The Story of Christianity

by Matthew Price, Michael Collins

Co-written by a Roman Catholic priest and a Protestant minister, this balanced, richly illustrated history of the Christian religion traces the two-thousand-year development of the world's largest organized religion, from its Old Testament roots to the present day. Reprint.

Genres: Christian, History, Nonfiction, School, Church History, Religion, Reference

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[Kamryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is not something you can just pick up and read; this book was meant to be intentionally read through. It has a well thought out and thorough history that is both informative and enjoyable. It is not a for-fun book, but if you are looking into m0re information about the history of Christianity, this book does it perfectly.

[Lucy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book covering the history of Christianity from the beginning to the modern day. Focusing mainly on Catholics and Protestants, it also covers the various Orthodox churches. While it focuses on the Western world, there's quite a bit on the rest of the world as well. Lots of good pictures. A whole lot I didn't know. Unless you're a scholar of Christianity, there will be stuff you didn't know. Did you know that in the 9th century, deceased Pope Formosus was disinterred and tried by Pope Stephen VI. I'm not quite clear on what charges. Stephen's reign did not end well either.
Chapters are: The roots of Christianity; Church & empire; Christian empire; The conversion of Europe; Crusades to Renaissance; The Reformation; Enlightenment & revival; Mission & revolution; The global church.
Well worth reading, and re-reading.

[Aegelis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Overall a ton of "I didn't know that" moments which really delved deep into the history of the faith. Content didn't seem to pull any punches when it came to poor decisions by church leaders who veered away from the Bible which was surprising, though a bit presumptuously positive about the current state of affairs and the future perhaps. Seemed to be informative without bias, interesting content and appropriate illustration. A must-read for believers to gather full context of temporal events since the Bible.

[Joanna M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written clearly with an unbiased simplicity and full of colorful illustrations, this history of Christianity is a fantastic read for anyone interested in the foundations of the faith. I highly recommend it.

[Meg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this during the school year as a part of my Sonlight curriculum and thoroughly enjoyed the depth of the overview.

[James Emmans · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well written and as neutral as it is possible.

[Little House · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book aloud to my (teenage) children as part of their course on Christian History. The biggest complaint that I have with it is the size of the print. I literally had to get out the magnifying glass to read the captions. (I do wear glasses, but my prescription is up to date and I have no problems with other books.)

The content was very good and I enjoyed the book.

[Mar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Helpful for a course I was teaching

[Victoria · Rating 3 out of 5]

More of a text book than a reading book, but it had some interesting information and facts.

[The Jesus Fandom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written by a Protestant and a Roman Catholic, so it gives a good and fair overview. Great illustrations.

[DD · Rating 4 out of 5]

Coffee table book. Quick, interesting stories describing Christianity's history.

[Ashley H. · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.8⭐️

[karl and mandy brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Without looking for it, the Story of Christianity, by Michael Collins and Matthew Price, was pretty much exactly what I was looking for. I am interested in learning more about the foundations of Christianity - who was Jesus, really? where did Christianity come from? what do Christians believe? - and when I saw it on display at the library, it seemed like a good thing to check out. It has been a while since I've read a book with pictures, so I was skeptical at first. But it provided an excellent 'lay of the land' of the history of Christianity, spanning the breadth of time in which it has existed, including some of its Jewish origins. The perspectives seemed impartial: for the most part the authors stated what groups of people believed rather than saying their beliefs were wrong or false. It read like a history textbook.

While I am mostly happy with the book, my criticisms are minor. Page limits are always a concern with text books, so I appreciate their efforts to keep things brief. My purpose in reading the book was for it to be a starting point, a place where I can pick out what I want to read more about or that I can neglect. Thus, I didn't want to spend too much time on this book. Nonetheless, a few areas seemed like they were missing or lacking.

* I wish the authors cited their references, or at least provided a bibliography or section on suggestions for further reading.
* As noted by a reviewer on Amazon, I wish they spoke more about the history of the Eastern Orthodox Church. How did their theology develop over time?
* I wish there was a complete list of popes and when they were in office.
* For a person not familiar with the Catholic church, I wish they described the roles of bishops, presbyters, cardinals, and archbishops.

After reading this book, I see history as very complex and layered but also accessible. I can appreciate how ideas from hundreds of years ago still impact today's world. I have my list of topics I want to explore further, now it's time to keep on keeping on.

[Sarah Welton-Lair · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book provides a general overview of all of Christendom, from the time of the early Christians all the way to Billy Graham and other such modern events. It gives a background of where many different denominations came from and shows how missions efforts have grown over the years. Although a very interesting book, it tended to have information dumps with little explanation. Also, it had factual errors in two different places. Otherwise this is a great resource for the study of church history.

[Krista · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book. I would give it 4 1/2 stars because I couldn't always understand everything as this is one of the first books I have read about theology, so I didn't know all the concepts and theology related words yet. It was included as one of the books to read this year in the Sonlight Homeschool Curriculum. I really enjoyed all the photos and quotes throughout the whole book. It is not the most fun books to read, but if you want to learn the history of Christianity, this is a good option.

[Isaiah the Ox · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book that went very in depth into the history of Christianity. It was interesting, but, was often boring as well, but that's typical for a history book. A great companion to this book is 100 Most Important Events in Christian History, The

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

sebuah buku tentang sejarah kristen dan perkembangan gereja. dengan mini biografi tokoh2 yang berperan di tiap zaman serta gambar2 yang indah.

tapi harus menyiapkan waktu yang lama untuk membacanya. karena font-nya sangat kecil :p

[Carolus · Rating 4 out of 5]

buku ini sudah diterjemahkan dalam bahasa indonesia... dan diterbitkan oleh penerbit kanisius...

[Fibrina Damayanthi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing...bener2 isi buku yang menakjubkan. Nggak cuma isinya yang bikin kita tau sejarah Kristen, tapi dilengkapi juga dengan gambar2 yang bagus ala lukisan Michael Angelo.

[Franco]

the story of christianity

[Skye · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting things I didn't know. Good textbook.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lively and understandable overview of the history of the Christian church. Includes many illustrations.