The Story of Christianity - Volume 1: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation

The Story of Christianity – Volume 1: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation by Justo Gonzales

1500 years is a lot of history to try to pack into one 500-page volume. Justo Gonzales does a very admirable job in this task. Although I’m a lover of history, the further back in time one goes, the more the enjoyment tends to slightly whither. In many cases, there simply isn’t as much reference material, and many important figures and events are left to some speculation.

This book probably could have been ten times as large as it is, but the author knows when enough is enough. He traces the history of Christianity as far back as the Resurrection. He then focuses on the key figures – good and bad – that helped Christianity grow and flourish.  It shouldn’t surprise us that, just like today, there was never complete agreement on how to interpret scripture, nor how one should live their life to obtain a status as “godly”. We read about scholarly debates in meticulous detail.  How could Jesus be totally man and totally God? If he was, what did this exactly mean, and how were we to treat such a figure?  Where did the term “monk” come from? Why were so many so joyous to choose to live their lives in isolation and poverty?

This book isn’t strictly linear. It simply can’t be. The author does a good job keeping his reader interested in the fascinating people and times. I confess, though, that not as many of the key people stuck with me after I completed this book. There were simply too many bishops, popes, and other key figures to keep track. A careful use of a notebook could have easily remedied this issue, though, and even though the people in the book were numerous, the author does a wonderful job of communicating the major events and feelings at the time.

We learn of schisms between East (Greek) and West (Roman) over scripture interpretation. We also see how many used the church for nothing more than a selfish power grab. Without going into detail, I was left feeling strongly that separation of church and state is a wonderful concept, and one that we should never abandon. We see the church becoming more and more corrupt, and although the book stops before the official Protestant Reformation (which was mainly due to the ongoing corruption), we can see the beginnings of such a movement. Since the book isn’t linear, we do read about events that happened several centuries after the Reformation – specifically the missionaries to Central and South America as late as the 1800s. My guess is that these events helped extend the original narrative and weren’t affected nor relevant to the Reformation – so it probably makes more sense to include them in this volume.

I’m eagerly awaiting reading the second, and final volume. Based on the author’s style and attitude (he has no problem pointing out mistakes of his faith throughout the years, and he’s no apologist), I’m fairly confident I’ll enjoy volume 2.  I’m hoping that one will sink in more since, being from a later time period, they’ll be more familiar faces, figures, and facts that will allow my brain to latch onto and retain better.

A very good starting point to learn the history of Christianity.