Christianity Through the Centuries a History of the Christian Church

Abstract

AN EXAMINATION OF available church history texts reveals that most of them reflect a particular denominational or theological bias. This text was written from a conservative, nondenominational perspective. A Christian philosophy of history underlies the presentation. Because one can never understand the history of Christianity effectively without some conception of the political, economic, social, intellectual, and artistic movements in each era of history, the events of church history are related to their secular environment. The treatment of persons, places, dates, events, ideas, and trends or movements in their proper temporal and geographical setting helps one grasp the flow of church history. I have given attention to the impact of Christianity on its times and to the mark of the times on Christianity. I have attempted to link information, understanding, and interpretation in a relevant synthesis that has value in the present. I am grateful that after forty years of the use of this text by both teachers and students in the classroom and by the Christian public its continued demand has made an extensive revision desirable and feasible. Constructive suggestions from several people have been most helpful in improving the accuracy and clarity of this work.