What's Inside
This three-volume chronologically organized survey documents the expansion and institutionalization of Christianity across nearly two thousand years. It begins with the movement's emergence from Judaism and its survival under Roman persecution before shifting to the medieval era, where it tracks the rise of the Papacy and the conversion of German and Romanic peoples. The text catalogues the theological fractures of the Reformation, the birth of countless Protestant sects, and the faith's intersection with secular power in the 19th century. Rather than a single narrative, it functions as a meticulous archive of people, from Augustine to Luther, and the specific edicts that defined their eras.
Works & figures
- Augustine
Bishop who developed the doctrine of man's natural inability for self-merit. (in “CHURCH HISTORY.”)
- Luther
Reformer who translated the Bible and produced the 'Table Talk' collection. (in “CHURCH HISTORY.”)
- Boniface VIII
Pope whose assertion of sovereignty led to the Papacy's French exile. (in “HISTORY OF THE GERMANO-ROMANIC CHURCH IN THE 14TH AND 15TH CENTURIES.”)
- Salvation Army
Nineteenth-century group categorized among sectaries and enthusiasts in the Protestant domain. (in “ORTHODOX RUSSIAN DOMAINS.”)
- Winifrid
Missionary who destroyed the wonder-working oak at Geismar in 724. (in “EIGHTH CENTURY.”)
What it's really about
- Institutional Schism
- The recurring fracture of the church into competing papal and sect lines.
- Ecclesiastical Power
- The shifting balance of authority between popes, emperors, and national governments.
Why it's memorable
- The destruction of a wonder-working oak tree in 8th-century Hesse by a missionary.
- A rioting Moscow crowd killing a false czar's son for attempting to Catholicize Russia.
Where to start
Start with the 'History of the Beginnings' to see how a minor epigraphical culture of 'Apostolic Fathers' transformed into a formal theological system.
For your book club
- How did the transition from epistolary writings to scientific theology change early Christian identity?
- Was the 19th-century Evangelical Union a genuine theological merger or a political convenience?