Christianity: A Social and Cultural History [Hardcover]

Howard Clark Kee (Author), Carter Lindberg (Author), Emily Albu Hanawalt (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1997

Written by contributing scholars who are experts in specific facets of developing Christianity, this survey provides a well-rounded introduction to the history of Christianity and is ideal for anyone interested in the impact of Christianity of world culture down through history. It shows how Christianity emerged from its original Jewish context and developed into a worldwide religion, offering perceptive studies on how its origins and development were influenced by the changing social and cultural contexts in which the founders and leaders of this tradition lived and thought.Provides detailed evidence of the influence of Greco-Roman and Jewish religious concepts and religious movements on the origins of Christianity, considers the structuring of the church conceptually and organizationally in Europe, and discusses Christianity's spread and growth in America and throughout the world. Looks at the profound impact of the culture of the later Roman and medieval world on the development of Christian doctrine and intellectual traditions and helps readers understand the reasons for the divisions between Catholic and Protestant traditions. For theologians.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Written by contributing scholars who are experts in specific facets of developing Christianity, this survey provides a well-rounded introduction to the history of Christianity and is ideal for anyone interested in the impact of Christianity of world culture down through history. It shows how Christianity emerged from its original Jewish context and developed into a worldwide religion, offering perceptive studies on how its origins and development were influenced by the changing social and cultural contexts in which the founders and leaders of this tradition lived and thought.Provides detailed evidence of the influence of Greco-Roman and Jewish religious concepts and religious movements on the origins of Christianity, considers the structuring of the church conceptually and organizationally in Europe, and discusses Christianity's spread and growth in America and throughout the world. Looks at the profound impact of the culture of the later Roman and medieval world on the development of Christian doctrine and intellectual traditions and helps readers understand the reasons for the divisions between Catholic and Protestant traditions. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 792 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall (January 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0023624310
• ISBN-13: 978-0023624315
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.5 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,025,213 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dana L. Robert is Truman Collins Professor of World Christianity and History of Mission, and Director of the Center for Global Christianity and Mission at the Boston University School of Theology. (http:www.bu.edu/cgcm/) In addition to the books listed on amazon, see D Robert, ed., African Christian Outreach, vol II (available from the South African Missiological Society). Robert also wrote the 2010 mission study for the United Methodist Church, "Joy to the World!: Mission in the Age of Global Christianity," which is available from the denominational Mission Resource Center. (http://www.missionresourcecenter.org/wdstore/default.asp). Robert's research and teaching interests span the fields of mission history, the history of world Christianity, and mission theology. With her husband M.L. Daneel, an expert on African religions, she travels regularly to Zimbabwe. They edit the book series "African Initiatives in Christian Mission" (University of South Africa Press.)

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3.0 out of 5 stars Historical Outline of Christian Social thought, October 15, 2011

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This review is from: Christianity: A Social and Cultural History (2nd Edition) (Paperback)

This anthology gives a historical outline of Christian social thought from Alexander the Great to late twentieth century and is a fine textbook for those referring to it for advanced high school or college undergraduate study in Catechesis, History, Art and Philosophy . Those however requiring an academic understanding for subjects such as the sociology of religion might find it too general and not specific to the cannon of primary texts of theory. The book is a handy reference which I refer to often. However there is a conspicuous omission in this volume, that is, the oral and written origins of the Christianity found through the Jewish tradition. This omission does not confound the purpose of the book, but its inclusion would contribute substantially to the initial focus of the book and is essential to understand the religiosity, soteriology and history of Christianity. A chapter like the one found in Jewish Philosophy An Historical Introduction, Continuum, London, 2003. Chapter 8, Rabbinic history: from Alexander the Great to Muhammad is useful reading prior to the study of this chronicle.