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Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated) Binding: DVD EAN: 9780767030908 Format: Box set, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC ISBN: 0767030907 Label: A&E Home Video Languages: Manufacturer: A&E Home Video MPN: 71000 Number Of Items: 2 Publisher: A&E Home Video Region Code: 1 Release Date: October 30, 2001 Running Time: 400 minutes Studio: A&E Home Video Editorial Review: Amazon.com: "This story is enormously unlikely." --Elaine Pagels, Professor of Religion, Princeton University Pagels is right on the mark: what began two millennia ago as a Jewish sect has grown into the most widespread religion in history, despite unbridled oppression in its early years and countless denominational splits ever since. The last few years have seen a resurgence of interest in church history, and A&E's documentary Christianity: The First Thousand Years is a splendid example of solid scholarly research meshed with entertaining production values that speaks to this interest. The result is a resource with equal appeal for the historian and the theologian alike. The issues that confronted the early church seem now quite strange since there are 2,000 years of tradition behind them today:
The rapid spread of the church from the controversial conversion of Constantine to the conquests of Otto is tied closely to the history of the Roman Empire itself. Without the empire as its catapult, it is unlikely that Christianity would have spread even to remote Iceland and Finland by the year 1000. The early church modeled itself structurally on imperial institutions, and it integrated itself into the fabric of imperial life. Indeed, the central role of Christianity in Byzantine life is one of numerous often-overlooked but fascinating historical perspectives that A&E manages to cover here. The four-part set features Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, whose unusual but pleasant voices will be well known to viewers of A&E's TV series Mysteries of the Bible. Like the TV series, Christianity: The First Thousand Years is marked by thorough scholarship, including interviews with many highly regarded scholars such as Pagels. Snippets of these interviews are interspersed with photography from the Holy Land and some reenactments, leading to an informative and revealing exploration of the early church. --Erik J. Macki Average Rating:
 Rating:  - Good ExposureI've always been interested in history but never read about Christian history except tangentially. These dvds provide a decent chronology especially as to the first 1000 years and they provide important details I was not aware of: St. Ignatius returned to school with adolescents to learn Latin, etc., so as to be allowed to preach; Nicea was prompted by Constantine's desire to publish 50 collections of what today we call the Bible; Pope Gregory enforced a very unpopular decree that (married) priests ... Read More Rating:  - good pre-modern history of christianityThis was overall a good video on the historical development of Christianity (pre-20th century). The part on Christianity in the 20th century was very weak. Rating: - really good, not greatI learned a great deal of history through the 400 minutes of video in this series, and I thought I already knew a lot! I liked it overall and I think it's something that everyone should watch. My only complaints were that there are a couple of times that they weren't completely accurate, or mispresented something, such as making it seem like the canonization of the books of the Holy Bible were done hastily at the demand of an Emperor. I also wish that there were more acted out scenes. Through ... Read More Rating: - InterestingIt was nice to watch an objective look at the first 2 millenia of Christianity. There are no punches pulled here. There is no glorification of the religion; it is an honest look at the largest religion in the world, from its beginning to current day. It does not make Christianity look bad, nor does it make it look good. If you are looking for an unbiased look at the history of the church, buy this. Rating:  - wonder program poor productionsadly this is wonderful program, but A & E dvd do not work all dvds and there is defects with in the dvd. I have decirded to live with them, but for this price I paid it was not right. A & E/history channel knew that not all dvd players can use their dvds and they do not put waren so people know that is possble not going to work. This is wonderful program and i love it, but dvd was not good. They clear do not care to treat all custmers rightly. |
