Customer Reviews

The Building of Christendom, 324-1100: A History of Christendom (vol. 2)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Warren H. Carroll's second volume of his "History of Christendom" is an excellent general treatment of the period from Constantine to the crusades. Although it based on secondary sources, it is very accurate and detailed for an introductory work. It is nice to see a historian defend Christ's Church and the infallibility of the Roman Pontiffs. Although in one or two places the author makes some theological misstatements, the average lay Catholic will be pleased to find a history of this period that does not repeat the old canards against the Church. I also highly recommend it to non-Catholics who wish to hear the "other side" of the story.

What will be found in Carroll's second volume of his "History of Christendom" is a brilliant and industrious work with Christ's Church as the center and the Popes as the cementing glue of a new era in civilization. The scope of this work contains an elaborate sketch of ecclesiastical and political history from Constantine the Great to the end of the First Crusade. The battles against heresy, the Muslims, and other barbarians are tinged with stories of the great saints, monks, and war heroes who fought for the good of Christian Europe. This series is one of the most reputable in its field, and is certainly one of the most unique and valuable for its Christ-centered perspective.

Searching for a definitive work on the history of the Church, I found authors described in reviews as "masterful", "scholarly", "magisterial", and "possessing of critical acumen." Upon reading them, I concluded that these descriptions were euphemisms for "hostile", "biased", "modernistic", and "possessing of papal antipathy."

I came across Warren H. Carroll's "A History of Christendom" by sheer luck. I had no idea what lay beneath its covers. After reading a few negative reviews I nearly passed him by but decided to give his first volume, The Founding Of Christendom, a chance, and it far exceeded my expectations. I began this second volume wondering if there would be a drop-off in quality; not so. If anything, "The Building of Christendom" surpasses that exciting first volume.

Dr. Carroll continues his balanced presentation of Church history and pulls no punches, recording both the glory and the ashes; the sublime heights which Christendom and its actors could rise, to the evil depths which they could sink. There are men of bravery like those 700 Swabians who died to the last man defending Pope Leo from the Normans of Southern Italy, and scenes of horror like the one played out in the damnatio memoriae of Pope Formosus.

Picking up in 324 with the Arian heresy after the conversion of Constantine, and ending with the re-conquest of Jerusalem from the Fatimids in 1099, Carroll's story-telling skills shine in episode after episode. The story spans west from El Cid in Spain, to the Muslim ultimatum to China in the east; from Viking invasions from Norway in North, to the drum-beating warriors from Niger in the South: the scope is truly breath-taking.

The facts and the narrative are the warp and the woof of this work; Carroll is indefatigable in his research and documentation, yet surrenders nothing in dramatic beauty. This truly is history at its finest.

One of the things I would have liked to have seen in these volumes is chapter sub-sections or margin labels for easier look-up of events and people. For now I'll have to wait till my second trip through these works to render them full of notes and highlighting.

I highly recommend "The Building of Christendom" and can't wait to dive into the next volume of this series.

Honest and forthright this second in a series of 6 presents clearly and accurately the history of the Christian Church post Constantine to approximately 1000ad. The weaving of secular and Christian history presents a rich tapestry to often ignored by those that focus on one side or another. Blanced, fair and honest look at the Church warts and all.

I have read both the first and second volumes of the series. While reading can be slow going at times, especially in volume one, it is not because of the quality of the work. There is so much content there is just more there to consider and absorb. The author does an excellent job of drawing from an incredible amount of sources, they are well documented, considered objectively, and give the reader a full view of history.
Further, the author includes those things both flattering and unflattering to Christendom. The information helps to shatter myths of history that have grown over time. While there are truly events in history that give serious pause to the faithful, but inclusion of the good and bad also shows the un-mistakable hand of the God in guiding the Church. For it probably would not be standing today if it relied on humans alone.
I plan on completing all of the volumes. I fully recommend the volumes to anyone interested in a thorough un-biased view of Christendom.

It's very enlightening to read in this volume that Church Doctrine and Dogma were promulgated in the early years of the Church. One wonders why all these could be questioned centuries later. This volume reads like Lord of the Rings. Small wonder. The imagery of Lord of the Rings seem to have been drawn from history, especially the crusades. The book is very informative and enlightening as much as it is entertaining.

Second part of his huge history of Christendom. Up to the year 1100. Here's the review real quick: He writes fine, wonderful, great. Now, you have to be crazy about Catholicism and the history of their popes, heresies, councils, et al. because that makes for more than 50% of the book. When it gets out of this muddy, encyclopedic accumulation of names, it's as I said. But great passages are too interspersed to really make it a worth reading.

So, basically it's a story of Catholicism, which I have nothing against besides its tediousness, only that it's so to the exclusion of any other point of view or even hint of interpretation. I think I'll keep trying with this author, though. The book is well presented and well packaged with lots of good biblio. I think it can get more interesting in the next volumes.

The Building of Christendom is the second of Dr. Carroll's projected six volume history of Christendom. The writing is beautiful and the documenation is extraordinary. Herein, Dr. Carroll covers the period from Constantine, the Great, to the end of the First Crusade in meticulous detail and with a proper sense of wonder. This volume focuses on the great heresies that impacted Christendom, the Viking peril, and the great and enduring heresy of Islam. A flaw emerges in this account, which I rather suspect will be magnified in later volumes. For here, Dr. Carroll properly deals with many of the doctrinal dichotomies between the Eastern and Western Churches and then, inexplicably in the context of his other writings, merely seems to hold that the West is right, even though at times not, and the East in rebellion from Orthodoxy. With all due respect to Dr. Carroll, this position seems to be more of a political than a scriptural conclusion. Only recently, we have come to understand Dr. Carroll's perspective better and would that others would understand it as well. On this and the cover of each of the volumes of his history, Dr. Carroll proudly displays the sigil of the hideous Knights Templar, those occult precursors of modern freemasonry. From this, we can well assume that Carroll is either in sympathy with or an active member of the various occult societies who have furthered the magical masonic philosophy of these knights errant. We only wonder, in this connection, why Dr. Carroll bothers to continue with the pretense of being a sincere Catholic.