The Penguin History Of The Church

Examines the beginning of the Christian movement during the first centuries AD, and the explosive force of its expansion throughout the Roman world

The beginning the sixteenth century brought growing pressure within the Western Church for Reformation. The popes could not hold Western Christendom together and there was confusion about Church reform. What some believed to be abuses, others found acceptable. Nevertheless over the years three aims emerged: to reform the exactions of churchmen, to correct errors of doctrines and to improve the moral awareness of society. As a result, Western Europe divided into a Catholic South and Protestant North. Across the no man's land between them were fought the bitterest wars of religion in Christian historyThis third volume of ‘The Penguin History of the Church’ deals with the formative work of Erasmus, Luther, Zwingli and Calvin, and analyses the special circumstances of the English Reformation as well as the Jesuits and the Counter-Reformation

The concept of an ordered human society, both religious and secular, as an expression of a divinely ordered universe was central to medieval thought. In the West the political and religious community were inextricably bound together, and because the Church was so intimately involved with the world, any history of it must take into account the development of medieval society. Professor Southern's book covers the period from the eighth to the sixteenth century. After sketching the main features of each medieval age, he deals in greater detail with the Papacy, the relations between Rome and her rival Constantinople, the bishops and archbishops, and the various religious orders, providing in all a superb history of the period.

Chadwickʹs Early Church covers, as the book cover suggests, "the story of emergent Christianity from the apostolic age to the dividing of the ways between the Greek East and the Latin West." The story unfolds with the Jewish and Roman background within which the beginning church was nourished. It then goes on to show how important it is for the church to establish order and unity amidst threats of persecution and heresy. The emergence of apologists helps not only the expansion of the church but also the construction of Christian doctrine. At the same time, controversies abound as the church encountered many different cultural and sociological challenges while trying out in reaction a variety of ideas. With chapter seven, the relation between church and state changes, resulting in a stronger influence of the state upon the church while accelerating the split between the Latin West and the Greek East. The Arian controversy shows a period of instability between state and church, and also deepens the split of East and West. But within the turmoil, ascetic practice, papacy, liturgy, and art are established, helping to transmit a common European culture while the Roman Empire begins to degenerate.

"From the end of the Second World War until the rise of Gorbachev the division of Europe was the central fact in world politics - for individuals, nations and the different Christian Churches. Amid the ferocious polemics of the Cold War era neutrality was impossible." "The pressures of modernity led to the Second Vatican Council and affected Churches on both sides of the Iron Curtain. Almost all had to adapt to declining congregations, concerns about human rights and women's role in religion, and new attitudes to abortion, contraception and divorce. Yet day-to-day problems in the East and West were utterly different." "In Eastern Europe, the Churches were victims of state control, savage ideological attacks, show trials and occasional physical violence. Critics dwelt on their sometimes inglorious record of compromise and collaboration under fascist regimes, despite the crucial role of the religious resistance in fighting Nazism. Later Church leaders - Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox - often continued to tread a delicate path, but Polish priests helped to oversee the birth of Solidarity, and oppressed nations drew hope from the symbols and ceremonies of their Christian past. Successive Popes, meanwhile, were torn between hatred for Marxism's militant atheism and a pragmatic desire not to endanger the Catholics of Eastern Europe." "The post-war West, by contrast, has seen different countries adapting their own complex arrangements about relations between Church and State. Traditional practices in the great monastic orders, the language of the liturgy and pilgrimages to saints' shrines came under fresh scrutiny, although the charismatic movement proved astonishingly successful. Yet how deeply have the churches come to terms with the fierce winds of modernity? Where religion is tolerated, and even encouraged, do people truly believe what East Europeans know from bitter experience - that 'the religious conscience is an ultimate safeguard of human freedom'?" "Owen Chadwick is General Editor of Penguin's scholarly and comprehensive series The History of the Church and contributed an earlier book, The Reformation. The series starts with the first Disciples. This volume concludes in the late twentieth century - as the Churches struggle to face new global challenges and opportunities."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Written by Eusebius, the bishop of Caesarea, "The History of the Church" is the pioneering 4th century work which details the chronological history of early Christianity from the time of Christ to Constantine. This monumental work of Christian history stands apart from other contemporary histories as the first full-length record of early Christianity from a Christian point of view. A fierce advocate for the Christian religion, Eusebius lived in Caesarea Maritima, a coastal city in modern day Israel, prior to and during the rule of Constantine. At the time of Eusebius' life his hometown had became a center of Christian learning, through the work of Christian theologian Origen, and his follower Pamphilus, Eusebius' own teacher. This made Eusebius an ideal candidate to make a record of Christianity's crucial first three hundred years. While sometimes criticized as biased and inaccurate "The History of the Church" nevertheless provides an indispensable perspective upon the foundations of the Christian church and religion. This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper and follows the translation of Arthur Cushman McGiffert.

The French Revolution dealt a fatal blow to the alliance of Church and State. The Christian church had to adapt to great changes - from the social upheavals of the Industrial Revolution to the philosophical speculations of Kant's 'Copernican revolution', to Darwin's evolutionary theories. Some Christians were driven to panic and blind reaction, others were inspired to re-interpret their faith; the results of this conflict within the fabric of the Church are still reverberating today. In this masterly appraisal of a doubt-ridden and turbulent period in Christianity Alec Vidler concludes with a discussion of the position of the Church in modern times and expertly answers the question: 'Has the Church stood up to the Age of Revolution?'