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Summary: information provided with bias
Review: Vincent Carroll does a great job at emphasizing Christianity's revolutionary ethical values during a time where Paganists were the predominant inhabitants of the Roman Empire. "Christianity on Trial" goes at great depths to emphasize Christian values of equality among men, and how this idea enticed disheartened slaves, women, and men alike. This came during a time where Pagans in the Roman Empire would kill unwanted babies, whether they had defects or were simply undesirable on account of gender. The book fails in admitting that these ideas of equality were created strictly to amass followers in a time where equality is a foreign idea that was not adhered to. The simple fact is that Christianity is a religion for the people, an appealing idea to those seeking faith, an easy way to gain followers to a Church that would, in the future, practically run the empire. This book does not satisfy anyone seeking justification for the innumerable crimes against humanity that have been created in the name of Christianity. It doesn't attempt to explain why Christians during the Middle Ages were so set on equality, yet they described their Jewish friends as "baby killers, drinking the blood of our children," a thought that contradicts Jewish beliefs on kosher items. Carroll is quick to tell of Christians harboring Jews during Nazism, but is a little hesitant to get in-depth with Christian persecution, and forced conversion of Jews during the Crusades and Inquisitions. Sorry, Carroll, there are too many contradictions in Christianity's past to possibly account for. Love thy enemy?Simply put, this is a good attempt at summing up the positive things Christianity has done for the world. Carroll has written this book from an obvious Christian standpoint, failing to enter the minds of Jews, Muslims, and Pagans concerning Christianity and its validity as a world religion. It is difficult to read this book seriously if you have an understanding of other Middle-Eastern derivative religions. Nevertheless, Carroll does a superb job defending Christianity for what it's worth.
Rating: 
Summary: This Just In -- Christianity Good!
Review: You've heard the standard slanders trotted out time and again: Christians have committed genocide, mass slavery, religious warfare, spiritual totalitarianism, you name. Such claims rely on distorted history and, often, the absence of a reasoned response, and the charges increasingly become part of the educational myths that public school beats into our children. This book answers the charges. The authors' defense of Christianity is reasoned and detailed, much too much so to be examined in this limited space. To generalize, most the of the responses fall into one of these categories: 1. THE ACCUSERS SIMPLY HAVE THE FACTS WRONG. For instance, the Pope was not complicit with the Nazis, but on the contrary sheltered and protected Jews and criticized and attacked the Nazi regime at every practicable opportunity. 2. THE ACCUSERS OVERLOOK THE GOOD THAT CHRISTIANS (AND CHRISTIANITY) HAVE DONE. For instance, Christians ended the slave trade. Christian ideas laid the foundations of modern democracy. Christian cosmology created the cultural prerequisites for modern science. 3. THE ACCUSERS JUDGE ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL CHRISTIANS BY MODERN ETHICAL STANDARDS RATHER THAN IN THEIR OWN CONTEXT. To call Paul a sexist ignores the fact that, unlike his Pagan contemporaries, Paul taught that husbands owed strict obligations to their wives. I expect that the detractors of Christianity will never read this book. The Christian should read it, then, to be able to correct the damage done by those who make false claims against it.
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