A History of Christianity in Asia: Beginnings to 1500 [Paperback]

Samuel Hugh Moffett (Author)

Book Description

Series: History of Christianity in Asia | Publication Date: April 1, 1998

Moffett (ecumenics, emeritus, Princeton Theological Seminary) begins a thorough and scholarly recounting of a neglected dimension of church history the story of Christianity in the East, where the gospel of Jesus Christ was "sown by different sowers;...planted in different soil;...grew with a differ

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From the Publisher

The first of a two-volume history documenting the spread of Christianity to southern Asia, India, and China. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 560 pages
• Publisher: Orbis Books; 2 Sub edition (April 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1570751625
• ISBN-13: 978-1570751622
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #428,123 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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35 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Last night I dreamt I was a great Khan..., July 20, 2004

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Jedidiah Palosaari "Not My Real Name" (Fes, Morocco) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A History of Christianity in Asia: Beginnings to 1500 (Paperback)

Last night I dreamt that I was a Great Khan, deciding who the next Nestorian Archbishops would be in the four sections of the empire...

There are few non-fiction books good enough to invade my dreams. This is one of them. I was pulled into the book and found it difficult to put down. Moffett writes in a very readable, engrossing style, but full of research and incredibly accurate. Unlike other treatments of this subject, Moffett is not trying to put forth a particular ideology or accept wholesale hagiography. While he respects the traditions of some about the formations of the early church, he analyzes these traditions critically to see what might be reality and what might be more myth.

It is rare to find a book on the Nestorian Church, this, perhaps the largest church in the world in the first 1000 years of Christianity, containing at least 20% of all Christians- all East of Antioch. Because many still consider their beliefs heretical (although most scholars now agree that the differences in understanding of the nature/s of Christ were more linguistic than theological), many theologians avoid this church, or don't even know of its existence. I grew up being taught there were Protestants and some Catholics. That was it. It wasn't till much later I learned there were Orthodox, and two varieties, as well as The Church of the East, the Nestorians. But when a writer does touch this subject, it is often very a very dry, terse history, that makes one want to rather fall asleep.

Moffett takes a different approach. He spent the time to do his research, as copious endnotes and sources indicate. He spent the time to contemplate the lives which he was writing about. And that's what makes this book different. He's writing about lives. It's exciting. He writes about the missions endeavors of this early church, how they spread throughout known Asia: to the Caucuses, central Asia, Arabia, Yemen, Suqutra, India, China, SE Asia, and maybe even Japan. He writes honestly about their successes and failures- why they expanded, and why they declined. Much of their approach was laudable, in their desire to contextualize. Some tragically hurt them in the end, in their repeated attempts to get close to the state, they sacrificed not necessarily ethics but their foremost mission for the sake of temporary security. And when the state fell, as all states do, the new state did not look with favor on those that were so closely tied with the old state. And the overall goal, of being a people called out to be different, an alien people, became lost in a struggle for survival. Ironically, in the attempt to survive, they spelled their own doom- so that today they only exist in isolated pockets in India, Kurdistan, and America, where the Patriarchate is.

Two minor issues that I would recommend to improve this book. There are many helpful references to the endnotes. However, much of the endnotes are simply source sites. It would be helpful to differentiate these. Also, because much of the book refers to unfamiliar place names, it would be helpful to include more detailed maps, changing as the years change, and not placed at the beginning of the book, but rather next to whatever text it is that is referring to the map. I spent a lot of time referring back to a random town in the maps, and trying to find where it was located.

This is a definite must for anyone interested in the Eastern churches, and the Church of the East. But I think all Christians should be aware of this church that was so formative in our history, to see how Christianity was really, in the first 12 centuries, an Asian religion before it was European. Though now the majority of Christians live outside the Western world, many forget that the narrowing of Christianity to Europe was only a temporary period in history.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Long-neglected subject, writes between scholarly and lay, December 14, 1999

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Kevin Iga (Malibu, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A History of Christianity in Asia: Beginnings to 1500 (Paperback)

In the West, the history of Christianity almost never includes the east, and when it does, it stops at the Orthodox church. This book covers the history of the Assyrian church and churches further east. It is fairly readable, and tries to fill in the history of the surrounding regions as well. It changed my perspective of Christianity and gave me a better sense as to what in Christianity is essential.

Some problems: some of the footnotes are used for irrelevant tangents, and the scholarly character drops from time to time. Also, the lists of kings and patriarchs should be an appendix, not scattered through the footnotes.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars useful overview, April 15, 2001

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This review is from: A History of Christianity in Asia: Beginnings to 1500 (Paperback)

I have used this text as the base text for an undergraduate course in Christianity East of Jerusalem and found it excellent for the purpose. The material is divided into small enough pieces for the students to handle and there is enough quotation of original sources in translation to give them a feel for some of the variety of Christian life in that broad area and span of time. I recommend it also for individual readers.