Product Description
A History of Christianity, a six-part series presented by Diarmaid MacCulloch, an Oxford history professor whose books about Cranmer and the Reformation have been acclaimed as masterpieces. A History Of Christianity will reveal the true origins of Christianity and delve into what it means to be a Christian. Intelligent, thought-provoking and magisterial in its scope the series will uncover how a small Jewish sect that preached humility became the bigg… More >>
History of Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years
Tags: Christianity, cranmer, delve, diarmaid macculloch, First, History, history of christianity, history professor, humility, jewish sect, origins of christianity, oxford history, Thousand, Three, true origins, Years
#1 by Pirate2240 on April 15, 2010 - 1:33 am
A History of Christianity – The First Three Thousand Years
DVD 6 Part Documentary from BBC
For those of you that know me, know how much I love history and anything that pertains to it. I was so fortunate to be provided with a complimentary DVD by B & B Media Group to review the first episode of this amazing DVD series. The DVD is titled “The First Christianity”.
A History of Christianity, a six-part series presented by Diarmaid MacCulloch, an Oxford history professor whose books about Cranmer and the Reformation have been acllaimed as masterpieces. A History of Christianity will reveal the true origins of Christianity and delve into what it means to be a Christian. Intelligent, thought-provoking and magisterial in its scope the series will reveal how a small Jewish sect that preached humility became the biggest religion in the world.
In Episode 1 – The First Christianity, Professor MacCulloch goes in search across of Christianity’s forgotten origins. He overturns the familiar story that it all began when the apostle Paul took Christianity from Jerusalem to Rome. Instead, he shows that the true origins of Christianity lie east, and that at one point it was poised to triumph in Asia, maybe even in China. The headquarters of Christianity may well have been in Baghdad not Rome. And if that had happened Western Christianity would have been very different.
In viewing this 60 minute DVD I kept an open mind to the information that Professor MacCulloch details. He takes you from where Paul left off when he carried Jesus’ message to Rome and instead followed the growth of Christianity into the east to see if it did in fact exist. What he found there was pretty amazing. He shows evidence of Christianity in Syria, Baghdad and even China before most of the religious wars had taken place.
One of the most interesting arguments in this DVD from Christians is the explaination of Jesus. Was He God? Was He just a man? Or was He as we, believe both? If so, how can a perfect being like God, create a human to dwell among us and still be part God?
The best explaination I have heard is simply this. Take a glass and call the glass Jesus.
Add water which represent his Divine Godly nature to the glass. Add some oil which is the part of Jesus that is now a human. This explains it. Jesus as both God and Man but still Jesus.
Some like it seen another way in which you take the glass and call it Jesus. Add water which represents his Divine Nature but this time also add wine to it. This represent Jesus as a human. Now mix them together. You can no longer see them as separate but we know that both the water and wine are together, just like the divine nature was combined with the human flesh known as Jesus.
If you are interested in more information about the DVD series or even where to purchase it, please click on the link below:
A History of Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years 6 DVD Set presented by Diarmaid MacCulloch
March 2010
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Rating: 5 / 5
#2 by My Four Monkeys blog on April 15, 2010 - 2:23 am
I’ll admit it! I’m a nerd.
I’m one of those people that absolutely loved Calculus in school and will spend an entire evening watching the Discovery Channel or reading a (gasp!) nonfiction book. That’s me! And being a Christian, I am always interested in learning all I can about the history of Christianity. I was very curious when I got the chance to preview the first DVD, The First Christianity, in the new 6 DVD series entitled History of Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years.
Each of the DVDs runs for about 60 minutes and covers a wide stretch of time in Christian history. I was pleasantly surprised at how intriguing the history was, and this definitely wasn’t the “same old same old” I thought I was going to hear. There was almost nothing about the story of Christ, and most of the information was regarding the history of the church and its growth and development over the years. The host of the series, Diarmaid MacCulloch, reminds me of the character Noah Wyle plays in The Librarian movies, except with an accent. Diarmaid MacCulloch is one of the world’s leading historians and Professor of History of the Church and Fellow at St. Cross College Oxford. He’s quite entertaining and very scholarly.
The First Christianity starts in Jerusalem and ended surprisingly in China, covering the start of Christianity to about 1500 A.D. For me, it was very interesting and I think anyone who loves history or is just plain interested in finding out the history of the Christian church would really enjoy this DVD series. Even my 8 yr old daughter became very interested and ending up watching a majority of the DVD with me. I also think it would be a great basis for a course of lessons for a middle school or high school student wanting to learn about the history of the Christian church!
Rating: 5 / 5
#3 by Laura Davis on April 15, 2010 - 3:44 am
A History of Christianity The First Three Thousand Years is a wonderful six DVD collection that everyone should have on their shelves. It is hosted by Diarmaid MacCulloch, one of the world’s leading historians and Professor of History of the Church and Fellow at St. Cross College, Oxford. This series (co-produced by the BBC) has so much information about the history of Christianity in it, that I learned things I’d never known before – and that was just the first DVD!
In the first DVD we are taken to Jerusalem where Christianity began. MacCulloch begins his journey in the church of the Holy Sepulchre and sweeps across four continents where he goes in search of Christianity’s forgotten origins.
I was particularly moved when he talked about the early church in Jerusalem that probably would have remained a unified church if not for the 70 AD uprising by the Jews against the Romans which ended in a siege against Jerusalem. As Jesus predicted, Jerusalem fell and the Temple went up in flames. Christians, quit the city before the siege, spreading throughout the eastern world beginning in Turkey and reaching as far as China (and yes, MacCulloch brings the archaeological evidence to prove that early Christians were there).
MacCullogh has done his research and this first DVD alone required watching twice because there is so much information! He even enlightened me about the origins of Church music. You will be surprised where it started. Not only that, he even claims that the headquarters of Christianity may well have been Baghdad not Rome!
Oh yes! This is one set of DVD’s you want to get for your collection!
Rating: 5 / 5
#4 by Karla Cook on April 15, 2010 - 5:43 am
I’ve only seen the first episode, so my comments are based on that. This is a fascinating look at the history of Christianity, not only the history we are familiar with as Western Christians with roots going back to the Catholic church… but also a history of the Church of the East. Diarmaid MacCulloch is an excellent narrator and makes what could be a very dry subject matter instead very interesting. Great footage as well! I really enjoyed it!
Rating: 4 / 5