Christianity

by Roland Herbert Bainton

Paper Book, 1985

Status

Available

Call number

BR145.2.B3 1985

Collection

Publication

New York : Boston : American Heritage ; Distributed by Houghton Mifflin, 1985.

Description

In this single absorbing volume, the noted historian and religious scholar Roland Bainton offers a comprehensive, critical portrait of Christianity from its beginnings two thousand years ago to the modern day.From Christ's lowly birth in a stable to the rise of cathedrals and kings, from Roman soliders to Fanciscan monks to Puritans fleeing persecution to a new world across the sea, Bainton paints a rich history of a vast and varied people united by a singular belief.Illustrated with fifty black-and-white photographs, CHRISTIANITY is a perfect introduction for lay readers and a classic in its field.

User reviews

LibraryThing member mattries37315
The history of Christianity spans over 2000 years, across three then five continents, and numerous individuals doing their best to follow the example of Jesus. Roland H. Bainton’s Christianity is a survey of the history, theology developments, and impact of the faith has had on society over the
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length of its existence since the ministry of Christ on earth.

Beginning with the various cultural backgrounds that influenced the life of Jesus and the society he lived and teach in, Bainton writes an easily read survey of Christianity. Everything from the Apostolic Age through the persecution by the Roman Empire then its long progression of conversation through the Western Empire’s fall is covered very well. However with Rome’s fall, the book’s focus begins to be firmly placed in Western Europe—later to expand to the Americas—with all the culture, historical, political, and theological developments that are well-known to anyone with a general knowledge of the history of Western civilization. Given the book is less than 400 pages in length, Bainton’s having to choose the best way to get through the history of Christianity meant having to neglect the developments of East Orthodox, Oriental, and Coptic Christianity in favor to everything connected to Western Christianity.

Though not all facets are covered, Roland H. Bainton’s Christianity is a well-written survey that covers the basics of everything related to Western Christianity. For anyone looking for general information of Christianity, I recommend this book to you.
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Language

Physical description

416 p.; 21 cm

ISBN

9780828104890

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