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Bullies and Saints
- An Honest Look at the Good and Evil of Christian History
- Narrated by: John Dickson
- Length: 13 hrs and 23 mins
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Publisher's summary
Is the world better off without Christianity?
Combining narrative with keen critique of contemporary debates, author and historian John Dickson gives an honest account of 2,000 years of Christian history that helps us understand what Christianity is and what it's meant to be.
To say that the Christian Church has an "image problem" doesn't quite capture it. From the Crusades and the Inquisition to the racism and abuse present in today's Church--both in Catholic and Protestant traditions--the institution that Christ established on earth has a lot to answer for. But the Church has also had moments throughout history when it has been in tune with Jesus' teachings - from the rise of charity to the invention of hospitals.
For defenders of the faith, it's important to be able to recognize the good and bad in the church's history and be inspired to live aligned with Christ. For skeptics, this book is a thought-provoking introduction to the idea that Christianity is, despite all, an essential foundation of our civilization.
Bullies and Saints will take you on a big-picture journey from the Sermon on the Mount to the modern church:
- Giving contextual accounts of infamous chapters of Christian history, such as the Crusades, and acknowledging their darkness.
- Outlining the great movements of the faith and defending its heroes and saints, some of whom are not commonly recognized.
- Examining the Church beside the teachings and life of Jesus and how it has succeeded in its mission to imitate Christ.
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First published in 1976, Paul Johnson's exceptional study of Christianity has been loved and widely hailed for its intensive research, writing, and magnitude. Weaving a great range of material, the scholar and author Johnson creates an ambitious panoramic overview of the evolution of the Western world since the founding of a little-known "Jesus sect".
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Read Brant Pitre's the case for Jesus instead.
- By Catherine BFT on 05-08-17
By: Paul Johnson
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Rebel in the Ranks
- Martin Luther, the Reformation, and the Conflicts That Continue to Shape Our World
- By: Brad S. Gregory
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 9 hrs and 45 mins
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For five centuries, Martin Luther has been lionized as an outspoken and fearless icon of change who ended the Middle Ages and heralded the beginning of the modern world. In Rebel in the Ranks, Brad Gregory, renowned professor of European history at Notre Dame, recasts this long-accepted portrait. Luther did not intend to start a revolution that would divide the Catholic Church and forever change Western civilization. Yet his actions would profoundly shape our world in ways he could never have imagined.
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Something to think about
- By Like Loehe on 09-19-17
By: Brad S. Gregory
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Anti-Judaism
- The Western Tradition
- By: David Nirenberg
- Narrated by: Robert Blumenfeld
- Length: 17 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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This incisive history upends the complacency that confines anti-Judaism to the ideological extremes in the Western tradition. With deep learning and elegance, David Nirenberg shows how foundational anti-Judaism is to the history of the West. Questions of how we are Jewish and, more critically, how and why we are not have been churning within the Western imagination throughout its history. Ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans; Christians and Muslims of every period; even the secularists of modernity have used Judaism in constructing their visions of the world.
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Great Book: Terrible Narrator
- By LB on 12-29-16
By: David Nirenberg
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The Catholic Church [Modern Library Chronicles]
- By: Hans Kung
- Narrated by: Robert O'Keefe
- Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1979 the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith withdrew Hans Kung's missio canonica. Pope Paul VI approved the censure saying, "We are obligated to declare that in his writings he fell short of integrity and the truth of the Catholic faith." Through a 1980 agreement with the Vatican, Kung is now permitted to teach, but only under secular auspices. In this acclaimed Modern Library Chronicle, Kung examines the Catholic Church through its many reformations, focusing on the people and events...
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Theologian's Accurate View of Church Development
- By Jack on 01-12-06
By: Hans Kung
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Atheist Delusions
- The Christian Revolution and Its Fashionable Enemies
- By: David Bentley Hart
- Narrated by: Ralph Morocco
- Length: 11 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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In this provocative book one of the most brilliant scholars of religion today dismantles distorted religious "histories" offered up by Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins, and other contemporary critics of religion and advocates of atheism. David Bentley Hart provides a bold correction of the New Atheists’s misrepresentations of the Christian past, countering their polemics with a brilliant account of Christianity and its message of human charity as the most revolutionary movement in all of Western history.
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A Conversion Experience.
- By Ted on 12-01-14
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Christianity
- The First Three Thousand Years
- By: Diarmaid MacCulloch
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 46 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Once in a generation, a historian will redefine his field, producing a book that demands to be read or heard - a product of electrifying scholarship conveyed with commanding skill. Diarmaid MacCulloch's Christianity is such a book. Breathtaking in ambition, it ranges back to the origins of the Hebrew Bible and covers the world, following the three main strands of the Christian faith.
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Bias
- By David Danielson on 10-04-10
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Worshipping the State
- How Liberalism Became Our State Religion
- By: Benjamin Wiker PhD
- Narrated by: Ken Maxon
- Length: 11 hrs and 28 mins
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Many Christians feel that they are being opposed at every turn by what seems to be a well-orchestrated political and cultural campaign to de-Christianize every aspect of Western culture. They are right, and it goes even further back than the Obama Administration. In Worshipping the State: How Liberalism Became Our State Religion, Benjamin Wiker argues that it is liberals who seek to establish an official state religion: one of unbelief.
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An Excellent Excellent book
- By Rara Sh on 01-22-24
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Medieval Christianity
- A New History
- By: Kevin Madigan
- Narrated by: Pete Larkin
- Length: 21 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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For many, the medieval world seems dark and foreign - a miraculous, brutal, and irrational time of superstition and strange relics. The pursuit of heretics, the Inquisition, the Crusades, and the domination of the "Holy Land" come to mind.
