Historia del Cristianismo, Obra completa: desde la Era de los Mártires hasta la Era Inconclusa

The Story of Christianity #1-2

by Justo L. González

La Historia del Cristianismo cobra vida en esta obra.

Genres: History, Church History, Theology, Christianity, Christian, Nonfiction, Reference

1144 pages, Hardcover

First published December 12, 1994

About the author

Justo L. González, author of the highly praised three-volume History of Christian Thought and other major works, attended United Seminary in Cuba, received his MA at Yale, and was the youngest person to be awarded a PhD in historical theology at Yale. He is one of the few first generation Latino theologians to come from a Protestant background. He helped to found the Association for Hispanic Theological Education and the Hispanic Theological Initiative. Dr González is now on the faculty of the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta.

Reviews

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Story of Christianity" covers the history of Christianity from the Apostles to John Wycliffe in Vol. 1 and from the Protestant Reformation to the mid-1900's in Vol. 2 of this two-volumes-in-one book. The author traced the controversies in Christian thought and developments in Christian action in roughly chronological order. (He'd talk about developments in one area or county and then sometimes jump back in time a bit to cover a parallel development in another country.) He explained how the different social, political, and economic forces shaped Christian thought and action. He covered the people who most influenced Christianity though few were studied in-depth. He also filled in political events that connected major points in Christian history.

The book was very readable despite it's huge size. Though the author didn't bash Catholics, he did point out things that Catholics might not like to hear, like just how late certain Catholic doctrines were developed and how not all popes were exactly saintly people. The author also seemed to have a slight bias against any Christian group who held or holds any doctrine too fervently. Also, despite it's size, the book didn't cover any subject as in-depth as some people will like, but it's an excellent overview of the subject.

I'd recommend this book to anyone wanting an easy-to-read overview of the developments in Christian thought and action.

[Daniel Calle · Rating 4 out of 5]

El Dr. Justo González ha escrito una obra obligada de referencia histórica. En más de 1000 páginas cubre la historia del cristianismo desde sus orígenes en la vida de nuestro Señor Jesucristo hasta los años 80 del siglo XX. La forma en que el autor narra la historia es amena e interesante, dividiéndola en 10 épocas (los años son aproximados y se superponen):

1. La era de los mártires (1-335)
2. La era de los gigantes (290-430)
3. La era de las tinieblas (395-1056)
4. La era de los altos ideales (1039-1308)
5. La era de lo sueños frustrados (1294-1500)
6. La era de los reformadores (1492-1621)
7. La era de los conquistadores (1460-1780)
8. La era de los dogmas y las dudas (1600-1806)
9. La era de los nuevos horizontes (1768-1922)
10.La era inconclusa (1914-1983)

Esta es la misma obra que fue publicada en 1994 en dos tomos. Es una obra de referencia imprescindible, que sirve principalmente para tener un panorama general de la historia, y como punto de inicio para investigaciones más exhaustivas, usando otros recursos. Un punto negativo, relativamente importante para mí, es la completa ausencia de pies de página, notas y bibliografía. Es obvio que el Dr. González debe haber usado otros libros para su investigación, pero no los menciona. A pesar de ello y debido a los pocos recursos históricos de este tipo en español, este es un recurso valioso para el estudiante serio.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

These books (vols. 1 and 2) provided a fantastic overview of Christianity from the time of the apostles up until the modern day, showing how the trends of the times affected the following ages. In addition to looking at orthodox Christianity, Gonzalez provided explanations of the heresies that Christianity faced and how doctrine was clarified in response to those heresies. This is a great book for readers who are new to church history, providing an expansive overview.

[Travis Wise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy 5 stars. The best comprehensive Christian history that I’ve read. Broken up like a college textbook might be—each chapter into digestible readable chunks—but without the boredom. Gonzalez doesn’t get flowery or cute with his prose, but is to the point and concise without feeling perfunctory; doing this over the course of 2000 years of history isn’t child’s play. This “Story of Christianity” is Western focused (no surprise there), but still gives much more play to Eastern and Latin American narratives than most others do. Forms a great 1-2 punch with Mark Noll’s more concise and selective Turning Points.

