National Geographic Jesus and the Origins of Christianity

by National Geographic Society

Sumptuously illustrated, JESUS AnD THE ORIGinS OF CHRISTIAnITy focuses on the rich social and cultural history of Christianity through the ages. From its roots in Palestine to its triumph as a global movement, told through a series of dramatic turning points and unforgettable people, such as St. Peter, Constantine, Martin Luther, and Mother Teresa. Some highlights

Genres: Religion

116 pages, Single Issue Magazine

Published November 25, 2016

About the author

The National Geographic Society (NGS), headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest nonprofit scientific and educational organizations in the world.
Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, and natural science, the promotion of environmental and historical conservation, and the study of world culture and history. The National Geographic Society's logo is a yellow portrait frame—rectangular in shape—which appears on the margins surrounding the front covers of its magazines and as its television channel logo. Through National Geographic Partners (a joint venture with The Walt Disney Company), the Society operates the magazine, TV channels, a website, worldwide events, and other media operations.

Reviews

[Joel Robb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice graphics--maps, pictures, artwork, cutaways of cathedrals--what you expect with National Geographic. I bought this special edition NG magazine in the airport after returning from a week-long tour of Israel. Yeah, I was probably that uncool guy on the airplane reading a magazine about religion while everyone else was watching movies on their IPads and playing candy crush on their Iphones. Their loss, my gain, as it turned out to be a nice accompaniment to help solidify the whirlwind of history, religion, and politics that I had just experienced. This magazine starts with a brief overview of the life of Jesus, to the spread of Christianity, both early in Roman/Byzantine times and into the rest of Europe over the next 1500 years with the fractionalization (and thus wars) that occurred, and eventually leading to world wide expansion. Christianity has 2.2 billion followers today, a little less than 1 out of every 3 people on the planet. It is a quick read, loaded with facts, dates, people that may help consolidate (at least a little bit) the very complex history of Christianity. I will keep this on my bookshelf for quick reference--especially the 4-5 cool maps!

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

The magazine title is misleading. It does not express what the magazine is about. A more accurate title would be ‘The Sordid History of the Church.’ That is what the reader finds within the magazine. There is very little about Jesus or origins of the church. Rather, as already stated, it is a church history overview. As such, I learned some things and was better able to place some things that I knew about in an historical timeline. But it was all obviously superficial in so few pages. My final observation is that church and politics should NEVER mix. Politics corrupts the church. Many Americans today should be warned.

Graphically, I found the design of the magazine distracting. Too much was going on: the text, the sidebars, the photos, the captions, the enlarged quotes. Your eyes had no where to focus making the reading disjointed.

[Kiley · Rating 4 out of 5]

my only criticism is Mormons are mentioned on the final page and they arent real Christians they followed a provably false prophet XD
Anyway it covers a decent amount a few things were left out as if trying really hard not to offend... a certain group of people. but other than that it was cool.

[Bcoghill Coghill · Rating 3 out of 5]

We got this off of the new stand at the grocery store. It is a nice overview. You probably read all of this before but it is nice seeing in a wholeistic sort of way. Probably more informative than a History Channel show but I don't watch that channel often enough to really give an opinion.

[Rebeca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Informative

[Stuart Fear · Rating 3 out of 5]

A brief introduction to the history of Christianity from the life of Jesus all the way to the American colonies and a single paragraph on modern day Christianity.

Covering close to 2000 years of history in only 110 pages (and with a large proportion of those pages being taken up by illustrations and maps), you know it is a brief introduction to say the list.
The author manages to list many important figures, times and places in the story of Christianity providing a good intro to the history of Christianity.

[John Coates · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very informative and interesting account of Christianity from the time of Jesus to the nineteenth century.

[A Hellyer]

Contains a great quote from Bernard of Clairvaux, "God is not loved without reward, although He should be loved without regard for one".

A good overview of the History of Christianity.

[Norm Keillor · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like how it starts with how the book difers from other books broaching the topic.