From Jesus to Christianity: A History of the Early Church

by Thomas F. Madden

Entrusting the apostles to continue the work he had started by instructing them to "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit . . .," Jesus kindled the fires of a new religion in a world largely dominated by polytheism, cult leader worship, and mysticism. In the first century of its existence, Christianity was both welcomed and vilified throughout the Roman Empire. Many of Christianity's original adherents were martyred -murdered by those who believed it a danger to their authority or, at the very least, the cause of unrest among an otherwise docile populace. Christians themselves practiced their religion with great diversity, linked as much to local influences as theology. Political intrigue, theological beliefs, and simple misunderstandings created a need for dialogue between the many practitioners of the growing faith. Christianity's adoption as the official faith of the Roman state tied it inexorably to the fortunes of the Empire. This also helped to create a gulf between the two main theological branches of the religion, which remain to this day.

Genres: History, Audiobook, Religion, Nonfiction, Christianity, Theology

Audio CD

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Thomas F. Madden (born 1960) is an American historian, the Chair of the History Department at Saint Louis University in St. Louis, Missouri, and Director of Saint Louis University's Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies.

He is considered one of the foremost historians of the Crusades in the United States. He has frequently appeared in the media, as a consultant for various programs on the History Channel and National Public Radio.

In 2007, he was awarded the Haskins Medal from the Medieval Academy of America, for his book Enrico Dandolo and the Rise of Venice, which was also a "Book of the Month" selection by the BBC History magazine.

Reviews

[Brian Eshleman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hits at the right depth to add to understanding of broad concepts of a huge subject without burying the curious in details. Professor Madden is evenhanded and low-key in covering the period's major ideas and thinkers.

[Cat. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love these Modern Scholar titles. This particular professor was quite different from the one who did the last one, and it took a little time to get used to his style. Much drier, but very organized.

OK, so he covers the early Jesus-followers, tracing the evolution of the beliefs from the early years through house-churches and the expulsion of Christians from Judaism and the occasional persecutions of Rome. One of the things I found interesting is that the Romans didn't have a problem with Christianity as a religion, but they didn't regard it as a religion; it seemed more like atheism to them (the whole concept was confusing, but I think it was something about Christians talking about God's son dying...?).

As the beliefs change and evolve into the faith of the later Roman Empire--because Constantine converts--Madden talks about how this was gradual and kept very separate from the running of the state. Most important people who were Christians weren't baptized until the time of their final illness because they theory was that if you were baptized you absolutely couldn't do things that were anti-Christian, like killing people as a soldier.

One really good, if trivial, piece of information that I found out is the reason that the base of the church in England is in Canterbury as opposed to London, or at least some other major city of the time (York comes to mind, for instance). The reason is that when England was reconverted in the 6th (or 7th) century after the Romans had been gone for centuries, the bishop sent to do this arrived in Canterbury to start. The original plan was for him to also go to London and elsewhere, but he never left Canturbury. And that's why the head of the English church is the Archbishop of Canterbury even now.

[Melinda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great lectures series by Professor Madden. I am enjoying his take on the rise and development of Christianity, I like his balanced view (well non-judgemental view anyway)... I dont really know enough about this topic to say whether he is telling all the truth or not. In any case - these Modern Scholar lectures are great. Delivered at a nice easy pace, good broad range of topics, well -research and well-presented. Worth a listen if you want to do some learning instead of just reading/listening to fiction.

[Rebecca O'Bea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Listened to the audio lecture series while working on my farm. It was absolutely fascinating. The author lays out the groundwork from the time of Jesus to the rise of the early Church in a clear concise manner. The historical perspective incorporated early customs and beliefs systems in a way that made sense for the time. I found it a must-read for understanding the rise of Christianity.

[Adam Shields · Rating 3 out of 5]

Full review at http://bookwi.se/from-jesus-to-christ...

Short Review: this is a college lecture turned into an audiobook. The format is pretty good. It is very informative, especially about the first three centuries. I am a bit more familiar with the later parts of the book.

[Jacob O'connor · Rating 4 out of 5]

By this point I think I've gone through all Thomas Madden's lectures.  For good reason.  He's one of the more gifted teachers on church history.  Jesus to Christianity is great for newbies, and it's very entertaining.  I definitely recommend.  

[Danada · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very nice history of the beginnings of Christianity and the early church and that time in the Roman Empire.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Have you ever wondered how Christianity evolved after the death of Christ? Professor Thomas F. Madden presents a series of fourteen lectures about the events that occurred as Christianity gradually spread the in the growth of Christianity. It includes explanations of the role of the apostles many of whom were martyred when Roman officials feared the strength of this new religion. The growth of the church in Rome eventually named the Roman Catholic in the west and Eastern Christian Church in Constantinople that came into being after a series of invasions by Germanic tribes and by Persians and other locales in the east. There are chapters that outline the quixotic dance between Christians and Roman officials that moved between blaming Christians for all Roman problems to recognizing it as the official religion of Rome. At the end of several of the lectures the professor answers specific questions of students making it an almost interactive listening experience. These lectures are informative and enjoyable.

