The Lost History of Christianity: The Thousand-Year Golden Age of the Church in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia—and How It Died

by Philip Jenkins

“Muslims have a history of violence. So do Christians! They have a terrible history. Look at history in the Dark Ages. Charlemagne converted whole tribes by the sword.” James Carroll, author of the sweeping polemic Constantine’s Sword, argues that “[e]ven in its foundation, the church was getting it wrong. That’s why Christians go to church, as much to be forgiven as to be fed.”38