Chris Cook - The Routledge Companion to Christian History

The Routledge Companion to Christian History is an indispensable aid for anyone seeking wide-ranging coverage of the key facts in clear, concise language. It covers:

Fully cross-referenced throughout with a combination of timelines, glossaries and statistics, this packed volume contains a wealth of information for the first-time student or for anyone revisiting the subject.

Chris Cook is former Head of the Modern Archives Unit at the London School of Economics.

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First published 2008

by Routledge

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Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada

by Routledge

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Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

2008 Chris Cook

Typeset in Times New Roman by

Keyword Group Ltd

Printed and bound in Great Britain by

MPG Books Ltd, Bodmin

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

A catalog record for this book has been requested

ISBN 10: 0-415-38362-5 (hbk)

ISBN 10: 0-415-38363-3 (pbk)

ISBN 10: 0-203-09963-X (ebk)

ISBN 13: 978-0-415-38362-2 (hbk)

ISBN 13: 978-0-415-38363-9 (pbk)

ISBN 13: 978-0-203-09963-6 (ebk)

This new Routledge Companion has attempted to provide, within the constraints of a single, medium-sized volume, an introductory overview of the history of Christianity from its early beginnings to the present day. No volume of this length can begin to attempt to be comprehensive. Rather, it has concentrated on the key historical themes, events and terms in the history of a movement that now spans two millennia and every continent.

This is essentially a book of historical reference for teachers, lecturers, students and the general public (of whatever religious persuasion, or indeed none). It has been designed as a desk-top companion for quick reference, a digest and compendium of information assembled from a large array of sources and not easily found assembled elsewhere in one volume. It is not primarily a book for theologians (although it is hoped that they will find here key facts and dates on such themes as the background to the divisions that have afflicted Christianity over the centuries and the relationship of Christianity to the other faiths). Rather, the primary aim of the book has been to provide, within a wide-ranging but concise chronological framework, the historical and particularly the political background in which Christianity first flourished and later declined (and, in various parts of the world, is now witnessing a renaissance).

The book is intended particularly to provide some of the background dates, data and other key information concerning the role and place of Christianity in the world of the twenty-first century. Hence the chronologies and other material in this volume grow larger and more voluminous from the sixteenth century Reformation onwards, filling out even more after the French Revolution. Recent years have seen a growing need for a book of this kind. In the twentieth century, the study of the history of religion became unfashionable, almost to the point of extinction. Religion itself (and particularly Christianity) seemed very much consigned to the past, at least in the Western world. This was the age of science and technology, of communism and consumerism, of the Internet and the infallibility of human progress. The events of 1989 (with the collapse of Communism) and the devastating terrorist attack on America in 2001 have altered that perspective.

Religion, and religious fundamentalism, is once again at the forefront of world affairs. The rise of militant Islam, the revival of Christianity in the former Soviet Union, the embracing influence of the religious right in the USA all these are key themes for the student of contemporary history. Some of the current problems affecting the Christian churches in the modern era are also treated in this volume: the troubled relationship of Church and State; the relations of Christianity with other faiths, particularly Judaism and Islam, over the centuries; the shifting balance of power within the Roman Catholic and Protestant churches away from Europe and America, towards Africa and Asia; the revival of Orthodoxy after its troubled history under Communism in Russia and Eastern Europe. Even within these relatively limited objectives, selectivity is important. Until recently, geographical coverage of the history of Christianity concentrated heavily on Europe (and particularly Western Europe). The emphasis was on European Catholicism and Protestantism, and missionary work overseas.

Now, attention has shifted to once-forgotten areas: the Orthodox churches of Eastern Europe, Russia and the Balkans; the ancient churches of the East (Armenian, Syrian, the Nestorian missions and so forth; and (yet more recently) to the newly independent churches of the African continent, the radical liberation theology movement of South America and the growing fundamentalist right in North America. This volume has attempted to give some background coverage to some of these new themes. At the same time, no doubt the primary readership of this book, whether students and lecturers, laymen or clergy, will be in Britain and America. Hence particular attention has still to be given to such traditional areas of study as the Crusades, the medieval papacy and the Protestant Reformation, without excluding these new areas of study.

The compilation of any book of this kind owes much to the innumerable standard histories and reference works on particular aspects of the history of Christianity. Some of these are included in the Bibliography, but particular mention should be made of such invaluable works as the