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Turning Points: Decisive Moments in the History of Christianity

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Dr. Noll's reason for organizing church history around a series of "turning points" arose from his need to have a framework for teaching the history of Christianity to diverse groups. The author selects twelve defining moments in church history and uses them as entry points into the sweeping and potentially overwhelming events of the two-thousand-year history of the Christian Church. He hopes this method will bring order into a massively complicated subject, provide an opportunity to highlight moments that constitute the actual history of the church, and provide an opportunity to interpret why certain events may have marked an important fork in the road for the outworking of Christian history.

Turning Points was written for lay people and introductory students rather than for scholars. The style of writing is interesting, easy to read, and to the point. As such, it makes a great book for his audience. Though Noll is a Protestant evangelical, he is careful to avoid bias as he attempts to present Christianity as a worldwide religion. The book is a survey of church history but the thesis revolves around the importance of twelve defining moments within the two-thousand-year span. His selection of "turning points" include the Fall of Jerusalem (70), the Council of Nicaea (325), Benedict's monasticism (530), the coronation of Charlemagne (800), the schism of East and West (1054), the Reformation (1521), the English Reformation (1534), the founding of the Jesuits (1540), the conversion of the Wesleys (1738), the French Revolution (1789) and the Edinburgh Missionary Conference (1910). The book is chronologically arranged around each of these events. Conspicuously and intentionally Noll leaves off major events of the twentieth century, to be evaluated for significance from the preferred perspective of future generations. The author believes that book will have been successful if it "inspires others to think about why the turning points found here are not as important as other possibilities." There are many other possibilities that come to mind but Noll's list of most significant turning points is hard to dispute. Each chapter begins with a hymn and ends with a prayer from the era being addressed. This add an interesting flavor that sets the tone for the history Noll unfolds and then leaves you with a glimpse into the spiritual life of a contemporary to the event being studied.

There are obvious pros and cons to this style of writing history. When you are through reading "Turning Points" you feel like you've moved through the most significance events in the history of the church and some of the most momentous in human history. Such a whirlwind journey gives you a good feel for the chronology and sequence of each defining event. Because of Noll's ability to keep you moving along the plot line of the stories, the trip through history is an enjoyable journey. Along the way Noll shares interesting commentary from history itself. His historical exposition agrees with other church history work but without personal judgment or clearly biased commentary. He uses reliable evidence to demonstrate his observations, without stretching it to accomplish his agenda or prove his point.

Examining two thousand years of Church history by investigating the twelve most significant turning points in that history is a valuable method of covering such a large body of information in a condensed form. I highly recommend Turning Points as a thoughtful, engaging, and inspiring treatment of church history. The reader should realize the book is not meant to be comprehensive or by any means an exhaustive treatment of the subject. The book will give the novice a good overview of the history of Christianity and should provoke the curious student to further study.

In my opinion, Mark Noll is the foremost (American) church historian of our generation. In a series of books, he has set forth biblically-grounded and scholarly rigorous treatment of a vast range of theological and historical issues. Almost single handedly he is has reversed the dearth of evangelical intellectualism.

Turning Points is one of Noll's most accessible books. Not a dry scholarly treatise, but rather a lively and well-written overview of 12 critical events in the history of Christianity. Noll's idea is that focusing on specific episodes not only allows for a more detailed treatment of each than would be possible in a comprehensive text, but also permits "more opportunity interpretive reflection." I think he was exactly right--he can go into considerable depth on each event, explaining why it was so significant.

Turning Points thus does not pretend to be a comprehensive narrative. For those looking for such a treatment, may I recommend Paul Johnson's "History of Christianity," which I regard as the finest one-volume comprehensive church history.

Like any list-making project, one can quibble with Noll's choices. He leaves out some of my favorite episodes (which is not exactly the right phrase, but you get my point). Not included are such events as the three Great Awakenings; the installation of John Paul II; the crusades; and so on. At the same time, however, it is hard to quibble with Noll's choices. Events like Nicea, Worms, the French Revolution, and so on were all major "turning points" that deserved comprehensive treatment.

As an adult convert to Catholicism from evangelicalism, I particularly appreciated Noll's objectivity and even-handedness. Without betraying his own evangelical tradition, Noll treats Catholicism eminently fairly.

I'm just finishing this book and found it to be a thought provoking approach to the subject. Noll takes an openly evangelical approach to things, yet is very fair to the Catholics and the Orthodox. In fact, the chapters on monks and on orthodoxy were quite good. The format is also appealing, with each chapter bookended with hymns and prayers from the period being covered. The bibliography after each chapter is also very useful.

With this book, Mark Noll provides an introductory-level study of Christian history - NOT as a sweeping movement over thousands of years (which many larger, more ambitious works encompass), but as a series of turning points - events that changed the way Christianity perceived itself, and was perceived by the world. In this way, a student can gain a quick introduction to many of the issues that have faced Christianity throughout history without being overwhelmed by dates, names, doctrines, etc.

