Dale T Irvin

Completes the first comprehensive account of Christianity as a world religion from its origins to the present. This volume completes a landmark history of Christianity. Reviewed and shaped by an international team of 43 consulting scholars, this history assigns a rightful place to the peoples of Asia, Africa, the Americas, and the Near East in the unfolding of the Christian story, In the process a fuller and richer view emerges of Christianity as a religion constantly evolving in dialogue with new cultures, new questions, and new historical influences. Volume I traced the origins of Christianity up to the middle of the fifteenth century, Volume II continues the story up to the new millennium. Beginning with the early missionary expansion in Africa, Asia, and the Americas, the story goes on to trace the fracturing of Christianity among Catholic, Orthodox, and reformed expressions; the impact of modern colonialism and the emergence of a new global reality; the wars of religion, the impact of the Enlightenment, the rise of Christianity in North America, and the modern missionary movement. Throughout, the authors emphasize the expression of local forms of Christianity in diverse cultures, and the role of Christianity in helping to shape distinct national identities in an era of decolonization and globalization.

Traditional histories of Christianity focus on its consolidation in the West and subsequent export to the rest of the world. History of the World Christian Movement shows that from the beginning Christianity has been a world religion, informed and shaped through the interplay of gospel and culture, church and world. At last the people of Asia, Africa, and the Near East take their rightful place in an account of the unfolding of the Christian story. In the process a fuller and richer view emerges of Christianity as a religion constantly evolving in dialogue with new cultures, new questions, and new historical influences.