The Story of Christianity

by David Bentley Hart

Overview

The story of Christianity is an immeasurably fascinating one. A faith that began in Roman occupied Palestine, as a small and fugitive faction within Judaism, grew, thrived and finally "conquered" the empire that had sought to exterminate it. Then, over many centuries and in many lands, it became the vital source from which new civilizations sprang. At times, its geographical range expanded mightily, at others contracted perilously. At times, the church proved heroically true to its deepest moral principles; at others, inexcusably traitorous to them.


But, by the beginning of the 21st century, this faith that began in such fragility, and that became so powerful—even though its temporal power has now receded in its historic homelands—is the most widespread and diverse of all religions. Christianity is rapidly taking root in cultures very different from those in which it was born and in which it once flourished, and is assuming configurations that could not have been anticipated a century ago.


In The Story of Christianity, the distinguished theologian David Bentley Hart provides a broad picture of Christian history. Presented in 50 short chapters—each focusing on a critical facet of Christian history or theology, and each amplified by timelines, quotations, and color images—his magisterial account does full justice to the range of Christian tradition, belief and practice—Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Anglican, Presbyterian, Evangelical, Coptic, Chaldean, Ethiopian Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox, Malankaran, to name but a few of the many possibilities.


From the persecutions of the early church to the papal-imperial conflicts of the Middle Ages, from the religious wars of 16th and 17th-century Europe to the challenges of science and secularism in the modern era, and from the ancient Christian communities of Africa and Asia to the "house churches" of contemporary China, The Story of Christianity triumphantly captures the heterogeneous richness of Christian history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781623654160
Publisher:	Mobius
Publication date:	08/04/2015
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	6.50(w) x 7.42(h) x 0.98(d)

About the Author

An Orthodox theologian, David Bentley Hart's specialties are philosophical theology and patristics. He completed his divinity school training at the University of Cambridge, and his graduate training at the University of Virginia. He is the author of The Doors of the Sea: Where Was God in the Tsunami? and The Beauty of the Infinite: The Aesthetics of Christian Truth.

Table of Contents

Introduction ix

The Abiding Glory: The People of Israel 1

Jesus Christ, Born of the Jews 7

The Death of the Messiah 13

The Easter Proclamation 20

The Church of the Apostles 27

The Growth of the Early Church 34

The Age of the Martyrs 41

The Gnostics 48

Alexandria in the Early Christian Centuries 55

Constantine The Great And The Birth Of Christendom 62

Cities of the Desert: The Rise of Monasticism 69

Christianity in Armenia and India 75

Ancient Splendour: Christianity in Ethiopia 82

One God in Three Persons: The Earliest Church Councils 88

The Age of the Fathers 95

The Fall of Rome And the Rise of A New Western Christendom 102

Western Monasticism and the Preservation of Western Learning 108

Christendom 115

The Formation of Orthodox Christology 122

The Last Epoch of the United Christian Empire 128

The 'Church of the East': The Nestorian Missions 136

A New Power in the World: The Rise of Islam 143

Charlemagne 149

The Face of God: The Iconoclast Controversy 156

Franks and Byzantines: The Widening Gulf 162

The Conversion of the Slavs 168

The Great Schism 175

The Early Crusades 182

Byzantine Zenith and Nadir 191

The Holy Roman Empire in the Middle Ages 197

The High Middle Ages 203

Reason and Superstition: Medieval Contradictions 211

The Oriental Churches in the Later Middle Ages 218

Byzantine Twilight 226

The Last Caesar 233

Renaissance Christian Thought 239

Spain and its Inquisition 246

The Reformation Begins 251

The Growth of the Reformation 258

The Anabaptists and the Catholic Reformation 265

Schism and War: Early Modern Europe 273

Colonies and Missions 281

The Church and the Scientists 288

Deism, Enlightenment and Revolution 294

Eastern Orthodoxy in the Early Modern Period 299

The 19th Century: A Time of Radical Doubt 306

The 19th Century: A Time of Fervent Faith 314

The 20th Century in America 322

The Most Violent Century in History 329

The 20th to the 21st Century: The Rise of a New Christendom 336

Glossary 344

Further References 350

Index 352

Editorial Reviews

A theologian of exceptional quality - but also a brilliant stylist—Dr. Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury

From the Publisher