Obviously, as with any "best of" listing, there are things I would have liked to have seen added. There is no mention of the Scopes trial, and Darwinism receives small mention. This trial, more than any other event, triggered the rise of fundamentalism, which has certainly had an impact on the way Christianity is perceived. The controversy over Darwinism still shapes Christian thought today -- as can be seen in Noll's The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind.

Overall, an excellent resource, though I would encourage readers to invest in a more thorough treatment of Christian history in addition to this book.

Noll identifies twelve "turning points" in the history of Christianity, times at which the faith struck off in a distinctly different direction from that which it had been traveling. He seeks to set forth the significance of each turning point and set it in its proper place in the broad sweep of history.

You cannot argue with his first few choices, although he seems to read more consequence into the events than may be warranted. The fall of Jerusalem was indeed a watershed event, but Noll sees its significance in the formation of canon, clergy, and creed. These three things formed after the fall, and would have formed quite differently but for the fall, but were not the direct result of the fall. The main significance of the fall is that it freed Christianity from its status as a sect of Judaism. Until Jerusalem fell, the premier church of Christianity was the Jerusalem Church. The Jerusalem Church considered itself a sect of Judaism. Until the death of the Jerusalem Church, all Christians everywhere would feel constrained to follow its lead.

One must wonder whether it was the Council of Nicaea or the Battle of the Milvian Bridge that was the second turning point in Christian history. Nevertheless, the Nicene Creed's significance cannot be overstated.

The next turning point, the Council of Chalcedon, "settled" Christ's nature. Although there is still disagreement among various Christian denominations, most still adhere to the doctrine of Christ hammered out at Chalcedon.

Later "turning points" are more debatable. Charlemagne's coronation may or may not have laid the foundation for Christendom. You could make an excellent case for the proposition that we have Constantine, not Charlemagne, to thank for Christendom.

Some "turning points" aren't so much turning points as symptoms of greater movements within Christian history. The English Act of Supremacy, which was basically an act of convenience for an heirless king, was more symptom than turning point, as were the French Revolution and the ministry of Wesley. Noll makes this amply clear in the chapters devoted to those "turning points."

His most intriguing chapter is the last, as he maps out the survival of Christianity under Communist repression and the explosion of Christianity in Africa and South America. This last phenomenon goes far to set at naught the arguments of those who see Christianity as irrelevant in the postmodern world.

Noll is to be commended for doing a nice job concerning an impossible task. Someone wisely stated that one does not evaluate church history by events, but by people. Noll challenges that assumption, by evaulautaing events in church history.

This book is written as an intro text, easy to read, for laymen. But more advanced historians can profit from it, sharpening them on finer points. Of particular interest to me were the chapters concerning the middle ages (monasticism, crowning of Charlemagne, and Luther, especially Luther.) Noll's commendation is for giving a list of possible turning points for future historians...worth noting. On a personal level, one hopes that an historian would write a modern-day, post communist history on the church concerning their survival of that satanic, abominable philosophy. Such a work would point to the glory of God.

Final Analysis
This is a good, intro text. If read with Bruce Shelleys's work, one would have an adequate grip on the Church. Granted, the book has its sleepy parts (thus the four stars), its brilliant parts (Luther), and its soul-stirring parts (the church surviving Communism). Also, Noll is to be commended for his objectivity as a Protestant historian.

By describing the ten events which the author thinks are the most important in the history of Christianity, Dr. Noll has developed a great framework on which to structure a survey history of the entire religion.

Dr. Noll is an evangelical Protestant, but he makes it quite clear where his prejudices lay and how it may affect what he has to say. He also helpfully points out how someone who disagrees with him could reach different conclusions. In fact, he is so scrupulous in examining his own biases, that this book is a model for any honest historian writing about any subject.

The book is also a lot of fun. In addition to thorough discussions of each of his turning points, he has sidebars on things like developments in the writing of hymns and prayers. You learn more about Christianity (and the development of the Western world) in this short book than you do in many books ten times as long.

As a Church History professor I highly recommend this book as a supplemental text that would complement an edited book of readings and perhaps a biography or two. This volume picks up on decisive events, and as such is not an encyclopedic text with all the facts and figures. Noll is a great writer and he knows how to synthesize very complex matters such as the Council of Nicaea. He does a masterful job in explaining this theological maze to students--especially ones who do not have theological degrees. Because of the brevity of the book, some important figures recieve very little space (St. Augustine) or no space at all (Abelard), and women are few and far between. Nevertheless, it served as an excellent text in my classes at Calvin Theological Seminary, where I taught before I was given the boot ("My Calvin Seminary Story"). Each chapter begins and ends with worship liturgy, hymns, and prayers fitting the time period.