[Dennis Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

From Jesus to Christianity by Thomas Madden is excellent. When I first came across this, I thought it might be an abridged version of Bart Erhman's work with the Great Courses, but that was very, very wrong. Madden doesn't have a lot of time to work with, but what he does is provide a secular religious history of the late antique Christianity from just before Jesus' day all the way to the rise of the Caliphate. The title is a bit of a misnomer, as Jesus basically does not appear, nor does anything from the gospels. That's okay though, and its pretty refreshing given some of the other fare out there. This gets top marks from me. My only problem seems to be shared across all Modern Scholar offerings, and that is there's no conclusion, no looking back to help us look forward.

[John Hiller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating! One of the most interesting questions in Christianity revolves around Christ telling the Apostles that some of them will be here to witness the second coming. The Apostles went their separate ways to spread the word without the need of forming a church for centuries to follow. Professor Madden gives an informative account of how these early Christians (Nazarenes) created a church in the midsts of differing opinions on the nature of Christ as the "Son of God" in the world of the Roman Empire. I look forward to listening to more of Professor Madden's lectures.

[Петр Федичев · Rating 5 out of 5]

an unexpected example of "book hopping": I've been reading "the wisdom of psychopaths" to find out that st. paul could have been one of the guys. They said saints, Buddhist monks and maniacs could have a lot in common and why. The actual reference in the book was to another "from Jesus to Christianity" by another author, but I came across TFM's book first and enjoyed it a lot. Will book hop a little while from here, so expect a few more history of middle ages stuff

[Marcus Goncalves · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, great introduction to the topic, with a much less sense of the author pushing his own agenda than Bart Ehrman's. His work provides the scholarly consensus, not what one particular scholar's interpretation is, which in a sense, is a good approach.

[A · Rating 3 out of 5]

Helpful in understanding the sequence of what happened and when in context with the Roman Empire. Good to learn that the heresies that people claim today were thought up a long time ago.

[Grace Of Liddle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read as audiobook. Narrated by author, and well narrated. Enjoyable topic.

[TRISHA · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great insight to why & how Christianity flourished.

[John Coke · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very poor. No depth, pedestrian, some strange unsupported assertions, no real sense of narrative.

[Alethea Hammer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pretty good overview of the subject. Rather like a theological history 101 . I liked it, but Madden seems to stutter a lot in the early lectures. He gets better later.

[Dwain · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting book for my first foray into Christian history. It challenged a few misconceptions I had such as the reason the first Christian emperor Constantine didn't get baptized until right before his death. I assumed it was because he wasn't very devoted to his new religion. Prof. Madden claims that death-bed baptism was common among powerful Romans because of doubts about the church's ability to fully absolve sins. Baptism was regarded as the only way to become completely clean and so those whose careers would require them to do questionable things (such as a magistrate who ordered executions) would wait until they were at least retired so that all those sins could be taken care of through baptism. I also learned other interesting nuggets like where Nestorian and Coptic Christianity came from. New insights like these made the book very interesting to somebody new to the subject.

[Jeffrey Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a series of lectures published in audio podcast form. The first part was good - but did not contain alot of new information for someone familiar with the book of Acts and the New Testament. However, the second half of the series was quite interesting. Covering the time following Paul and the Apostles, through the issues, politics, and history of the early church - through the fall of the Roman Empire.

The level of detail was about right. I would have liked to hear more about the source material. Madden mentioned at some times that there are limited sources, but at other times he included alot of detail, as if from a historical text. No mention of the historical works of Josephus, which I have always heard is an important source.

I recomend this series for anyone interested in the Roman Empire, the early Christian Church, and the people of those times.

[Brad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audio lecture.

A really interesting and clear series of lectures on the early church. Prof. Madden discusses many things including the context in which the very earliest church existed and began to spread, persecutions of the church, the church's eventual establishment as the official religion of the Roman Empire, details on the thinking and lives of some of the most prominent early "church fathers," and conflicts and heresies in the church.

I've been wanting to lean more about the early church and this was a great overview and I look forward to finding more good resources.

[Mike Mayer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I guess that it is official that I'm now a humanidork.
I found this history of the early church (and the ground in which it took root) fascinating.
I knew some of this, but learned an awful lot.
If you think you understand the church based on your personal experience... you are just seeing the tip of a very large and very interesting iceberg.

I plan on going on to Thomas Madden's next lexture series on the church in the middle ages and possibly the following series as well.

[Jackie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book deals with the development of Christianity in the world around the Midetaranean at the time when Romans ruled that are, or the Western world. The history of the Roman empire affects the success of the spread of the new religion. I liked to hear about the advent of Islam, as this information has been a mystery to me.

[Brad Wheeler · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Not the most interesting treatment of the subject matter. It does a great job of setting the context for the early church, but then turns into a list of heresies and saints with that same uninspiring narrator. As a class, it's all great info. As an audiobook, it could be a lot better.

[Steven Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice look at the beginning of the church. It is interesting to look at church history from a non-church perspective, which this is. Presents what was going on in the Roman Empire before and while the first church was getting started.

[Paulette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listening to this on cds in the car. Fascinating!

The topic of the early Christian church was very interesting. The lecturer could have been a better speaker.

[Billy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book introduced me to the saints who came after Jesus and his disciples. The written works from these saints are explored from a historical perspective by the author.

[Jeanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really like Thomas Madden. A good history.