Christian History Made Easy

by: Timothy Paul Jones

Published by: Rose Publishing

Reviewed by Muhammed Hassanali

It is difficult to write material intended for religious education and not be bias towards the religious institution where this material would be used. The author’s biases inevitably surface when writing history – especially history that is intended for religious education. Given this perspective, Christian History Made Easy is surprisingly even-handed. One can say that it contains statements that are insensitive towards other religious interpretations, but it seems that restraint has been deliberately exercised so as not to disparage other faiths.

The book is chronologically arranged. Each chapter is bookended with reflections that link historical learning to contemporary issues. Each chapter is divided into sections and sub-sections and each of these sections focuses on either a movement or a personality. Each is very short providing only the most essential historical highlights. The main text is adorned with full color pictures, quotes from the personalities discussed, factoids, and sections that relate historical dilemmas to contemporary living. The writing style is fluid and conversational. However attempts at humor sometimes fall flat. Consider: “Humbert wrote a brash bull. No, no, no, he didn’t scrawl on a male bovine’s flank. A bull is a notice written in the pope’s name.”

A work that tries to cover so much history is bound to omit events that others may deem important (such as the Third Crusade). Glossy paper and narrow margins are not conducive to making personal notes or highlighting portions of the text. Works, like this one, that reference sources on the web run the risk of having those references point to dead links. Most surprising is the lack of a timeline and overlapping time-periods in successive chapters. For example Chapter 8 covers 1500–1609, Chapter 9 covers 1510–1767, Chapter 10 covers 1620–1814, and Chapter 11 covers 1780–1914.

Despite its shortcomings, a work that attempts to present all of Christian history is no easy undertaking. The quality of this work is indeed admirable. While the book is a good coffee-table book, it is hoped that those who get to use it to enhance either their own knowledge or enlighten those who are interested in learning more about Christian history. At the author’s website, PowerPoint slides have been provided for those using this book as a study guide.

Armchair Interviews says: Most interesting read.