Christians believe that God is a God of history. Events, councils, decisions, all involving people, are part of God's continuing revelation through history.

This book allows the reader to see Christianity's history since the fall of Jerusalem in 70 C.E. with the pushing of the early church from its Jewish roots into the surrounding Roman world to events that are occurring around us today.

Christians who do not know their Christian heritage since the New Testament times including the struggles and debates that bring us to where we are today should read this book.

Included "turning points" in this book are as Luther and what we now call the Reformation. There are endless numbers of books with 300 to 600 pages available to read and learn about Luther and the Reformation. If, however, you want to learn of the Reformation and other chosen turning points with their beginnings, issues, and consequences in about 20 pages per topic, this is your book.

Noll brings over 13 turning points in the history of Christianity to his book in 20 page segments. The turning points are placed in full context of surrounding, influencing forces such as government, wars, economics, languages, theology, church maturity, Christian zeal, personalities, etc.

He closes with "turns" that are occurring today and what Christianity might look like in the future.

One of the struggles a teacher of history faces is how to teach history. Does the teacher present the facts of history and allow the class to make their own connections, and thus present history as an avalanche of disconnected (or partially-connected) events, overwhelming the class with dry facts without life? Does the teacher pull threads of history (as Barbara Tuchman does in The March of Folly: From Troy to Vietnam or James Burke does so excellently in The Day the Universe Changed: How Galileo's Telescope Changed The Truth and Other Events in History That Dramatically Altered Our Understanding of the World (Back Bay Books)), presenting a flow of history that comes alive, but leaving out huge chunks of events and historical development that provide the supportive environment for those threads? Both are legitimate ways of teaching history, with their own strengths and weaknesses.

In "Turning Points", Mark Noll departs from his normal comprehensive approach to history and distills 2000 years of Church history into (a mere) 12 momentous (even monumentous) events. Nolls does his typically excellent job of bringing history to life by providing details, explaining events (and their significance), and showing how those events affected the outflow of history. His prose is easy to read, yet the book does not leave you with the feeling of being robbed of depth for the sake of simplicity. As an example, Nolls does a masterful job of explaining in lay terms the Christological controversy of Christ's two natures that led to the Council of Chalcedon (something most historical authors shy away from), along the way pointing out the origins of the veneration of Mary, a concept deeply important to the Eastern and Roman Catholic Churches, but extremely distasteful to most Protestants. Likewise, his discussion of the split between the Eastern and Western churches and the historical basis for that split starting in the 2nd and 3rd centuries, and why the split is detrimental to both churches, is quite excellent.

Obviously those who have taught Sunday School in a Protestant church will recognize the 13 chapter format (the last chapter is an apology for all the other turning points that didn't make it into the book). This is clearly a book intended to guide a teaching of Church history in a Sunday School format. Given the utter lack of such material (and the appalling lack of attention to Church history in the Protestant Church today), such a book is very welcome. Yet the book is more than a Sunday School guide. It is easy to read, well-written, well-researched, and does an admirable job at nudging us to look deeper into our prejudices as Protestants. Nolls points us to both the positives and negatives of each of the turning point events, and helps us wonder what would have happened if things were different. He does a good job of making us wonder whether our Protestant view of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches are justified, which will ruffle the feathers of some (a good thing imho). Thus, "turning Points" is a great book for personal reading as well as teaching the history of Christianity to a lay audience.

But it leaves out so much history. Augustine and his huge and long-running affect on the church is largely ignored. The crusades are mentioned, but only as a side issue to the East/West split. The Babylonian Captivity (or Avignon Papacy) is hardly mentioned at all. The spread of Christianity through Northern Europe and Scandinavia, and the radical change to the culture of those areas was not mentioned at all. The philosophical development of the middle ages (setting the stage for the Renaissance, the Reformation, and the Enlightenment) was left out. The rise of Evangelicalism in America (something Nolls knows quite a bit about: see A History of Christianity in the United States and Canada) was only briefly discussed. These keep me from wholeheartedly endorsing the book.

Yet even with those flaws, the book is an excellent read, and I do recommend it. It is written from a Protestant perspective, and thus will probably annoy some Catholics and Orthodox in its leanings and what it includes and leaves out. And yet it nicely points out some of the prejudices Protestants hold, and their effects on the Church Universal (thus annoying some Protestants as well). It reminds us that even though we (snobbishly) look at historical figures with disdain, often ridiculing them for their lack of science and technology (and thus their immature and foolish ideas), we indeed do stand on the shoulders of giants of thought and action. It certainly is a welcome addition to the Sunday School curriculum. And if Nolls wets the appetite for a further investigation of the history of Christianity, then the book must certainly be classified as a success!