Preface
Nearly two thousand years ago Jesus of Nazareth was put to death on a cross in an obscure
corner of the Roman Empire. Today, worldwide faith in the risen Christ has grown as never
before, not just in the so-called Christian West but in the new centres of Christianity in
Africa, South-East Asia, and South America.
How has the belief of a handful of persecuted and frightened people in Jerusalem
expanded so extensively? How did it outlive the mighty Roman Empire and outlast
the more recent empires? How did the Christian churches, denominations, movements,
doctrines, and beliefs we know today come into being? How has the faith passed from
generation to generation, and from country to country? These are a few of the questions
we attempt to answer in this book.
To write the full story of the rise of the Christian faith in one volume is an almost
impossible task. In trying to tackle it, we have called upon the expertise of many
contributors. We have involved writers from many countries throughout the world, and
drawn on wide resources for photographs, illustrations, and maps. The aim has been
to draw a rounded picture of the worldwide development of Christianity, focussing on
key movements, outstanding Christian leaders, crucial turning-points, and revolutionary
breakthroughs. This cannot claim to be a comprehensive history of the church; however,
the compression necessary to a book of this length offers the prospect of exciting new
perspectives across the centuries, a bird’s-eye view of 2000 years of Christianity.
Is it objective history? Yes – if we mean that it is written by experts, well informed on
their subjects, and abreast of modern views. Yes – if we mean that it claims to be accurate,
scholarly, and balanced. But no history can be detached. It is written largely by scholars
who are Christians, and who write with a sympathetic understanding that breathes life into
their accounts. They are committed both to Christianity and to the unhindered pursuit of
truth; they haven’t disguised or avoided the darker, depressing, or disgraceful aspects of the
varied story of Christianity.
The story is an exciting one, yet also complex; we have tried not to over-simplify
difficult questions. Wherever possible, we have presented material visually and graphically,
to give a ‘feel’ for the period concerned, to see the wood as well as the trees. We have
principally in mind those who come new to the subject, excited by the discoveries, gripped
by the unfolding story, and wanting an account which is not so superficial as to be
unsatisfying but which wears its learning lightly. We have tried to let the facts speak for
themselves.
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pr e fa ce
Preface to the
Revised Edition
This new revised edition adheres to the aims of the original book. However, we have
redesigned and re-arranged material to make things clearer and easier to follow, and also
taken the opportunity to update, and to bring the story down to the twenty-first century.
In summary, for this edition we have:
• Removed some introductory material on historiography to allow more space for the
narrative history
• Completely revised, re-styled, checked, and re-edited the text throughout
• Added important new text – for example on Jesus, the Thought World of Early
Christianity, and the Future
• Added dates for all significant named persons
• Added scripture references and texts
• Added a useful glossary of ecclesiastical and theological terms
• Created around 40 new full-colour maps
• Revised and re-designed all Timelines
• Created a single, comprehensive index
• Completely re-illustrated the book in full colour throughout
• Added section summaries, study questions, and suggested further reading for students
• Completely re-designed the entire book, with a larger format, more readable typeface,
and clearer layout
It is the hope of editors and contributors alike that this book in its new form will open up
the story of the Christian faith to a new generation of readers and students.
Tim Dowley
Dulwich, London 2013
I n t rod u c t i on t o T h e His t ory of C h r is t i an it y
19
Constantine the Great
Tiberius
Nero
10
00
Charlemagne
Photius Patriarch
of Constantinople
Ambrose
Tertullian
90
0
Bede
Basil the Great
Justin Martyr
80
0
70
0
60
0
50
0
40
0
30
0
20
0
0
10
0
THE CHRISTIAN CENTURIES
Anselm
Jerome
Origen
W
Augustine of Hippo
Donatists arise in North Africa
Council of Jerusalem
P
Gregory the Great
Athanasius
Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection
Po
Justinian 1
Antony
Birth of Muhammad
Ulfilas’ mission to the Goths
Martin of Tours’ mission to Northern France
Paul’s missionary journeys
Ninian’s mission to the Picts
Synod of Whitby
Sack of Rome
Christians persecuted
Montanism starts in Phrygia
Islam takes over in the Middle East
Pelagian controversy starts
Lindisfarne Gospels
Patrick’s mission to Ireland
Boniface takes the gospel to Germany
Council of Chalcedon
Benedict of Nursia founds his monastery
Columba goes to Iona
Vikings invade Europe
New Testament
Justin’s Apology
Abbey of Cluny
founded
Origen’s Against Celsus
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• History of Christianity.indd 20
THE CHR IST IAN CENTUR IES
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Russian Revolution
Teresa of Avila
Moravians formed
James Watt’s
Queen Elizabeth I of England steam engine
Francis of Assisi
Galileo
Pope Innocent III
Thomas Aquinas
Pascal
Pilgrim Fathers reach New England
Rise of the universities
Cathedral building booms in the West
Pope Pius IX
Freud
Inquisition founded
Baptist Missionary Society founded
Church Missionary Society founded
Inquisition revived
British and Foreign Bible Society founded
Council of Trent
First English Baptists
Fourth Lateran Council
Turks capture
Constantinople
Vatican II
Kierkegaard
Anabaptists arise in Europe
The Crusades
World Council of
Churches formed
David Livingstone
Newton
Jan Hus
y
9/11
French Revolution
Rembrandt
John Wyclif
World War II
American Independence
Descartes
Dante
20
00
World War I
Society for the
Propagation of
the Gospel founded
John Calvin
Cluny
Pope John XXIII
Pope
John Paul II
William Carey
Francis Xavier
Bernard of Clairvaux
Billy Graham
George Whitefield
Ignatius of Loyola
Peter Abelard
Bonhoeffer
John Wesley
Zwingli
Pope Gregory VII
Karl Barth
Zinzendorf
Martin Luther
William the Conqueror King of England
19
00
J. S. Bach
Dürer
Anselm
18
00
17
00
16
00
15
00
14
00
13
00
12
00
10
00
11
00
Erasmus
Modern Pentecostalism begins
Thirty Years’ War
American Civil War
Propaganda founded
Salvation Army founded
Jesuit missions begin
Luther’s 95 Theses
The Pilgrim’s Progress
Papal Infallibility promulgated
Edinburgh World
Missionary Conference
Loyola’s Spiritual Exercises
Calvin’s Institutes
King James Version
The Communist Manifesto
Darwin’s Origin of Species
I n t rod u c t i on t o T h e His t ory of C h ri
r is
s t i an iit
ty
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