[Kiragu · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are books that you read and feel you've been let in on secrets long hidden. As a Christian it made a lot of sense to put history to the faith and see to details the events that have shaped Christianity as we know it today. I know of dark ages, I knew of Martin Luther, I knew of Ellen G. White and her book, The Great Conspiracy, but I did not know the intrigues of papacy, I did not know the origins of nun-hood, I did not know about theological intellectualism. It also pushed me more into apologetics in which I've found a refreshing mind engagement.
I'll be reading more of Justo.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though this was a generally written in the 80s, it covers the most important parts of Christian history until that time.
Well some histories focus more on the development of doctrine or get bogged down in details of social and domestic life, this traces the development of the church's relationship with its world as the gospel spreads.

There's plenty of detailed information about martyrs and kings, lowly missionaries, and lofty theologians. What I appreciate most about this is that he shows both the fallenness of Christian efforts in this world and the wonderful bright spots amidst it all. Sacrificial missionary friars came with the conquistadors, and social activist pastors worked in the midst of militaristic capitalism.

The author ends on a note of emphasis of the Latin American liberation movement, trying to find a third path between communism and capitalism. with that being his background, I think that's where the most passion comes forth. A good follow up to this work would be Philip Jenkins, who further explored the early Eastern Church as well as the modern Church of the global south.

[Fred · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a long read but a good one. He goes deep, but not too deep into every era, personality, and movement discussed. Speaking as someone who was born, raised, and continues to live in California, I also appreciated his balanced discussion of the Catholic missions in Latin America in general and the Southwest United States (then colonial Mexico) in particular. This is a topic that I've never heard discussed in the other Church History books that I've read.

Mr. Gonzales' books (yes, Volume 2 is next after I take a break into some escape fiction to clear my overloaded brain) came with the highest recommendation and now I know why!

Speaking as a self-confessed Church History junkie, this book is one of the finest that I've ever read on the subject.

[Steve Jaeger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly recommended as an intro to church history, whether in a seminary class or for personal reading. This was the primary text for my 2-semester church history class (for an M.Div. program). It's a great intro-level work to the people, places, events, movements, and ideas that have shaped the Christian church since the apostolic age (through the late 20th Century). I continue use it as a reference book on occasion.

[Doug · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this in the two volume format (Volume I: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation and Volume II: The Reformation to the Present Day.) The book is comprehensive, although arguably slanted in focus towards the western branches of the church. The narrative tone I found exemplary, which made the volumes hard to put down.

[Leandro Dutra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Muy respeto por la ortodoxía hasta los capítulos finales, que son liberales y ecuménicos, alabando el protestantismo muerto del Norte sin veer que el cristianismo vivo del Sur es evangelico.

Dos volumenes en uno, debrían los repaginar.

Muchos errores de diagramación en los capítulos finales.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you ever want a good political drama, read about the history of the church.

This has been published in a two-volume set, but I (ambitiously? Foolishly?) devoured this one-volume edition. Part I is fantastic. It's the stuff I've always wanted to read—the history of the church beginning with the apostles themselves, and how it grew and expanded from there. Part II is one heck of a trainwreck, beginning with the Protestant movement and the who-knows-how-many denominations that stemmed from that.

This is a good, quick (?) overview of the church, for those who know nothing about its history. Or those, like me, who desire to know exactly what happened after the events of the Bible. Take some notes, check the lists of "recommended reading," and further your knowledge after completing this 800-page tome. (Now, I want to read more of the early church leaders and the history of Christianity during WWII.)

[Frank Peters · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a much better book than I was expecting. Too often books on Church history are dull and seem either too simple, or too academic (in a bad sense). In addition, too many authors of Christian history write with too strong a bias (for example: “Christianity's Dangerous Idea: The Protestant Revolution: A History from the Sixteenth Century to the Twenty-First”, which was very biased). The vast majority of this book was refreshing in terms of balance, content as well as lack of evident bias. I appreciated the authors attempt to tell history from the perspective of those who are being discussed, rather than from the perspective of those who are enemies. The structure of the book was designed for easy reading (giving that it is 800 pages). This was done by using short sections within short chapters. It was only the very last part of the book, on the 20th Century that I found to be suddenly boring and irritating.

