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67 of 77 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Superb new history of the first christian centuries, October 4, 2009
It is difficult nowadays to get an objective, nuanced opinion on Christianity, neither flattering nor biased against it (if I were to recommend a way to try and achieve this, I would suggest reading several good books on the matter, including this one among them).
The synopsis of the book provided by the "Product Description" is fairly accurate. Therefore, I will only point out that, having read Freeman's "The Closing of the Western Mind", when I found this new book of his I decided it to give it a chance, in despite of not finding previous comments on it. I was surprised that no one else had made a comment before to this interesting work, which, in my opinion, is a scholarly work but accessible to the educated layman, an eminently readable history of the first six centuries of Christianity. This book explains the myriad opinions, personalities and politics that were part of the confusing theological climate which prevailed in the centuries after Jesus' death (Christians -then as now- agreed on little or nothing). The author offers a stance before Christianity that perhaps some will consider as critical, but I do not perceive as hostile (certainly not, if you compare his polite comments to E. Gibbon's classical and superb caustic prose; or to St. Jerome's very opinion, pursuant to whom the history of the church was one of decline "from the apostles down to the excrement of our time"). In any event, this a very difficult field to cover, data are usually scarce and fragmented. However, what Freeman says appears to be well researched and explained.
So I add my review, my rate being between 5 (content) and 5 (pleasure).
Other interesting books dealing with religion that I would recommend would be: a) "The Phenomenon of Religion: A Thematic Approach," by Moojan Momen (astonishingly encyclopedic); b) "Shamans, Sorcerers, and Saints: A Prehistory of Religion" by Brian Hayden (great overview of religion origins and development); c) "The Book of Miracles: The Meaning of the Miracle Stories in Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam" by Kenneth L. Woodward (very readable); d) "Prayer: A History" by Philip Zaleski and Carol Zaleski (very readable too); and e); "Alternative Tradition: A Study of Unbelief in the Ancient World (Religion and Society)" by James A. Thrower (atheism and agnosticism of yore).
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30 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Historian's Look at Early Christianity -- Very Good, December 10, 2009
I have read many accounts of the development of early Christianity, but have inevitably been disappointed due to various authors injecting their own spiritual biases. However, Early Christianity by Charles Freeman is a welcome exception to my experiences. Freeman does an admirable job of presenting the early years of Christianity from a straight-ahead historian's viewpoint, minus the bothersome religious views which have cluttered other books. The depictions of Jesus, Paul, the Christ, the Logos, gnosticism, the development of the the New Testament, the development of the trinity, the Imperial church, and more, are all fresh and full of historical insights. As an aside, due in large part to Freeman's unbiased reading of history, I found myself throughout the book constantly reassessing my own spiritual feelings and beliefs -- it was a progressive learning and self-examination process which I relished. I look forward to reading the book again down the road.
I highly recommend this book for anyone who is searching for a fresh, fluid, historically-centered presentation of what exactly happened during the first several centuries in the early Christian world. Also, the glossary, timeline, and index are all quite helpful tools. The book is a joy to read and I anticipate more great works from Charles Freeman.
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31 of 41 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Flawed but interesting, April 18, 2010
This is a flawed history. A few observations will make that clear. Freeman clearly and rightly states that Paul's seven undisputed letters are a primary source for what Paul did and thought and that the author of Acts is considered unreliable for Paul's life but then he goes on to base most of his views and history of Paul and his work on a few very debated facts. First, was Paul a Roman citizen or not, Freeman assumes he is, yet at no point in Paul's letters (undisputed or otherwise) does he state that fact (not even in the letter to the Romans where it would come in handy). There is historic reasons to reject the view he was a citizen but Freeman never mentions them (See Paul: The man and the Myth by Calvin J. Roetzel page 19 for an overview). Moreover, Freeman goes on to base much of his exegesis of Paul assuming not only that he was a citizen but also he was a citizen because his father was a former slave. There is no historical mention in any early source that Paul was the son of a former slave and to base so much of his interpretation of Paul on this fact is rather sloppy historic work.
Moreover, he marginalizes Paul's role in the early church by stating that Paul seemed to have little effect on the churches he founded or visited and that there were no evidence that Paul's letters were of any effect in those churches. This is an amusing interpretation, the fact that Paul's undisputed letters, sent to people in six different cities of the empire all survived and were recopied disproves that fact. Moreover, people (either Paul or others) continued to write letters in Paul's name, something odd if he was not held with regard or was marginal in early Christianity.
I could mention a few more major flaws with this work, but space doesn't allow. This is still worth the read but a balanced history it is not. Sadly we still lack a critical non-dogmatic history of the Early Church.
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