Christianity: The Second Thousand Years

Cataloguer alert: Before you make the kind of error that would set library scourge Nicholson Baker foaming at the mouth, the real onscreen title of A&E's sequel to The Rise of Christianity: The First Thousand Years (sold as Christianity: The First Thousand Years and reviewed in VL-3/99) is Christianity: The Second Millennium, and it's narrated by Dorian Harewood (not Laurence Fishburne, as the packaging claims). That said, this 4-volume overview of Christianity's triumphs and tragedies from 1,000 A.D. to just yesterday offers a reasonably compelling survey of matters both doctrinal and historical, beginning with a nice capsule summary of Christianity's first thousand years, bringing viewers quickly up to ecumenical speed. The central battle of the first half of the second millennium--that is, between church and state--got seriously underway in 1077 with Pope Gregory VII's excommunication of emperor Henry IV, setting off a powerful tug of war that would continue for centuries, climaxing in Pope Clement VII's excommunication of British king Henry VIII in 1533. Of course, the kings often had the upper hand (papal bulls notwithstanding), and while brilliant though politically powerless men such as Martin Luther routinely landed their hindquarters in hot dogmatic waters (Luther not only took a hammer to a perfectly fine Catholic door when he nailed up his 95 theses, he also--rather indelicately--pointedly referred to Pope Leo X as the "antichrist," hardly a term of endearment), kings such as Henry more often than not simply shrugged ecclesiastical matters aside and kept on trucking (politically speaking). Featuring a fine cast of interviewees, including best-selling author Karen Armstrong (The Battle for God), the series--embellished with artwork, on location footage of sacred places, and modern film clips--also revisits the sorry spectacle of the bloody Crusades, examines the fights (both scriptural and literal) between Protestants and Catholics, notes the steadily widening divide between science and religion, and traces the various branches of Protestant faith both in Europe and the spiritually tolerant American colonies. Less comprehensively, the series touches on major events of the 20th century, including the sweeping reforms of Vatican II (as it's popularly known) and the tragic assassinations of the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. and Bishop Romero. A solid survey of second millennium Christian history, this is definitely recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (R. Pitman)