church history
Between the Bible and me
The version of Christian history I grew up with hit fast-forward after John’s Revelation and held it until the late 20th century.
The literal drama of church history
Life in the Roman and Byzantine empires was utterly theatrical.
The Byzantine Lists
Not long after graduating from college, I found myself editing Christian History magazine, a richly illustrated quarterly where most of the contributing writers were academics but most of the readers were not. Honestly, I had more in common with our readers than with our authors. On my way to a B.A. in English literature, I had taken one class in Christian thought, one in Western civ, and zero in church history. I also had basically no exposure to Christian traditions other than evangelical Protestantism.
The past is now
Margaret Bendroth and John Fea both contend that Christians need to encounter the past in all its complexity and humanity.
Distractions of the devil
Satan has had an awfully good 2014. He might get a statue on the grounds of the Oklahoma State Capitol. Actually, he probably won’t, but the New York-based Satanic Temple has proposed to have the goat-headed image of Baphomet built so that it can be seen by all visitors to the state’s seat of government.
Unfolding the map
Robert Wilken's historical survey of Christianity is impressive, accessible and lively. It also leaves out a lot.
Chaos and continuity
Luminaries praise Paula Fredriksen's Sin as gripping and magnificent. Her book on Augustine was both of these things. This one isn't.
Armed and dangerous
Jay Rubenstein offers a lively and well-researched history of the First Crusade. He has a gift for making thousand-year-old history both exciting and relevant.
Founding the Fathers, by Elizabeth A. Clark
In this deeply researched and illuminating monograph, Elizabeth Clark examines the development of early church history as an academic field in the U.S.
reviewed by Lauren F. Winner
Body counts: The dark side of Christian history
With its long coastline, rugged mountains and haunting sand dunes, Oman is a paradise for desert lovers, hikers and boaters. Muscat, the capital city, is a gem—its arched white buildings and flat roofs squeezed between the blue ocean and black mountains. Yet call me an egghead, but what I remember most from a trip to Oman is a booklet I read there with an ominous title: Body Count: A Quantitative Review of Political Violence Across World Civilizations (2009). In it, author Naveed Sheikh claims that “the Christian civilization emerges as the most violent and genocidal in the world history.” Compared to Islam, Christianity is a clear winner: 31.94 million deaths by Muslims to 177.94 million deaths by Christians.