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Jan 23, 2008

Steven rated it:

Easily the worst book I have read in the last 10 years. The author's historical analysis is flawed throughout the book and no legitimate historian would find it plausible (I've read some of the scholarly reviews of the book and they were not kind). Claims throughout the book are often outrageous (e.g. New Testament is anti-semetic) with little or no scholarship to back up arguments--simply having a lot of footnotes does not mean it is well researched or supported by the literature of the field. More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Oct 13, 2008

Rogier rated it:

This is a priceless investigation of anti-semitism in Christianity, and it is an invaluable book. However in asmuch as the author does not get past Christianity enough to understand that it had nothing to do with the teachings of Jesus, and the fact that it was Paul who was so heavily invested in creating a separate and different movement, which of necessity had victimization built in, as a good Cahtolic, he remains stuck with the guilt over this aspect, and the reader through him. Having said t More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jul 24, 2008

Charles rated it:

It's a long trip from cover to cover, but a journey worth taking. I don't consider myself a slouch on Catholic history or theology, but I learned a lot from this book, a lot about what's happened and what's possible from an alternative reading of history and theology.

The book addresses some difficult questions: How should the Church's response to Nazism be evaluated in light of her response to the Kulturkampf of Otto von Bismarck or Communism? What does it really mean to compare More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Oct 26, 2007

GeekChick rated it:

This might be the most powerful book I've ever read. It details the history of Christianity, with regard to antisemitism. It begins at the time of Jesus' death and goes through Vatican II. I knew the Church far from perfect, but I had no idea that it not only tolerated antisemitism but FOSTERED it.

Carroll is an ex-priest. The first part of the book (too long, in my husband's estimation) is spent on explaining Carroll's personal experience with the Church, which forms the framew More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Feb 01, 2011

Erik rated it:

This is a rather uneven book. The history presented is pretty clearly derivative, the author having read secondary sources and deriving much of his portrayal from them. There are, as a result, statements of fact which are, in fact, arguable. Not enough, perhaps, to overturn the broad thesis of the text, but enough to occasionally raise the eyebrows of some readers. The theology is more thought out. Again, Carroll is quite reliant on others, but here he evinces having done quite a bit of tho More...

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Jan 25, 2011

Alex rated it:

To the everyday layman, it seems as if the Christians and the Jews have been fighting and disputing with each other for millennia; you wouldn’t be far off in that approximation. But now there is a book available that will solve all these riddles: Constantine’s Sword: The Church and the Jews by James Carroll. Here is a read that will rip to pieces any idea or stereotypes you may have once had.

Carroll begins in the present day, in a small town in Poland where there is a dispute over an More...

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Jun 21, 2010

Marty rated it:

Probably one of the best books I ever read. It helps to answer the question of why 'christians' have hated the jews thru the ages....it also provides thoughtful answers to many questions about the catholic story of the new testament, in an historical context of why the story is as it is. And to learn about the many theologians and philosophers who have suggested this analysis over the ages....so a lot of this is not new. This ex-priest has done a marvelous job of pulling all this information tog More...

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Dec 20, 2009

J.bloom rated it:

I think what may shed a cleansing light upon the dark recesses of ignorance pertaining to any dispute of this excellent book would be for everyone here to read up on Mithraism / Mithra. In a nut shell it preceded Christ by 600 years ( at least ) and, surprise, has almost identical teachings & many of the same stories as the bible. Basically Constantine who ordered the first mass printing of the bible was a follower of Mithra first and as a method of consolidating power helped replace the Pagan More...

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Feb 21, 2011

Nathan rated it:

In concluding this book, James Carroll writes that he offers it as a "personal penance to God". As bad as it sounds to say, I think that's why the book was so hard to read. The book struggles from a split identity: it can't decide whether to be a disinterested history, a personal ode to the Catholic faith or a philosophical attempt to find reconciliation between Christianity at large and Judaism. As narrative, the result is painful to read, veering between themes, overdeveloping some a More...

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Jan 20, 2008

Marcelo rated it:

This is a SERIOUS read. It's long, beautifully written and heartfelt, thoroughly researched and annotated, and 2 millenia in the making. Thought-provoking, yes, but soul-search provoking also. This should be mandatory reading for every practicing Christian, particularly Roman Catholics. James Carrol amazes. I need to blog about this.

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Aug 14, 2007

ebnewberry rated it:

This is an incredible book. It examines the relationship of the Church and the Jews throughout history. I learned an amazing amount about the world in general while reading this book. It is both sad, and hopeful. It is an important work to remind the readers that there is a better way to live and act.

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Jul 19, 2011

Drick rated it:

This was one of the most difficult and most compelling books I have read in the last year. In this 600+ page tome, Carroll has given us a comprehensive history of the Roman Catholic Church's attitudes and actions toward Jews and Judaism. Starting with the New Testament authors and ending with the recent attempts to roll back the reforms of Vatican II, Carroll documents the ways in which the Roman Catholic Church, and the Christian movement more generally, has routinely, deliberately and diabolic More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Apr 06, 2009

julesothenile rated it:

Great historic perspective on the division within the Catholic Church on various doctrines, the evolution of the patriarchy and theories on the seeds of anti-semitism in the early centuries of the Church. Also explores the beauty of Jewish spirituality and how certain figures in the early Church really worked to sabotage the image of the Jews. Thorough and to the point, the author also weaves his own journey of self-discovery before and after leaving the priesthood. Took me a while to really dig More...

