The Story of Christianity: A History of 2000 Years of the Christian Faith

by David Bentley Hart

But in the New Testament, and in the doctrines of the early Church, the metaphor was more properly understood as referring to the fee necessary to buy the freedom of slaves from a slaveholder (in this case, death and the devil).

Hippolytus and Pontian were both condemned to years of hard labour in the mines of Sardinia, and there – before dying together for the faith – they were reconciled with one another.

Gnosticism (even Christian Gnosticism) was clearly not an organic outgrowth of the Apostolic Church,

This is a strange claim to make, especially without clearer evidence given at the point it's stated

late inventions with no credible claim to any historical links to the Apostolic Church.

The same can be said of the "Orthodox" scriptures

literature. Most Gnostic texts are characterized by their drearily elaborate mythologies, which abound in invention, but not in imagination.

Again, weirdly condescending, particularly when making such a personally subjective statement

In the fourth and fifth centuries, the enthusiasm for the monastic life became so great that, as a famous quip put it, the desert had become a city.

I wish the author discussed their sources for these comments

Western Christians are perhaps especially apt to forget that, in the early years of the faith, the gospel fared somewhat better in the East, and travelled far along the thriving trade routes opened up by Hellenistic culture.

including many works in both the Old and New Testaments that no other tradition accepts.

This would be a great place for more detail, what books? How are they different? What affects did these books have?

Theological opinions so vastly different from one another could not coexist indefinitely after the conversion of Constantine,

So many ills of the Church seem to tie back to Constantine

For Athanasius or the Cappadocians, the paramount question was how such union with the transcendent God was possible for finite creatures. If – to use a formula that they and many others accepted – ‘God became man that man might become God’, could it possibly be the case that the Son or the Spirit was a lesser God or, even worse, merely a creature? Only God is capable of joining creatures to God; any inferior intermediary will always be infinitely remote from God himself.

We see the trouble and damage that comes from those who think they can explain or understand God

and (the most brilliant of the three)

These kind of objective statements regarding subjective matters, without any further explanation or context, dont fill me with much trust for the author

(and, like most actresses of her time, a woman of negotiable morals).

A subjective statement that again comes off condescending rather than simply outright saying she may have also practiced as a sex worker

Islam was, above all, the strictest of monotheisms,

How is it the strictest? This is not an objective measurement, but is rather a subjective statement by the author disguised as an objective statement.

part, it is a claim that reflects the tendency of many to think of medieval Christendom as comprising nothing but western Europe, and so to forget the brilliant Byzantine civilization of the east or the great achievements of the Syrian scholars of Persia and beyond.

Ultimately, of all the institutions of its time, it was the Catholic Church that came most quickly to discount stories of witchcraft; and, during the witch-hunting hysteria of the 16th and later centuries, it was the Church (where it had the power to do so) that suppressed trials for witchcraft.

This is where the author's refusal to cite sources hurts him most. Making claims that fly in the face of conventional wisdom with little supporting evidence or argument presented

Thomas Müntzer

This did not prevent him later, however, from mocking Servetus’ cries of torment amid the flames.

Anabaptist communities tended towards political and social separatism, and regarded civil allegiances, litigations, military service and civil oaths as contrary to genuine Christian adherence.

In April, on Easter Sunday, Mathijsz prophesied that God would use him as an instrument of heavenly justice against the enemies of the New Jerusalem, and with a retinue of 30 men rode out against the besieging army. He and his men were all promptly killed.

polygamy. He himself took 16 wives (one of whom, however, he was obliged to behead with his own hands in the public square, on account of some transgression or other).

Again, the author does not cite or discuss sources, which undercuts his message. Given that sexual impropriety is a common besmirchment in religious arguments, it would be helpful to know if this is quoting the subject's own teaching or if it's something his opponents have said about him after the fact

however much he might disagree with the council’s conclusions – could plausibly doubt the centrality of the Bible in its deliberations.

A subjective opinion delivered as objective fact, without supporting evidence or sources cited

The desire for ecclesial reform was quite sincere among many Catholics and Protestants, but it would have remained unrealized had the cause of reform not served the interests of princes.

Simply stated, the European wars of the early modern period were not in any meaningful sense ‘wars of religion’.

A flat statement of totality, when the preceding chapter more clearly argues for nuance

with a few isolated and often beleaguered outposts to the South and East.

The eastern and russian orthodox churches were still strong and present representatives of Christ. The author's european bias is hidden again by flat objective statements without supporting discussion

who ended up being eaten by cannibals in the Antilles

A striking statement made without supporting evidence

The mission was a failure, since most Ethiopians were already Christians, and so the purpose of any Catholic mission could be only to promote submission to Rome.

though (again) the indigenous Christians were not well served by them.

The euro centric view of christianity could seem to receive some criticism here, but the author does not seem interested

a rule, Catholic missionaries to the East were better able consistently to exhibit Christ-like gentleness in lands where their missions could not become implicated in the politics of empire.

A worthwhile note on the dangers of allying with empire

– he regarded as perfectly admirable expressions of civilized reverence and entirely compatible with Christianity.

to mark their churches with the traditional temple sign ‘Reverence for Heaven’ – he reacted with a decree in which he berated the ‘occidentals’ for their pettiness, their ignorance and their bigotry (reminiscent, he said, of the bigotry of certain Buddhist or Taoist sects), and prohibited all further Christian evangelization in China.

Galileo, however, was a frequently unpleasant man, who often refused to give other scientists credit for their own discoveries, belittled those he saw as rivals

The author's biases severely umdercut him here

For all his brilliance as a physicist, Galileo was an amateur astronomer at best, and seemed unaware how mathematically and empirically incoherent Copernicus’ book was.

Author takes one of the most well known stains on christianity's relationship with science and instead of humility, sets a tone of condescension and malice

was in many very real respects a movement within the American churches.

No mention in this entire section that resistance to the civil rights movement was also organized by white churches in america

overthrow of such ‘bourgeois’ institutions as the monarchy and the Church.

No mention of the violence and other abuses enabled by the church

The National Socialist Workers’ Party

Author repeatedly refers to "socialists" but fails to distinguish the fact that nazism and socialism are, in fact, diametrically opposed viewpoints