[Matt Maples · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very good survey level Christian History text. This is a VERY big topic so it is extremely difficult to tell this story in one volume in a way that is coherant and relatable. I think that Justo Gonzalez has accomplished that here. I have especially appreciated learning about the early Middle Ages. I am finding with each page in this text that there is just so much that I did not know about the history of movement that Jesus began a few thousand years ago.

[Victor Barbieri · Rating 4 out of 5]

The authors pro christian bias is evident throughout the book. The development of early Christianity, the first 300 years is sadly lacking, but even the author's biases cant hide the corruption and assumption of material wealth and power of the early bishops after Christianity became the official religion of the Christian church.

[RetroHound · Rating 4 out of 5]

Goes thematically rather than straight chronologically, so sometimes he would return to people and events he covered earlier and I'd have to refresh my memory on who he was talking about. The middle ages had a lot of people (mostly royalty) with the same names.

[Héctor Emmanuel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excelente libro que narra la historia del Cristianismo desde sus inicios hasta casi la época actual. Con un lenguaje muy fácil de entender. Además, cada sección está conectada por lo que es fácil seguir el hilo de la narración. Solo que es un poco largo por lo que hay que leerlo con paciencia.

[Rafael Jovine · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very thoughtful and detailed look into the history of Christianism that doesn't shy away from the bad and the good.

There there was lots of names and details that were left and would have loved to know more such as Spurgeon, Lewis and much more.

[Alex Yefetov · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely outstanding; gives you a clear insight on the history of Christianity AND the whole Western civilization. Highly recommend as a must read for every Chrisitan!

[Ariel Villca Ticona · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un libro espectacular

[Michelle Hannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great Christian history account. Steer clear of liberation theology towards the end.

[Blaine Welgraven · Rating 5 out of 5]

An accessible and well-written work, with even the most difficult concepts explained in a lucid manner.

[Ben Gresik · Rating 3 out of 5]

It took me a long time, but I have finally finished it.

If you're thinking about reading this entire thing then I want to warn you that you will probably connect more with some sections than with others. This book tries to be comprehensive in its presentation and while it is missing some areas of Christian history, it does a good job of trying to move around to different places. In the reading though, that means some sections feel more interesting than others. If you're reading then I would encourage you to keep reading because eventually you will find other parts you connect with and find interesting.

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent introduction to the history of Christianity. The Author does a great job of remaining objective and unbiased while navigating the complex history of Christianity up to the Protestant Reformation.

It took me over a year to read this book because it is pretty dense and some sections, especially those detailing the rapid succession of Popes, can be rough to think about, let alone remember. So I do recommend taking your time, or if you read it more quickly, don't worry too much about trying to remember all the popes.

This is definitely a great unbiased overview of the history of Christianity and I recommend it.

[William Dicks · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Story of Christianity" is well written and it keeps one's attention. I did feel, however, that his section on the twentieth century was a bit opinionated, but that was just a feeling. I couldn't quite put my finger on it. It was almost as if his writing style changed.

All in all a good introductory book on church history.

[Joe Molinari · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book took me a long time to finish because I had abandoned it at some point. Overall, it was a very informative survey, which, if anything, left me with the desire to learn more. One thing truly stood out and that is that much of the book, though fascinating, is more The Story of Catholicism. With that said, it is a very worthwhile read.

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a quick down-and-dirty guide to church history. It's missing a lot of detail, but is well written for what it is trying to accomplish. I enjoy Gonzalez's writing style and have read quite a few of his books on church history.

[Mark Hanson · Rating 4 out of 5]

While a concise history, it is nonetheless insightful as it manages to cover the broad movements over time quite well. Highly recommended as an introduction/overview to the history of the Christian church.

[Andy]

0347

[Shane · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a re-read from Seminary. I enjoyed it more the second time since I wasn't going to be tested on it.

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Concise, well written, nuanced, faithful.