Summary
John McManners: The Oxford History of Christianity
The Oxford History of Christianity is the joint work of nineteen leading experts on the history of religion. Investigating the rich heritage of Christianity, the authors have processed all the significant aspects of that faith in an understandable and convincing manner and evoked the vitality of its thought and the richness of its culture. In the second edition, the division of the study into two volumes was deleted, so that the reader could be informed in one place about the long development of Christianity, from its beginnings to the present day. The first texts are dedicated to the earliest Christian communities, the apostle Paul and the Roman emperor Constantine, the influence of Charlemagne on the spread of Christianity and the significance of the medieval scholasticism of Thomas Aquinas. The profound changes that occurred during the Reformation and Enlightenment are covered in detail in chapters that offer portraits of key figures such as Erasmus, Luther, Calvin, Wesley, and Rousseau. A special part of the book is devoted to Christianity after 1800, and the ways in which it is practiced in Britain and Europe, North and South America, India and the Far East, showing all its diversity in detail. At the end of the study, the authors consider the issues of contemporary Christian theology, consciousness and faith, and explore new forms of Christian community. We can therefore call this vividly told study capital and comprehensive.
Biblos Newsletter
New titles, special copies and quiet recommendations from the antiquarian bookshop.