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The Zondervan Essential Companion to Christian History gives you what it promises: the essentials. This highly informative, broad-ranging book provides vital facts on the growth and impact of Christianity from the apostles to the present day not only in the Western world but also globally.
List of contents
1. Introduction: Servants and Leaders: 0-100 AD
2. Love and Courage: 100-200 AD
3. Martyrs and Heretics: 200-300 AD
4. Establishment and Resistance: 300-400 AD
5. East and West: 400-500 AD
6. Centres and Margins: 500-600 AD
7. Soldiers and Missionaries: 600-700 AD
8. Monks and Emperors: 700-800 AD
9. Conversion and Culture: 800-900 AD
10. Green Shoots, Dead Branches: 900-1000 AD
11. Popes, Kings, and Peasants: 1000-1100 AD
12. War and Peace: 1100-1200 AD
13. Empire and Wilderness: 1200-1300 AD
14. Humility and Power: 1300-1400 AD
15. Church and State: 1400-1500 AD
16. Expansion and Consolidation: 1500 -1600 AD
17. Reform and Revival: 1600-1700 AD
18. Reason and Revolution: 1700-1800 AD
19. Progress and Preservation: 1800-1900 AD
20. Sacrifice and Invention: 1900-2000 AD
About the author
Stephen Backhouse (DPhil, Oxford) is the founder and director of Tent Theology, a venture that designs and delivers theology programmes to local churches. He is the Dean of Theology in the Local Church for Westminster Theological Centre and was formerly the Lecturer in Social and Political Theology at St Mellitus College. He is a historian of Christian thought, an expert on the work of Søren Kierkegaard and a recognised authority on the political theology of nations and nationalism. He is the author of many publications, including the award-winning popular biography Kierkegaard: A Single Life (Zondervan, 2016) and the Zondervan Essential Companion to Christian History (Zondervan, 2019). He has lived in the United States, and makes his home in Britain and Canada.
Summary
The Zondervan Essential Companion to Christian History gives you what it promises: the essentials.
Following a brief introduction that outlines the key events of the New Testament era, there is a chapter devoted to each century of Christian history beginning with the year 100 and ending roughly at the year 2000. Each chapter flows chronologically featuring:
- A brief overview, highlighting the main threads and issues running through the relevant century
- Key historical developments explained
- Thematic connections between centuries
- Color-coded sidebars on Persons, Ideas, or Events
- Persons: key figures either within or without the Church who have impacted Christian history significantly or who otherwise deserve special mention
- Ideas: important Christian books, as well as heresies, doctrines, or political movements
- Events: world-historical occurrences such as battles, natural disasters, inventions, or elections that have affected the development of Christianity in the world
The final chapter, devoted to the present century concludes the companion identifying key themes that the Christian Church is presently dealing with and suggesting future issues. A select Glossary of terms is provided at the end of the book, as well as a bibliographic list of suggested reading.
This highly informative, broad-ranging book provides vital facts on the growth and impact of Christianity from the apostles to the present day not only in the Western world but also globally, including the development of Eastern Orthodox and Armenian Christianity, as well as considering Christianity in Latin America, Southeast Asia, the Baltic and Slavic states, and India. The companion is organized by century, going through the major events, ideas, and personalities that have shaped Christian history around the world.
Whether you are a student or a lay person, a church-goer or unacquainted with Christianity, this book will help you grasp the global, multifaceted story of Christians.
Additional text
This book is well-named. It is indeed an essential companion to those entering into the study of church history. It gives students an outstanding way of orienting themselves, putting the towering figures of history into their social and theological contexts. It is full of helpful detail without being overwhelming, and it is written in a clear and engaging style, which draws the student in, teaching without daunting them.
