The Dark Side of Christian History

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Summary: Jesus may indeed love you, but beware of his disciples
Review: A good brief introduction to the often glossed-over horrors of Christian fanatics down through history. Anyone who doubts that the Christian Coalition would challenge our historic tolerance of religious diversity should read this book and think again.

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Summary: The Dark Side of Feminist Propaganda
Review: Helen Ellerbe's _The Dark Side of Christian History_ is a typical liberal, New Age, feminist polemic. Its central thesis is that the Orthodox Church, a Middle Eastern cult led by sexually repressed white males conspired to destroy spirituality, Goddess worship and cultural diversity from the time of the Roman Empire to the "Religious Right" in America today. The book is endorsed by several heavy hitters in the feminist theological and literary scene: Alice Walker and Barbara G. Walker, the author of _The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets_, who calls Ellerbe's work "lucid, objective and accessible." The publisher is in fact "Morningstar and Lark," which is no surprise because Morning Star is a translation for Lucifer and the doomed harlot of Babylon in several editions of the Bible. The cover features a menacing design: a huge black cross superimposed on bright red flames and with "The Dark Side of Christian History" written in glowing orange letters. Ellerbe begins with what she sees as the central problem with Christianity in its orthodox form, "the belief in a singular, solely masculine, authoritarian God who demands unquestioning obedience and who mercilessly crushes dissent. Orthodox Christians believe that fear is essential to sustain what they perceive to be a divinely ordained hierarchical order in which a celestial God reigns singularly at a pinnacle, far removed from the earth and humankind." Ellerbe accredits sexual repression to Orthodox theologians such as St. Augustine and claims that earlier pagan religions gave free reign to sexuality. This is not the case, however, because many pre-Christian ideologies (like the Stoics) argued for abstinence and containment of sexual drives. Ellerbe also casts disdain upon the rather deterministic worldview of Christianity (especially St. Augustine) as a pessimistic, hierarchical system demanding obedience to unjust authority. She cites environmental destruction, torture and execution of witches and supposed heretics, missionaries destroying native religions, racism, anti-Semitism and sexism to Orthodox Christianity. She especially dislikes the Protestant Reformation because it claimed that the world was under the control of the devil, while she ignores the liberalizing Protestant tendencies that arose after the seventeenth century. Isaac Newton's philosophy of a universal mechanism constructed by God, and Darwin's theory of evolution and survival of the fittest are also to be considered suspect of Christian, patriarchal tyranny, according to Ellerbe. Newtonian cosmology and Darwinian evolutionary theory presupposed a world/universe without any divine immanence--which is the logical consequence of the belief in the Christian objective, transcendent, Father God. Ellerbe instead argues for what she believes to be a holistic pre-Christian pagan religion devoted to a monistic, feminine deity. For Ellerbe (...)there is a total rejection of the reality of life's struggles and the natural, biological differences between sexes and races which are a stamp of fallen Man. I recommend this book for anyone who wants to understand the total hate the New Age has for Christian theology and history, and for feminist rejection of the single unifying factor of Western Civilization. (...)

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Summary: biased
Review: Ms Ellerbe has, I feel, reminded us of the "black side" of what so many people did in the name of Christianity. I question some of the information the author used for her writing. I also could see a strong slant toward the Wicca religion. I feel one should read the book with an open mind and, not take what one book says, as the complete truth. There are several gaps in quotations that I would like to do more research on. Especially on bible quotations, so I question some of the other "complete quotes". Lots of "finger jabbing" toward Orthodox Christianity. However, with this all said, from my point of view, I did enjoy the hard work Helen Ellerbe has put in to the book to let us all know that we need to spread the love of Christ, not hate, to brother and sister, whatever race or background. One cannot come to Christ, driven by fear, but in love. I think every Christian who follows Christ, loves the things that he has created. I think reading the book has opened my eyes for more research on what history has neglected to bring out about the Church. For that I thankyou, Ms Ellerbe.

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Summary: revising religion and now also history
Review: Amazing - a real eye-opener! This book has given me a whole new
vision of religion, just as I received a whole new vision of history from "History: Fiction or Science?", a masterpiece by the heretical genius AT Fomenko (ISBN 2913921023).

