DVD: A History of Christianity

Diarmaid MacCulloch’s series on “how a small Jewish sect became a global religion” is the BBC at its best.

It takes a brave man to condense 2000 years of history into six hour-long programmes, but Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch somehow manages it.

Each episode tackles a different section of Christian history, and varies from American evangelism to Russian orthodoxy, but regardless of which aspect he focuses on, each is as interesting as the last.

The Professor of the History of the Church at St Cross College, Oxford, MacCulloch comes from a clergy family and his deep, personal love of his specialist subject is tangible throughout. In places, his enthusiasm helps bring to life some of the drier details he has to touch upon by necessity.

He also uses autobiographical insights to help illustrate his narration, which is an interesting touch, although not always positive as at times his revelations feel more like personal confession than useful hooks to give difficult concepts a human perspective.

Despite this minor complaint though, Diarmaid MacCulloch’s A History of Christianity is a fascinating series, that achieves everything it sets out to, and is a superb advert for MacCulloch’s weighty book of the same name.

Whether you’re interested in religion or not, this is definitely worth taking a look at.