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Zusatztext “A whirlwind tour of the history of Christianity . . . [Martin] Marty draws on his deep historical knowledge! and the quirky details he inserts paint a lively picture of Christianity’s spread.” – The Christian Science Monitor “Only Martin Marty! with his extraordinary range of historical understanding! could have written this masterful account of the Christian world.” – Elaine Pagels! author of The Gnostic Gospels “A vitally important book: Christianity has never been a more global religion than it is today! yet here we can see how global it has always been. . . . Marty writes with whimsical accessibility! the passion of a believer and the critical eye of a hard-nosed skeptic.” –Publishers Weekly “An effective combination of erudition and accessibility.” –Kirkus Reviews “A real achievement . . . a rich! multilayered narrative.” –The Globe and Mail Informationen zum Autor Martin Marty has written a number of seminal works on religion, and has received some seventy-five honorary doctorates. His awards include the National Book Award, the National Humanities Medal, and the Medal of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He lives in Chicago with his wife. Klappentext In this cogent volume, historian Martin Marty gives readers of all faiths a brief yet sweeping account of Christianity and how it grew from a few believers two thousand years ago to become the world's largest religion. He depicts the life of Christ and his teachings and explains how the apostles set out to spread the Gospel. With a special emphasis on global Christianity, Marty shows how the religion emerged from its ancestral homeland in Africa, the Levant, and Asia Minor, was imported to Europe, and then expanded from there to the rest of the world. While giving a broad overview, Marty also focuses on specific issues, such as how Christianity attempts to reconcile with the teachings of Christ some of its stances on armed conflict, justice, and dominion. The Christian World is a remarkable testament to how Christ's message has touched human experience everywhere.1. The Jewish Beginnings Yeshuanity” or “Jesusanity” would be a natural name for a global community and culture devoted to Yeshua, or Jesus of Nazareth, depending on whether the namers favored his Hebrew or his Latinized name. “Christianity” is instead the designation, and its communal form is not the Jesus Church but the Christian Church. Nor is Christ the last name of this Jesus, but a translation of the Hebrew or Aramaic word messias, which means “anointed,” and refers to someone appointed to a specific role. To neglect or to obscure the meaning of the title Christ when applied to Jesus, the rabbi from Nazareth, is to miss the point of the earliest writings about him and to skew the story line ever after. Another World to Live in, and Its Stories The Christian World is an invitation for readers to enter and appraise a global scene, “the world,” through twenty centuries. At the same time the Christian “world” also means all the contexts to which Christian believers related and relate. “Christianity” may imply institutions and can be expressed through doctrines and ways of life, but at its core it is a story. Philosopher George Santayana connected “world” and “story” precisely, as will we. In Reason in Religion he remarked that “every living and healthy religion has a marked idiosyncrasy.” Ask atheists, Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, Jews, or others to listen to Christians and they will soon discern the main “marked idiosyncrasy”: the devotion to Jesus Christ. As these listeners observe the effects of what they have heard they will note what Santayana told readers to look for, in this case it would mean that Christianity’s “power consists in its special and surprising message,” roote...
