A Short History of Christianity [Paperback]

Stephen Tomkins (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 9, 2006

Takes readers on an entertaining and enlightening journey through the key stages of Christian development, covering the people, the events, the movements, and the controversies of the church.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Journalist Tomkins's breathless portrait of the development of Christianity certainly lives up to its title. Arranged chronologically in roughly 100-year increments, his survey devotes only enough space to major figures and events to introduce them before rushing off to another topic. Everyone who is anyone in Christianity is here: Jesus, Paul, Constantine, Augustine, Luther, Calvin, Jonathan Edwards, Joseph Smith and Pope Benedict XVI, among others. Tomkins hurries through the rise of Islam, the Crusades, the Reformation and Counter-Reformation, and the Great Awakenings, offering simplistic overviews of the causes and effects of each event. The narrative can be jerky, often shifting unexpectedly and inexplicably. For example, he devotes two paragraphs to 19th-century theologian Friedrich Schleiermacher and then jumps to Celtic Christianity with no warning or reason-all under the subsection that bears Schleiermacher's name. He gives Darwin a mere two paragraphs, and fails even to mention the rise of denominationalism, one of the most significant developments in the history of Protestantism. Moreover, no one reading Tomkins would ever know that women or non-European thinkers have played significant roles in Christian history. Racing through more than 2,000 years of Christian history in such cavalier fashion resembles bolting down the Sunday buffet at the local cafeteria: you can sample everything, but you're never full.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From the Publisher

Terry Jones — Star and cowriter of Monty Python "The sort of book I wish I’d read fifty years ago. Stephen Tomkins provides a context for so much of Western history over the last two millennia. His book explains a lot."

J. I. Packer — Regent College "Learned, lively journalist Tomkins, who could not write a dull sentence if he tried, here capsules the global Christian story into a brilliant page-turner that keeps you reading for hours at a time. It is all brisk and clear, all well digested, all thoroughly serious, and all great fun."

Christian Marketplace (UK) "Accessible, easily dipped into chapter-by-chapter and guaranteed to give greater insight to our faith. A recommended read for all."

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company (June 9, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802833829
• ISBN-13: 978-0802833822
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #297,096 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars All you need to know is a compact presentation, March 8, 2007

By 

wizard_chef (Birmingham, Alabama) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A Short History of Christianity (Paperback)

Stephen Tomkins was a writer for Monte Python, but he also has strong credentials as a religious scholar. Thus, his presentation displays his dry wit, making the reading a pleasure. OK, maybe he does pick some of the most bizarre characters of Christian history, but there they are! The history of Christianity is indeed bizarre, and Tomkins makes this abundantly clear in his presentation. This is a must read for most Christians who want a short read and quick understanding of the history of their faith. If you expect Tomkins to sugar-coat the past, don't buy this book. If you don't know much about the history of Christianity, be prepared!

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars who says history has to be boring?, December 23, 2006

By 

J. Johnson "Allman Brothers obsessive" (Manassas, VA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Short History of Christianity (Paperback)

Not many authors can get cover blurbs from a serious theologian like J. I. Packer and from ageniius like Terry Jones from Monty Python. It's indicitive of how well Tomkins walks a narrow line-getting history in a readable, concise format, and writing succinctly with wit. Simply put every minister needs a copy of this book. Tomkins boils events down into the barest narrative, yet he holds the essentials.

He writes short chapters that cover several hundred years in a jump or he discusses one great individual. When you need to brush up the basic set of facts and how they influenced the development of the culture-perhaps for a sermon or class, perhaps to answer a question from a parishioner, this book is incredibly useful. If you have someone who is growing in faith and they are curious about church history, this is a book that is accurate and will not put them to sleep or overwhelm them with its erudition.

I highly recommend this book.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Success, Mr. Tomkins!, June 14, 2007

By 

Gregory E. Foster "operabruin" (Portland, ME, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Short History of Christianity (Paperback)

First, please note the slightly wry Review Title here.

Now to the review of this fascinating, and "successful" little book. I have tried for years to digest historical, religious-related or oriented material, to not much success, as it bogs down and becomes so mundane that I cannot focus on it further and "give it up".

The past couple years I have read a lot about the Knights Templar, early Christianity from Jesus' time until about 500 years later. Personally, I seek the early "pure" (as I refer to it) Christian orthodoxy (or whatever one wishes to refer to it as), before it was transferred to Rome, and re-worked and twisted into something completely different than what it originally was supposed to be.

In the process of reading this book, I was very pleased with what Tomkins has to say "before" Rome, and also everything he says "about" Rome, and also, everything after that. Here we have an incapsulated, and 100-year or so, stepped history from the beginnings until today, right up to 9-11. This is fascinating to get this kind of overview, and I was most intrigued throughout this journey of 250 pages or so. It "snagged" me in several places, pricking my interest, and leaving me wanting to "know more" about certain eras, sects, etc. So, my reading list just got a little longer! And that is certainly OK!

Thus, the "Success" in the review title. Mr. Tomkins has succeeded very well (with others, too, I'm sure) in pricking my interest, and enlightening me, and making me want to go further in deeper readings of some of this material. So, he has certainly done his job, at least in my case, and I consider myself thankful to him for his enlightenment.

As a closing, might I also add that Mr. Tomkins is very clever in his writing style, adding just the slightest wry, humorous edge to his words, making this history so easy to get through.

If you're curious, by all means grab yourself a copy of this fascinating little book and do enjoy! ~operabruin