A New History of Christianity

Told in easy-to-understand language with helpful timelines and selections from historical writings, this engaging new introduction will appeal especially to students with little or no experience in the study of religion. A New History of Christianity provides a definitive overview of the many persons, places, movements, and events necessary for the telling of our story, the story of the Church. It is a story told within the complex contexts of larger world events and world cultures, but defined and simplified by attention to those developments that have proven most influential. Knowing that the history of Christianity presents students with a daunting array of names and events, Hillerbrand focuses only on those that provide the best insights into Christianity's contribution to world culture, both past and present.

This book is a history of Christianity from its earliest beginnings to the end of the twentieth century. The book provides students with an introduction to the many persons, places, movements, and events necessary for the telling of our story, the story of the Church. This history of Christianity is told in its essentials, simply and straightforwardly for students with little or no experience in the academic study of religion. It is a story told within the complex contexts of larger world events and world cultures, but defined and simplified by attention to those developments which have proven most influential for the past and present shaping of Church thought and practice. The book is a comprehensive and definitive introduction to the history of Christianity. It provides students with the necessary outline and description of the broad sweep of movements and periods in this history, but it also pauses at important points to provide details about the lives of Christians as lived at various times and in various locations. This story is told in easy-to-understand prose and with illustrative photographs, maps and charts.