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For anyone, Christian or not, who is interested in the history of the earthly Church
and the development of the Christian faith, this is a fabulous work. The book was written
by a team of nineteen leading Christian scholars:
Henry Chadwick, Regius Professor Emeritus
of Divinity, and Master of Peterhouse College, Cambridge
Robert Markus, Professor Emeritus of Medieval
History, University of Nottingham
Henry Mayr-Harting, Fellow and Tutor in
History, St. Peter's College, Oxford
Kallistos Ware, Bishop of Diokleia, Spalding
Lecturer in Eastern Orthodox Studies, and Fellow of Pembroke College, Oxford
Jeremy Johns, Lecturer in Islamic Archaeology,
University of Oxford
Colin Morris, Professor of Medieval History,
University of Southampton
Patrick Collinson, Regius Professor of
Modern History, University of Cambridge
John McManners, Fellow of All Souls College,
and Regius Professor Emeritus of Ecclesiastical History, University of Oxford
Owen Chadwick, Regiius Professor Emeritus of
Modern History, University of Cambridge
Martin Marty, Fairfax M. Cone Distinguished
Service Professor, University of Chicago
Frederick B. Pike, Professor Emeritus of
History, University of Notre Dame, Indiana
Peter Hinchcliff, Fellow of Balliol College,
Oxford
Kenneth Ballhatchet, Professor of History
of South Asia, University of London, and Helen
Ballhatchet, Lecturer in Japanese, School of African and Oriental Studies, University
of London
Sergei Hackel, Formerly Reader in Russian
Studies, University of Sussex, and Vicar-General of the Russian Orthodox Church in the
British Isles
Maurice Wiles, Regius Professor of Divinity,
University of Oxford
Bryan Wilson, Reader in Sociology, University of
Oxford, and Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford
Basil Mitchell, Nolloth Professor Emeritus of
Philosophy of the Christian Religion, and Fellow of Oriel College, Oxford
John V. Taylor, Formerly General Secretary of
the Church Missionary Society, and Bishop of Winchester
These nineteen people have put together a readable and thorough general history of
Christianity that held my interest for the several weeks it took me to read this tome. The
illustrations are excellent, as is the research. Some of the most thought-provoking
reading came in the last four chapters. This last part of the book consisted of essays on
Christianity today and tomorrow. This work was also successful in stepping out of the
Western world view where it was appropriate (e.g. Asian and African Christianity). While
most libraries would classify this as reference (and thus relegate it to being perceived
as dull by readers), I found it very readable, so long as I didn't try to bite off more
than about half a chapter a night.
Page created 1/16/97.
Last updated 03/17/03 14:33.
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