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New Standard Text for This Period
- By Bill Martin on 10-22-16
By: Kevin Madigan
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The Founding Myth
- Why Christian Nationalism Is Un-American
- By: Andrew L. Seidel, Susan Jacoby - Foreword
- Narrated by: Christopher Grove
- Length: 12 hrs and 58 mins
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Do "In God We Trust", the Declaration of Independence, and other historical "evidence" prove that America was founded on Judeo-Christian principles? Are the Ten Commandments the basis for American law? A constitutional attorney dives into the debate about religion's role in America's founding.
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Just 2 Issues
- By VIPER G on 09-01-19
By: Andrew L. Seidel, and others
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The Reformation
- A History
- By: Diarmaid MacCulloch
- Narrated by: Anne Flosnik
- Length: 36 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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At a time when men and women were prepared to kill - and be killed - for their faith, the Protestant Reformation tore the Western world apart. Acclaimed as the definitive account of these epochal events, Diarmaid MacCulloch's award-winning history brilliantly recreates the religious battles of priests, monarchs, scholars, and politicians - from the zealous Martin Luther and his 95 Theses to the polemical John Calvin to the radical Igantius Loyola, from the tortured Thomas Cranmer to the ambitious Philip II.
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Excellent
- By Eli Shem Tov on 05-15-17
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Forbidden Faith
- The Secret History of Gnosticism
- By: Richard Smoley
- Narrated by: Bob Souer
- Length: 8 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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The success of books such as Elaine Pagels's Gnostic Gospels and Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code proves beyond a doubt that there is a tremendous thirst today for finding the hidden truths of Christianity - truths that may have been lost or buried by institutional religion over the last two millennia. In Forbidden Faith, Richard Smoley narrates a popular history of one such truth, the ancient esoteric religion of gnosticism, which flourished between the first and fourth centuries AD, but whose legacy remains even today, having survived secretly throughout the ages.
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An absolute must for understanding Gnosticism.
- By Patriot RN - Doc on 05-12-21
By: Richard Smoley
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What listeners say about Bullies and Saints
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Gerry Manteit
- 07-14-21
Refreshingly honest
This is an awesome book. As a Christian and Church goer I really appreciated the honest discussion of the good and the bad of Christianity throughout history. Thank you John Dickson.
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- Brad Cooper
- 03-04-23
Honest. Humbling. Inspiring.
Grateful for this fantastic book. The blend of historical work and thoughtful application was right on time. Enjoy.
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- Sand Storm IR.Tools Technology
- 01-29-23
Christian’s should read this book!
I always love when an author narrates his own book and this did not disappoint. The church of Jesus suffers the more myopic it becomes. And the USA church is very myopic. I have been challenged recently to broaden my understanding of the church relative to geography and time. Dickson does a great job of letting us understand the good and bad of our history.
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- Jeremiah Mattix
- 12-05-22
A masters of reflective criticism
Keen insight saturates this scholarly reflection of the Christian heritage. Ironically only a true Christian could so meticulously mourn his faith’s flaws even as he hums the original tune of the Nazerene
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- Gregory Adaka MD
- 01-21-22
Balanced, pragmatic and full of hard truths
I loved reading this book. Dicksons' tone is so balanced- pleasant even. Yet it was chock full of hard truths about the church.
It's not a book that is directly trying to convince sinners to come to salvation. Rather tries to correct the imbalance in some secular circles about the role religion plays in the evil mankind has perpetrated
The author repeatedly affirms that he's not trying to play down the terrible evil done in the name of religion- he's just trying to maintain a balanced view when comparing to other gross evils of mankind.
Christians have played a major part in the ignoble pattern of man's inhumanity to man. But it's heartwarming to note that Western civilisation owes so much to Christianity. There's so much we take for granted today that came directly from the church. Hospitals, charities and even the very concept that all people are born equal.
There's the interesting bit about "moderate" atheists (not the really militant ones). They acknowledge that their moral imperative is actually based on the Christian ethos- certainly not the classical Greek or Roman worldview.
And what an ending! Yes, many one-liners are just empty soundbites - but I really liked this one!
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- Robert A Helfer Jr
- 01-17-22
High quality!
I discovered John through Cross Examined and Frank Turek. I loved this book. 100% recommend
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- Ellen Gilmartin
- 08-28-21
Very interesting and fair
I learned a great deal from this book about the highs and lows of church history. The author was consistently fair-minded, honest, and respectful. This was no small feat since there has generally been more heat than light on the subject. He is unafraid to admit failings of the followers of Christ, while unflinchingly defending the “beautiful melody line” of Christ Himself. If you have ever felt awkward when people say things like “religion is the cause of most war and conflict in the world”, or other anti-religious rhetoric, this book will give you a fuller understanding of the truth and a greater appreciation for the Christian faith itself.
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- Ryan O. Morey
- 07-14-23
Grounded but hopeful.
I’m not great at writing reviews but here goes. My eldest daughter asked me recently, “if Christianity is the true religion, why has it gone so bad so many times in our history?” My response at the time quieted her but I still would have liked to say more. If she was a reader, I would have directed her to this book. There is a symphony and those who are supposed to play it often get their parts wrong, sometimes horribly, but it doesn’t change the beauty of the tune.
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- Amazon Customer
- 07-26-23
Great book
It’s a great book that gives you a good look over the history of Christianity. Not a boring academic lecture but has good examples that supports the good and bad of Christianity.
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- B Vernon
- 03-15-24
History with the warts
Learned a lot about church history thru the ages and liked the analogy of christians as bad musicians, for an otherwise beautiful melody.
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