pelican S.)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0140222979 ISBN 13: 9780140222975

Publisher: Penguin, 1980

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A penetrating and brilliant assessment of 2000 years od faith. 1984, pgs sl tanned

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Review:

Mayo Mohs

"Time"

An ambitious, magisterial and ultimately positive book.

J. Enoch Powell

"The Daily Telegraph" (London)

It is astonishingly well done.

Martin E. Marty

"The New York Times Book Review"

A reliable if hard-edged story of the public church.

Richard Marius

"The Christian Century"

Paul Johnson, an English Roman Catholic, has given us the best one-volume history of Christianity ever done.

W. H. C. Frend

"The New York Review of Books"

His is a tour de force, one of the most ambitious surveys of the history of Christianity ever attempted and perhaps the most radical. In eight sections, with a great range of reading and a knowledge that is never made tedious, he tells the story of the rise, greatness, and decline of Christianity.

Robert Kirsch

"Los Angeles Times"

Johnson has written a readable and provocative history based more on politics, economics and social and cultural facts than on theology....[He] bases his account on modern scholarship, achieves objectivity without aridity, arrives at the present age after examining the recurring cycles of religious response to situations.

Malcolm Muggeridge

"New Statesman" (London)

Paul Johnson's study of Christianity, from his namesake Apostle to Pope John XXIII, more particularly in relation to the role in world history of the Roman Catholic Church and other institutional manifestations, can only be described as masterly. It combines a great wealth of scholarship, including many fascinating byways as well as the main highways, with a vigorous, confident style, a kind of innate intensity which carries the narrative along so that it rarely falters and is never dull.

Michael McCauley

"Commonweal"

That the history of Christianity can be lucidly surveyed in a single, comprehensive volume of 556 pages is no small accomplishment. To Paul Johnson's credit "A History of Christianity" neither skimps on significant details or wallows in scholarly fussiness. Johnson provides a panoramic overview of events which have shaped our twentieth century Western lifestyle far more than we realize....For economy of style combined with a sympathetic understanding of the nearly 2000 years of Christianity's conflicts as well as its glorious achievements, Johnson's "History" is exceptional.

Martin E. Marty "The New York Times Book Review" A reliable if hard-edged story of the public church.

Robert Kirsch "Los Angeles Times" Johnson has written a readable and provocative history based more on politics, economics and social and cultural facts than on theology....[He] bases his account on modern scholarship, achieves objectivity without aridity, arrives at the present age after examining the recurring cycles of religious response to situations.

J. Enoch Powell "The Daily Telegraph" (London) It is astonishingly well done.

Michael McCauley "Commonweal" That the history of Christianity can be lucidly surveyed in a single, comprehensive volume of 556 pages is no small accomplishment. To Paul Johnson's credit "A History of Christianity" neither skimps on significant details or wallows in scholarly fussiness. Johnson provides a panoramic overview of events which have shaped our twentieth century Western lifestyle far more than we realize....For economy of style combined with a sympathetic understanding of the nearly 2000 years of Christianity's conflicts as well as its glorious achievements, Johnson's "History" is exceptional.

W. H. C. Frend "The New York Review of Books" His is a tour de force, one of the most ambitious surveys of the history of Christianity ever attempted and perhaps the most radical. In eight sections, with a great range of reading and a knowledge that is never made tedious, he tells the story of the rise, greatness, and decline of Christianity.

Mayo Mohs "Time" An ambitious, magisterial and ultimately positive book.

Malcolm Muggeridge "New Statesman" (London) Paul Johnson's study of Christianity, from his namesake Apostle to Pope John XXIII, more particularly in relation to the role in world history of the Roman Catholic Church and other institutional manifestations, can only be described as masterly. It combines a great wealth of scholarship, including many fascinating byways as well as the main highways, with a vigorous, confident style, a kind of innate intensity which carries the narrative along so that it rarely falters and is never dull.

Richard Marius "The Christian Century" Paul Johnson, an English Roman Catholic, has given us the best one-volume history of Christianity ever done.

Malcolm Muggeridge New Statesman (London) Paul Johnson's study of Christianity, from his namesake Apostle to Pope John XXIII, more particularly in relation to the role in world history of the Roman Catholic Church and other institutional manifestations, can only be described as masterly. It combines a great wealth of scholarship, including many fascinating byways as well as the main highways, with a vigorous, confident style, a kind of innate intensity which carries the narrative along so that it rarely falters and is never dull.

W. H. C. Frend The New York Review of Books His is a tour de force, one of the most ambitious surveys of the history of Christianity ever attempted and perhaps the most radical. In eight sections, with a great range of reading and a knowledge that is never made tedious, he tells the story of the rise, greatness, and decline of Christianity.

Richard Marius The Christian Century Paul Johnson, an English Roman Catholic, has given us the best one-volume history of Christianity ever done.

Michael McCauley Commonweal That the history of Christianity can be lucidly surveyed in a single, comprehensive volume of 556 pages is no small accomplishment. To Paul Johnson's credit A History of Christianity neither skimps on significant details or wallows in scholarly fussiness. Johnson provides a panoramic overview of events which have shaped our twentieth century Western lifestyle far more than we realize....For economy of style combined with a sympathetic understanding of the nearly 2000 years of Christianity's conflicts as well as its glorious achievements, Johnson's History is exceptional.

J. Enoch Powell The Daily Telegraph (London) It is astonishingly well done.

Robert Kirsch Los Angeles Times Johnson has written a readable and provocative history based more on politics, economics and social and cultural facts than on theology....[He] bases his account on modern scholarship, achieves objectivity without aridity, arrives at the present age after examining the recurring cycles of religious response to situations.

Mayo Mohs Time An ambitious, magisterial and ultimately positive book.

Martin E. Marty The New York Times Book Review A reliable if hard-edged story of the public church.

From the Back Cover:

It is now almost 2000 years since the birth of Jesus Christ set in motion the chain of events which led to the creation of the Christian faith and its diffusion throughout the world. During these two millennia Christianity has, perhaps, proved more influential in shaping human destiny than any other institutional philosophy, but there are now signs that its period of predominance is drawing to a close, thereby inviting a retrospect and a balance sheet. In this book the author has attempted to survey the whole history in one volume.

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