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Summary: Debunking Christian Myths
Review: I'm in favor of any book that debunks Christian Myths. This book was well written and informative. I particularly appreciated the author's take on the antiquated belief that we need to fear God. If you enjoyed this book you might also wish to read An Encounter with a Prophet by Clyde A. Lewis

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Summary: The Book Of Revelation. Read it !
Review: This is without a doubt one of the most important books of the 20th Century, and its ethos will reverberate thoughout the 21st Century. As the Christian church slips into decline, it is to be hoped that the heirarchies of the churches will read this book and realise why people are becoming disillusioned. As mankind becomes more educated and intelligent the platitudes and patronising nonsense that the church has subjected people to over the years have become devalued, and people see the cant and hypocrisy that underlies the Christian faith. Christians the world over owe Helen Ellerbe a debt of gratitude for bringing the truth to light. If the churches heed this then it is not too late to change the whole ethos of the Christian faith, and take it back to what its founder actually taught, instead of the "doctrines of men" which have prevailed for centuries. It has been said that this book is a charter for Heathens, but I don't see it as such. Certainly it has the potential to put people off the Christian faith, but only the false Christianity which inhabits the materialistic church. If the message is heeded, and a return to true Christianity is initiated, then this book could be the best thing that happened to the Christian faith. A must read for churchmen, laymen and those of other faiths and none. In short, as the cover quotes Alice Walker as saying, "This is simply a book that everyone must sit down and read".

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Summary: too many easy answers
Review: As I read Ms. Ellerbe's book, I was amazed by the ease with which she navigated the fabric of a very complicated aspect of historical inquiry, categorically disproved every claim made by christians since the inception of their religion, and satisfactorily answered the deepest question of ecclessiologists
everywhere.
My apologies for such unbridled sarcasm, but I must admit a certain amusement at the claims this book makes, not the conclusions reached mind you, but the methodology. Ms. Ellerbe, by nature of the conclusions she reaches based on her understanding of history, places herself under the standards of academic historical research, and unfortunately, fails miserably. The first concern of a historian is a contextual examination of facts. The very title of the book suggests a bias entirely inappropriate to historical investigation. Secondly, a failure to interact with the subtle distinctions between Christian sects, which greatly influences the context of such inquiries, guarantees a faulty interpretation of the data considered.
My complaint is not of the conclusions reached, which the author has a full right to espouse and express, but to the methodology whereby they were arrived at. Ms. Ellerbe has no(to my knowledge) academic qualification to undertake a task which is by its nature scholarly. The validity of her entire work must be called into question.

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Summary: Job well done
Review: I am a Christian myself and I have to say that this book hits the nail right on the head. What the author is saying is the truth when it comes to the Christian history which is, indeed, dark and disturbing. People who deny this fact are people who are affraid of having their beliefs be scrutinized by other people. When people tell me that the bible is fact and not fiction, I laugh in their face and tell them to wake up and sniff the roses. Granted, the author is rather harsh in her words but harsh reality is never pleasant because we, as a society, do not like change. We like things simple. Christianity has done many wonderful things for people. Thats what religion is for. For people to hold onto something when there is much grief in the world. Christians should look at the history of Christianity and say to themselves "How can I change our religion and make it better"? It takes a great many voices out there for that to happen. All I am saying people is that we all need to wake up and clean Christianity out and start fresh.



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Summary: Right On!
Review: Oh for godssake, will the blind believers never stop?! Right here in black and white is spelled out the heinousness of Christianity and other religions in general--yet there are those who continue to squawk and unthinkingly toe the party line!

Hello! Wake up! You're out of touch. You're out of step! You're WRONG!!

Thank goodness there are people like Ellerbe who have the guts to stand up and tell the truth.

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Summary: One source of information, but mind the tirades.
Review: Some reviewers have attacked the book for attacking Christianity, and point out that much of the events in the book are taken out of context, or don't apply to their sect, or some other sect (thereby taking their own experience out of context). The title is a dead giveaway that this is not a Christian feel-good book; it is not intended to make Christians feel better about bad things committed in the name of - or by the leaders of - their religion.
The feminist element creeps into the book - I didn't notice it right away, but although I am not religious I did notice a mean streak the text. There are bad things about religion (read Bertrand Russell's "Why I Am Not A Christian" for some examples), but a review of a religious movement's crimes over centuries should be executed to report the truth. By the middle of the book, the reader can anticipate the conclusion of most events in the book as anti-woman or anti-Wicca, or something similar. The writer's agenda makes the last part of the book too mean-spirited, and that detracts from its quality.
In short, go ahead and read the book, but don't read it without other sources. There are books on the subject with less of an agenda: history books about the Inquisition, the Albigensians and other heretical groups massacred by the Church. The best example to put it all in perspective is "The True Believer" by Eric Hoffer. Shortly after World War II, at the beginning of the Cold War, Hoffer pointed out similarities between mass movements, political and religious, and describes their methods with a more chilling detachment than you'll find here.