The Dark Side of Christian History [Paperback]

Helen Ellerbe (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Over a period of nearly two millennia, the Christian Church has oppressed and brutalized millions of individuals. Meticulously researched and courageously written, "The Dark Side of Christian History" by Helen Ellerbe examines the Church's devastating impact upon human freedom, dignity and spirituality. Written for the lay reader, this controversial book is especially relevant today as the religious right is attempting to assert greater influence in American politics and society. "The Dark Side of Christian History presents a compelling argument that the Church's desire to control and contain spiritually motivated its persecution of heretics, its burning of libraries, the Crusades, the Inquisition, and the witch-hunts. This dark Christianity ahs left a legacy, a world view, which permeates every aspect of Western society. It is a legacy which fosters sexism, racism, the intolerance of difference and the desecration of the natural environment. Helen Ellerbe is a researcher, writer, and public speaker living in the San Francisco bay area. -- Midwest Book Review

Product Details

• Paperback: 221 pages
• Publisher: Morningstar & Lark (July 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0964487349
• ISBN-13: 978-0964487345
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (108 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #108,948 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

336 of 379 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's about time, November 19, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Dark Side of Christian History (Paperback)

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.

45 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not unbiased, not pretty, worth reading, June 28, 1998

By 

Steven Savage "Steve Savage" (California) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Dark Side of Christian History (Paperback)

Though the author of The Dark Side of Christian History makes some efforts towards being unbiased, she does not fully achieve this goal. However, as she does her research and is dealing with terribly unpleasant subjects, I think it can be understood.

This is not a pretty book, but it is a coherent one. Each chapter is an essay on a different time in Christianity, how it evolved, and its affects on Western (and other) civilizations. A consistent history is shown from the early days of Roman Christiandom to current attitudes that is informative and unsettling. Quite simply, current problems and attitudes today can be traced back hundreds, or even thousands of years, and the history of the Church is not as simple as some make it sound.

Quotes from various sources paint the picture reasonably well, though this book could have easily been twice its size. If read with an open, critical mind, you'll find flaws, but you WON'T be the same. It's an excellent jumping-off point to study the parts of Church history people don't want to talk about.

83 of 95 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars REQUIRED READING FOR EVERYONE, October 28, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Dark Side of Christian History (Paperback)

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.