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dear_old_world's review
informative
medium-paced
4.0
I've not read enough about Christianity to be effectively critical in reading this but I think it's a good intro. Well-written, well-structured, balanced and interesting.
eneff's review
informative
medium-paced
5.0
Great overview of the history of Christianity and important Christian concepts. I feel like it is a great starting off point for anyone who wants to begin to grasp the history and politics behind the world's largest religion. Woodhead concisely goes over important moments in Christianity's history and various schisms and differing thoughts in the religion. Her concepts of Church, biblical and mystical types of Christianity were a nice touch as well, providing a framework for understanding various churches and denominations and where they source their knowledge from. The conclusion summarizes the book in a neat and satisfying way.
Content Warnings
Minor: Homophobia and Abortion
darwin8u's review
4.0
"Thus the dominant trend in Christianity became one that submits itself to a higher power, and which strives to bring life into conformity with a transcendent standard that both inspires and judges."
-- Linda Woodhead, Christianity: A Very Short Introduction
A nice survey of Christianity. Woodhead does a commendable job at describing the basic tenets, growth, and culture of Christianity. I personally enjoyed her approach to the different types/forms of Christianity (Church, Biblical, Mystical) and how those three forms impacted growth patterns during the last two thousand years.
Linda Woodhead MBE seems to have a soft-spot for both Feminist and Marxist approaches to history. This provocative approach might turn off some readers, but I actually think gender is a huge piece of the theological puzzle that needs to be explored whenever discussing the growth, doctrine, and history of Christianity. I also enjoyed how she discussed the relationship of the growth of the Early Church to the Roman (later Holy Roman) Empire and other developments later with the Orthodox Church's relationship with Russian, etc.
This VSI wasn't a perfect capture of Christianity, but I'm not exactly sure how an historian/theologian could approach such a broad subject in such a short space without leaving major things out (aka religious traditions that seem to not fit easily within her big theory).
-- Linda Woodhead, Christianity: A Very Short Introduction
A nice survey of Christianity. Woodhead does a commendable job at describing the basic tenets, growth, and culture of Christianity. I personally enjoyed her approach to the different types/forms of Christianity (Church, Biblical, Mystical) and how those three forms impacted growth patterns during the last two thousand years.
Linda Woodhead MBE seems to have a soft-spot for both Feminist and Marxist approaches to history. This provocative approach might turn off some readers, but I actually think gender is a huge piece of the theological puzzle that needs to be explored whenever discussing the growth, doctrine, and history of Christianity. I also enjoyed how she discussed the relationship of the growth of the Early Church to the Roman (later Holy Roman) Empire and other developments later with the Orthodox Church's relationship with Russian, etc.
This VSI wasn't a perfect capture of Christianity, but I'm not exactly sure how an historian/theologian could approach such a broad subject in such a short space without leaving major things out (aka religious traditions that seem to not fit easily within her big theory).
hattiereads's review
5.0
Rather than a purely factual overview, it was interesting to read about different themes and trends over the ages - eg. Church, biblical, and mystical Christianity and the balance between them.