Christianity is a global faith. Today, people are increasingly aware that Christianity extends far beyond Europe and North America, permeating the Eastern and Southern hemispheres. What we may know less well is that Christianity has always been a global faith. A vast untold story waits to be heard beyond the familiar tale of how the Christian faith spread across Europe. Not only was Jesus born in Asia, but in the early years of the church Christianity found fertile soil in Africa and soon extended to East Asia as well. In this brief introduction to world Christian history, Derek Cooper explores the development of Christianity across time and the continents. Guiding readers to places like Iraq, Ethiopia and India, Scandanavia, Brazil and Oceania, he reveals the fascinating—and often surprising—history of the church.

This companion to "History of the World Christian Movement explores how varied and multi-cultural Christian origins and history really are.

The questions of Christianity are perennial. For example: How are Judaism and Christianity related? Are Jesus and the Holy Spirit God? Is the end of the world imminent? How should we relate faith and reason? In this innovative work, Derek Cooper tells the story of Christian history by presenting the twenty questions (one for each century!) that shaped the Christian church throughout the world. Ê The result is a book that narrates the exciting history of Christianity from a global perspective by means of simple questions and concerns that still face the church today. Ê Each century of world Christian history is explored by means of one question that attempts to encapsulate the central themes and concerns of that century for Christianity. Coverage of each century is sensitive to world regions and theological and cultural concerns that are often overlooked and neglected in books that are oriented in a more Western way.

Freshly updated for this second edition with considerable new material, this authoritative introduction to the history of Christian theology covers its development from the beginnings of the Patristic period just decades after Jesus's ministry, through to contemporary theological trends. A substantially updated new edition of this popular textbook exploring the entire history of Christian thought, written by the bestselling author and internationally-renowned theologian Features additional coverage of orthodox theology, the Holy Spirit, and medieval mysticism, alongside new sections on liberation, feminist, and Latino theologies, and on the global spread of Christianity Accessibly structured into four sections covering the Patristic period, the Middle Ages and Renaissance, the reformation and post-reformation eras, and the modern period spanning 1750 to the present day, addressing the key issues and people in each Includes case studies and primary readings at the end of each section, alongside comprehensive glossaries of key theologians, developments, and terminology Supported by additional resources available on publication at www.wiley.com/go/mcgrath

Contributors: Philip Yuen-Sang Leung Mathias Mundadan Gerald J. Pillay Lamin Sanneh Andrew F. Walls

The history of the Christian church is a fascinating story. Since the ascension of Jesus and the birth of the church at Pentecost, the followers of Christ have experienced persecution and martyrdom, established orthodoxy and orthopraxy, endured internal division and social upheaval, and sought to proclaim the good news "to the end of the earth." How can we possibly begin to grasp the complexity of the church's story? In this brief volume, historian Jennifer Woodruff Tait provides a primer using seven sentences to introduce readers to the sweeping scope of church history. Among the sentences: "No one whatsoever should be denied the opportunity to give his heart to the observance of the Christian religion." —The Edict of Milan (AD 313) "Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten not made, of one substance from the Father." —The Nicene Creed (325) "When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, 'Repent,' he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance." —Martin Luther's Ninety-Five Theses (1517) "The church is confronted today, as in no preceding generation, with a literally worldwide opportunity to make Christ known." —The Edinburgh Conference (1910) Pick up and read. The story continues. The accessible primers in the Introductions in Seven Sentences collection act as brief introductions to an academic field, with simple organization: seven key sentences that give readers a birds-eye view of an entire discipline.

A major new introduction to the global history of Christianity, written by one of the world’s leading theologians and author of numerous bestselling textbooks. Provides a truly global review by exploring the development of Christianity and related issues in Asia, Latin America and Africa, and not just focusing on Western concerns Spanning more than two millennia and combining elements of theology, history, and culture, it traces the development of all three branches of Christianity – Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox – providing context to Christianity’s origins and its links to Judaism Looks beyond denominational history at Christianity’s impact on individuals, society, politics, and intellectual thought, as well as on art, architecture, and the natural sciences Combines McGrath’s acute historical sensibility with formidable organizational skill, breaking the material down into accessible, self-contained historical periods Offers an accessible and student-oriented text, assuming little or no advance theological or historical knowledge on the part of the reader