A Brief History Of Christianity

by Lindberg, Carter

• ISBN13: 9781405110471
• ISBN10: 1405110473
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-10-21
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Summary

This brief history tells the story of Christianity from its origins to the present day. It spans over 2,000 years of colorful incident to give an authoritative history of Christianity for both the general reader and the beginning student. Ranging from the missionary journeys of the apostles to the tele-evangelism of the twenty-first century, this concise and compelling book also includes an introduction to the historiography of Christianity, an appendix on theological terms, and a bibliography.

Author Biography

Carter Lindberg is Professor Emeritus of Church History at Boston University. His recent publications include The Pietist Theologians (2004), The Reformation Theologians (2001), The European Reformations Sourcebook (1999), and The European Reformations (1996), all available via Blackwell Publishing.

Table of Contents

Preface	x
The Responsibility to Remember: An Introduction to the Historiography of Christianity	1	(5)
Tradition and Confession	4	(2)
The Law of Praying is the Law of Believing	6	(11)
The Roman Empire and its Political Achievements	10	(1)
Hellenization and its Cultural Achievements	10	(2)
Development of the Biblical Canon	12	(5)
Sibling Rivalry: Heresy, Orthodoxy, and Ecumenical Councils	17	(18)
The Structure of Tradition: Confession and Doctrine	18	(1)
Doctrine as a Key to Christian Memory and Identity	19	(2)
Heresy	21	(1)
Jesus' Relationship to God: The Doctrine of the Trinity	22	(4)
From the Council of Nicaea to the Council of Constantinople	26	(2)
Jesus and Humankind: Christology	28	(7)
The Heavenly City: The Augustinian Synthesis of Biblical Religion and Hellenism	35	(16)
Augustine's Path to Conversion	40	(1)
Augustine's Theological Contributions	41	(3)
Augustine and Donatism	44	(3)
The Pelagian Controversy	47	(4)
The Development of Medieval Christendom	51	(20)
Monasticism to Mission	52	(2)
The Emergence of the Papacy	54	(5)
Papacy and Empire	59	(2)
The Gregorian Reform	61	(5)
The Investiture Conflict	66	(2)
The Crusades	68	(3)
Faith in Search of Understanding: Anselm, Abelard, and the Beginnings of Scholasticism	71	(13)
Universities and Scholasticism	73	(6)
Contributions of Early Scholastic Theology	79	(5)
The Medieval Church	84	(20)
The Cultural and Theological Development of the Sacraments	84	(5)
The Rise of the Mendicant Orders	89	(6)
The Rise and Decline of Papal Authority	95	(2)
The Decline of the Papacy	97	(2)
Conciliarism	99	(5)
The Reformations of the Sixteenth Century	104	(21)
Context	105	(3)
The Reformation in Germany	108	(4)
The Reformation in Switzerland	112	(4)
The Reformation in France	116	(1)
The Reformation in England	117	(3)
Scandinavia and Eastern Europe	120	(1)
Early Modern Catholicism	121	(1)
The Reformations' Aftermath	122	(3)
Pietism and the Enlightenment	125	(18)
The Enlightenment	135	(6)
The Catholic Church and the Enlightenment	141	(2)
Challenge and Response: The Church in the Nineteenth Century	143	(20)
The Churches and the French Revolution	144	(1)
From the French Revolution to the Congress of Vienna	145	(1)
Church Reform in Germany: The Prussian Union and its Consequences	146	(1)
Inner Mission and the Social Question	147	(5)
The Catholic Church in the Nineteenth Century	152	(1)
Pope Pius IX and Vatican I	153	(1)
From Kulturkampf to the Anti-Modernist Oath	154	(1)
Nineteenth-Century Theology	155	(2)
The Awakening	157	(1)
Theological Currents	158	(2)
Liberal Theology	160	(3)
The Christian Churches since World War I	163	(18)
New Formulations in Protestant Theology	164	(3)
The Churches during National Socialism	167	(4)
Developments in the Catholic Church after World War I	171	(2)
The Ecumenical Movement	173	(6)
Back to the Future: Christianity in Global Context	179	(2)
Appendix: Periodization	181	(8)
Glossary	189	(6)
Further Reading	195	(9)
Index	204