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Jan 10, 2009

Claire rated it:

This book is one of those that's a lot of work to get through of course, and I felt throughout like I didn't have an academic-enough background in whatever subjects were necessary (religion, politics, history, etc..) to have a comfort level. But even uncomfortably, what I read was really interesting. I didn't make it all the way through, but will try again some time. But the transition from Christian-hating Romans to Roman Catholic Church is something I feel like I have a little bit of a handle More...

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Sep 13, 2011

Barry rated it:

I was really looking forward to reading this book, after having seen the film several times. But, I found the beginning hard going. By page 120, Carroll had not yet really begun to delve into his topic.
I'm still reading, but now I'm reading one chapter at a time, putting the book down so that I don't get bogged down, then coming back to it for another chapter.
Slowly but surely, I'll finish it.

Still reading-- almost done. I have found the history and theology as explained i More...

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Mar 23, 2011

Dawn rated it:

A few years ago I went to UMass to see a 90 minute film called "Constantine's Sword" by James Carroll. This was part of the Pioneer Valley Jewish Film Festival. The film blew me away and I had to buy the book on which the film was based. Carroll, a former Catholic priest, has produced a deep and sometimes painful telling of the complicated relationship between Christians and Jews throughout history. It is not an easy read, but it is an important one. 800+ pages and I simply could More...

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Feb 02, 2011

David rated it:

Saw the movie and liked it kinda halfway, thinking it overdid the self-righteousness of the author who messed up his father's work by criticizing the Vietnam war during an invited appearance at a dedication service, then showed off his knowledge of first-year Italian by querying joggers about the location of the tomb of Constantine's mother, when he could have simply looked at a map. The book contains more detail, but suffers from the same overwhelming guilt trip, as if to say that the very exis More...

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Jan 31, 2010

Sue rated it:

WRITTEN BEFORE READING: This may not be a book that I read cover-to-cover, all 750+ pages of it, but what I've read so far is fascinating & well-written. I understand there's also a PBS documentary of the book that's supposed to be good.

WRITTEN AFTER READING: One of the reviews calls this a "sprawling" history, & I think that's a fair term. It's part history, part theology, & part personal family history. For my part, the author, himself a believing Catholic, could hav More...

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Oct 18, 2009

Andy rated it:

I read this whole book--a formidable task--and am glad I did, because it goes far beyond the topic of Catholicism. Of course, the critique of the foundations of Christianity by this prominent Catholic is valuable and helps to shape the way we view it, whether we're Jews like me, Christians, or of other faiths. But Carroll does even more for us: he takes us on a tour of European thought and civilization and shows the effects of Jew-hatred everywhere.

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May 09, 2009

Cindie rated it:

What I liked most about this book is that the author inserted his own personal history at pertinent moments. I must look sadly unintellectual, because I seemed to engender a lot of supportive commentary from strangers while I lugged this book around. That said, I found this completely engaging and not the least bit dry. No random support required.

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Nov 15, 2011

Schmerica rated it:

I don't know, guys. On the one hand, I think it's an important topic, and I'm glad this book exists, and it was fascinating to read and made me reflect a lot on my faith and question various assumptions. On the other hand, I think it is quite flawed in a lot of ways, which made it frustrating to read at some points.

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Aug 24, 2010

Doug rated it:

Although the concept behind this book was thought provoking, and the history of the Church was fascinating, I found the book to be ponderous, repetitive, Euro-centric and unnecessarily verbose. I literally needed a dictionary beside me as I read, which in itself is not necessarily bad, but had to refer to it so often, that I lost track of the point being made. The primary reason that I finished the book was to see if the author ever explained why he remained a Catholic (he does, sort of). I r More...

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Dec 10, 2009

Jason rated it:

Simply put, a must-read book for Catholics and atheists alike. A self-study for the author, interwoven with solid history, which prompts self-evaluation of the reader as well.

To be sure, I have a few of Carroll's other books on my queue.

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May 30, 2009

Bryan rated it:

The former priest delivers the heartbreaking history of Jews being murdered, expelled, raped, stolen from and beaten in pograms by Christians. Christians, take responsibility for your legacy of anti-Semitism and your arrogant claims.

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Feb 04, 2011

Elle rated it:

This is such an outstanding book, it should be read more than once. I often have to stop, think about the ideas he is presenting and then come back to it but it is just as good the second time around.

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Mar 06, 2009

Ed rated it:

I've read this before but I like brushing up on early church/late Roman empire history. Anything and everything you ever wanted to know about the roots of anti-semitism is here; very well written by a Catholic priest.

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Oct 11, 2009

Roxy rated it:

This is one of my all time favorites. I learned a great deal about the history of the Catholic Church and their conflicts with the Jews. I hope to read it again (when I have lots of time.)

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Jul 01, 2010

Clara added it

Despite the footnotes, I couldn't get past the way the author so freely mixes history and memoir. This technique only (barely) works if the historical evidence is scant, which in this case, it clearly isn't.

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Jan 29, 2012

Alesa rated it:

I learned a LOT of history in this book, about why Jews have been so maligned throughout the ages by Christian. Some of the church history I had read elsewhere. But many of the ideas were brand new to me, such as the political reasons for Constantine becoming Christian. Also, Carroll's description of why the cross became a symbol of Christianity is fascinating, given that it moved attention to his death rather than teachings. I didn't get all the way through it, and want to return to it some More...

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Jul 19, 2011

Philip added it

Thoughtful, well written and controversial history of the outcome of Constantine's reforms in the Fourth Century and the development anti-semitism.

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