The Old Religion in a New World

The History of North American Christianity

By: Mark A. Noll

Narrated by: Trevor Thompson

One of our foremost historians of religion here chronicles the arrival of Christianity in the New World, tracing the turning points in the development of the immigrant church that have led to today's distinctly American faith.

Taking a unique approach to this fascinating subject, Noll focuses on what was new about organized Christian religion on the American continent by comparison with European Christianity. In doing so, Noll provides a broad outline of the major events in the history of the Christian churches that have filled North America with such remarkable vitality and diversity. He also highlights some of the most important interpretive issues in the transfer of the hereditary religion of Europe to America.

©2001 Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. (P)2018 Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

Good Introduction to North American Christianity

Mark Noll is an author that I will always respect and read. I had him for two undergrad classes and I audited a class with him when I was in grad school. I have read a number of books by him since then. His book The Civil War as Theological Crisis significantly shaped me and I have read it three times now. 

The Old Religion in a New World is a textbook. Interestingly, Noll was commissioned to write a German language textbook on North American Christianity. That became this book, although he says he significantly reorganized and edited it. 

What I most appreciate about this book is that Noll is particularly paying attention to the comparative aspects of North American Christianity. It is in the comparisons that interesting aspects stand out. Different geographical areas were settled by people from different areas of Europe, who had different religious traditions. Geographies do matter. The Catholicism of Maryland is not the same as in Canada, and while he does not spend a lot of time on Mexico, his brief sketch of the Christian history of Mexico shows a very different Christian development from the US and Canada. 

I am very familiar with Christian history of the US (I had Noll for a Christian History of the US and Canada class). But there was still a ton of new information here. 

Noll is an Evangelical Reformed Protestant. And many Evangelicals (and Reformed) present their history abstracted from the larger Christian context. This is not an abstracted presentation. Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox, Black Church, Pentecostalism, and more are all presented as interacting and learning and sometimes change from one another. 

The Old World state church model was the way that Christianity was understood to exist. So the gradual change from state church to religious freedom in the US had significant impact in how Christianity developed, and predictably it is not all good. Noll does a good job critiquing weaknesses of a competitive Christianity seeking converts. But not all was negative, the freedom to evolve and change to meet the culture allowed for good changes.

Noll also pay attention well to issues of discrimination, slavery, legal and cultural prejudice and how the church has not lived up to its ideas, either the American ones or the Christian ones. There is an enormous amount of content folded into a relatively short book. 

I listened to the audiobook. Trevor Thompson is not a new narrator to me. He is not my favorite narrator, but he is clear and the text was well produced. I know that Noll is unlikely to want to read it own textbook, but I do know him well enough that I miss hearing his voice when I am hearing his words here. 

Interesting Read on Movement of the Church

Thorough examination of the subject matter. Sad that such prolific splitting of the body politic is the history of Christianity. Equally disturbing is the level of effort put forth to convert or convince other Christians to one denominational dogma under the guise of answering The Great Commission. Reconciliation of the Body of Christ (His Church) into a unified cohesive faith seems an impossible undertaking in normal exercise of human existence. Maybe that can only occur by necessity in End Times persecution.

scholarly, well-balanced

appreciated the inclusion of Mexican Christian history. missing discussion of Unitarianism unless I missed it.

Balanced and thorough

You will certainly end this book with a balanced take on what occurred in the Christian religious setting of the new world.

Great introduction to N. American Christianity

Mark Noll is an excellent historian. This is not an abridged version of his Christianity in the United States and Canada. The chronological sections provide a compelling story. Topical sections provide commentary on important trends within Christianity in North America. More could be said about the Spanish speaking experience, but his treatment is better than most English language treatments. He also gives good treatment to Catholicism and Orthodoxy. The target audience is college students or the lay reading adult. The book hits it's target, but a interested young adult could benefit. There is new material from his other work to warrant a read or listen even if you are familiar with Noll's work.
The audiobook has clear narration with an even pace. The pronunciation of difficult names is solid. The appendices were designed for ready and are not included.
I recieved this book in audiobook format in exchange for a review. This did not change my perception of the book, as much of my initial perception came from being pleased with the print edition.

Fascinating!

This is the first book I’ve read/listened to by this author and I would jump at the chance to listen to another. I learned so much from this book!
Religion and its roots fascinate me. It amazes me how there can be so many similarities and yet people focus on (and kill based upon) what they perceive as extreme differences. Books like this help me to put some perspective and understanding on the behaviors and viewpoints of people around me. If only we could learn to respect each other for our differences of opinion. As this book so poignantly states, most of religion is opinion. If not then there would not be such a discernible difference between American religion and European religion.

This is the first book I’ve listened to by this narrator ( Trevor Thompson ) and I would listen to another. I think he did a great job narrating this content. His diction was clear, pacing good and allowed me to focus on the content and not any idiosyncrasies of his narration. Now I’m listening to to it a second time I can hear his intake of breath as he narrates, but it was not really noticeable to me the first listen.

There are no explicit sex scenes, excessive violence or swearing.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and voluntarily left this unbiased review.
Please feel free to comment on whether you found my review helpful. !

A worthwhile listen

In the minus column, the way the content was covered seemed a bit scattershot, going back and forth from a linear approach to a thematic one. Certain topics felt like they should have received more coverage than they did, such as televangelism and connections between religion and partisan politics.

On the plus side, Noll covered his central idea--old religion in the New World--quite well, covering both continuity and discontinuity to establish what made Christianity in North America distinct from European Christianity. He also discusses events and figures that were less familiar but worthy of our time.

Not the best book I've read related to church history, not even the best I've read from Noll, but still a worthwhile listen to be sure.

Good content, okay reading

I enjoyed the content of this book. It provided a helpful summary of the history of Christian religion in North America. The narration was even and smooth, a must for audiobooks, but it sounded a bit too gloomy.

Content great. Narrator terrible.

I would so much rather listen to mark Noll lecture for hours than this strange, stilted narration. The tone and delivery do not match the content at all. Strange choice for this book.

Terrible narrator

The rhythm and voice of the narrator is absolutely terrible and makes this book impossible to listen to.