Christopher Neenan
- 5
- reviews
- 25
- helpful votes
- 5
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The Triumph of Christianity
- How a Forbidden Religion Swept the World
- By: Bart D. Ehrman
- Narrated by: George Newbern, Bart D. Ehrman
- Length: 10 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Christianity didn't have to become the dominant religion in the West. It easily could have remained a sect of Judaism fated to have the historical importance of the Sadducees or the Essenes. In The Triumph of Christianity, Bart Ehrman, a master explainer of Christian history, texts, and traditions, shows how a religion whose first believers were 20 or so illiterate day laborers in a remote part of the empire became the official religion of Rome, converting some 30 million people in just four centuries.
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Another Piece of the Jesus Puzzle
- By A Mom on 04-13-18
- The Triumph of Christianity
- How a Forbidden Religion Swept the World
- By: Bart D. Ehrman
- Narrated by: George Newbern, Bart D. Ehrman
A tired book from someone who has said everything
Reviewed: 08-21-19
It is a disappointing book. Ehrman declares himself an 'neutral' researcher. And so he is, when at his best. But this is a book too far. The 'Christianity problems' he deals with have too many not well informed opinions flooding this controversal topic. We need experts and researchers to remain expert and researher, not dropping down a few levels that simply types up public lectures and discussions. This book can be safely put aside after a few early chapters..
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Reformations
- The Early Modern World, 1450-1650
- By: Carlos M. N. Eire
- Narrated by: David Drummond
- Length: 39 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Carlos Eire, popular professor and gifted writer, chronicles the 200-year era of the Renaissance and Reformation with particular attention to issues that persist as concerns in the present day. Eire connects the Protestant and Catholic Reformations in new and profound ways, and he demonstrates convincingly that this crucial turning point in history not only affected people long gone but continues to shape our world and define who we are today.
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Catholics don’t believe in “Works Righteousness”
- By Liam Cruz Kelly on 02-23-19
- Reformations
- The Early Modern World, 1450-1650
- By: Carlos M. N. Eire
- Narrated by: David Drummond
Superb....an absolute must read.
Reviewed: 12-05-18
Informative, challenging, provocative, can't-put-down...Leaves the mind re-examining what notions we may have had before......the rest is silence!!!
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1 person found this helpful
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Rollercoaster
- Europe, 1950-2017
- By: Ian Kershaw
- Narrated by: Leighton Pugh
- Length: 26 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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After the overwhelming horrors of the first half of the 20th century, described by Ian Kershaw in his previous book as having gone 'to hell and back', the years from 1950 to 2017 brought peace and relative prosperity to most of Europe. Enormous economic improvements transformed the continent. The catastrophic era of the world wars receded into an ever more distant past, though its long shadow continued to shape mentalities. Europe was now a divided continent, living under the nuclear threat in a period intermittently fraught with anxiety.
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not his best
- By Hans Steinkellner on 03-14-20
- Rollercoaster
- Europe, 1950-2017
- By: Ian Kershaw
- Narrated by: Leighton Pugh
Superficially skating over history.
Reviewed: 12-05-18
The book is a disappointment, a waste of a brilliant historian. It is neither an introduction for those who know little history nor a stimulus for those who do. It will not be on my Christmas coffee table. Those who commissioned the book did not know what they wanted and Kershaw did not seem to know what to give. Not a book for the cold, snow bound winter months but a good undemanding read for beach next summer. It is so difficult to decide who I could give this book too for Christmas season.
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Paul
- A Biography
- By: N. T. Wright
- Narrated by: James Langton
- Length: 15 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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In this definitive biography, renowned Bible scholar, Anglican bishop, and best-selling author N. T. Wright offers a radical look at the apostle Paul, illuminating the humanity and remarkable achievements of this intellectual who invented Christian theology - transforming a faith and changing the world. For centuries, Paul, the apostle who "saw the light on the Road to Damascus" and made a miraculous conversion from zealous Pharisee persecutor to devoted follower of Christ, has been one of the church's most widely cited saints.
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Different type of writing for Wright is helpful
- By Adam Shields on 04-25-18
- Paul
- A Biography
- By: N. T. Wright
- Narrated by: James Langton
A disappointment, my fault for wrong choice
Reviewed: 03-14-18
What would have made Paul better?
I should have got Paul and the Faithfulness of God, perhaps. 'Paul' is much too chatty, a bt like listening to hours and hours of BBC's Prayer for the Day. Christian history 'popularisers' have a standard lifeless rhetoric they use for the 'faithful', an attempt to be over sweetly reasonable. Wright tries to fill in the gaps in what pieces of the Paul jigsaw puzzle we have and it becomes over guessy. Not surprising since if the portrait of Paul is a jigsaw of 2,100 pieces and we have only 500, there's lots of space for surmising. I have gone back to the incomparable H.V.Morton 'In the Steps of St Paul' (1936). Morton doesn't have 2018 state of the art Pauline scholarship but his picture of pre-WWII world gives a better 'feel' about 'what makes Paul tick' (N.T.Wright's often used phrase)..
Would you ever listen to anything by N. T. Wright again?
Not if N.T.Wright writes interminable 'Prayers for the Day'.
Any additional comments?
Did Paul invent 'Jesus'? I'm sure N.T.Wright would have an interesting answer to this.
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13 people found this helpful
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The Better Angels of Our Nature
- Why Violence Has Declined
- By: Steven Pinker
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 36 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Faced with the ceaseless stream of news about war, crime, and terrorism, one could easily think we live in the most violent age ever seen. Yet as New York Times bestselling author Steven Pinker shows in this startling and engaging new work, just the opposite is true: violence has been diminishing for millennia and we may be living in the most peaceful time in our species's existence.
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I'd kill for another book this good
- By Eric on 11-11-11
- The Better Angels of Our Nature
- Why Violence Has Declined
- By: Steven Pinker
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
Don't whine!! Things could be a lot worse!!!!
Reviewed: 02-27-18
Where does The Better Angels of Our Nature rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
Fascinating as most books written by Pinker, well worth going to bed with! To those who read history, it contains liitle that is new but in langaue that makes one sit up and listen. For instance, his 'outrageous' paragraph on "Let's see it from Hitler's point of view" (hope my quote is correct!). 'Outrageous' because it startled me into rethinking the root causes that throw up the"worst angels" of our nature. Pinker makes his readers think and confront!
If you’ve listened to books by Steven Pinker before, how does this one compare?
Reading now his newbook....which is a logical continuation (with some inevitable repetitions) of "Better Angels". To listen through a long Pinker book is the best compliment. Now to want to be listening through another one says it all. Maybe not a third: maybe he has said it all in these two.
What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?
Reading voice is clear and does not disturb or distract; it does not get between the book and the listener.
What’s the most interesting tidbit you’ve picked up from this book?
Too many phrases I've turned into my dinner conversations. That very few at table know what I am getting at is good: it leaves me to concentrate on the wine!!!
Any additional comments?
...it was a good way to unsettle my settled notions!
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