The author puts the best face on Christianity by citing individuals who have embodied the best aspect's of Christ's teachings over the last two millenia. It's a rather selective history, although it still can't avoid mentioning a few folks who were burned at the stake for their beliefs. In the end, it's clear that Bass is a good person, but it's not clear exactly what the basis of her Christian faith is. She doesn't spell it out clearly. It would seem to consist in choosing the parts of the Bible she agrees with and ignoring the rest (such as its attitude toward women and homosexuals.) She seems optimistic that Christianity is evolving with a changing world. Perhaps she's in a better position to know than I am. I guess as long as people need something larger than themselves to believe in, they will be attracted by religion, no matter how flawed it is. All around the world, the best people take their religions and use them to help the disadvantaged, fight against hatred, and promote ecumenalism--but the worst folks continue to give all religion a bad name.

The audiobook narrator, while perfectly pleasant most of the time, drops into ridiculous accents when reading things written by non-Americans, making them sound sub-literate. This is idiotic. In the first place, these things weren't written in English to begin with. I'm sure their authors sounded perfectly competent in their native languages--why read them in English as if they are struggling to pronounce each word? Just idiotic. I have to repeat it again! Idiotic. ( )

I was a little disappointed. I suppose I was hoping for something less personal. ( )

A very readable book on the people, some obscure, some better known from ancient times through the middle ages right to present day, who developed the teachings of Jesus into the movement we know. ( )

Following the history of "Great Commandment" Christianity (as opposed to "Big C" Christianity), Basss offers a window into a Christianity that has made, is making, and will continue to make a positive difference in the world. ( )

Having just finished Diarmaid MacCulloch's Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years, I can attest to the frustration Diana Bulter Bass expresses. The history of Christianity can feel like a tale of arguments, violence, crusades, inquisitions, and capitulation to power. It looks diametrically opposed to the actual life and teaching of Jesus Christ.

In A People's History of Christianity, Diana Bulter Bass attempts to tell (as the subtitle suggests), the other side of the story. In her words:

[quote]I sidestep issues of orthodoxy and instead focus on the moments when Christian people really acted like Christians, when they took seriously the call of Jesus to love God and love their neighbors as themselves. (15)[/quote]

The author accomplishes this by surveying (in wildly broad strokes) all eras of church history with special attention to how Christians exercised their devotion to God, their ethics to others.

Sounds good, right?

The truth is, despite the promise of the thesis, this book frustrated me. In the selection and interpretation of the stories, Diana Bulter Bass selectively expounded a version of Christianity that looks like her. Now, this is not a bad picture—I think it's fair to call her a progressive, inclusive, emergent-minded Christ-follower. That said, mining the history of Christianity for anecdotes and lives that confirm your view, only to call it a "People's History" implies that those who don't conform to your image are somehow in a category other than "people". Ironically, this is precisely what this history attempts to correct.

What the Jesus Seminar did with Jesus, Diana Bulter Bass has done with his followers. The great cloud of witnesses deserves to be taken on their own terms—warts and all. ( )