Introduction to World Christian History
Overview
Christianity is a global faith.
Today, people are increasingly aware that Christianity extends far beyond Europe and North America, permeating the Eastern and Southern hemispheres. What we may know less well is that Christianity has always been a global faith.
A vast untold story waits to be heard beyond the familiar tale of how the Christian faith spread across Europe. Not only was Jesus born in Asia, but in the early years of the church Christianity found fertile soil in Africa and soon extended to East Asia as well.
In this brief introduction to world Christian history, Derek Cooper explores the development of Christianity across time and the continents. Guiding readers to places such as Iraq, Ethiopia and India, Scandinavia, Brazil and Oceania, he reveals the fascinating—and often surprising—history of the church.
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- Provides an overview of world Christian history
- Relocates the center of the Christian narrative to the Global South
- Presents many different angles from which to view Christian similarities and differences
Part I: Christianity from the First to the Seventh Centuries
- Asia
- Africa
- Europe
Part II: Christianity from the Eighth to the Fourteenth Centuries
- Asia
- Africa
- Europe
Part III: Christianity from the Fifteenth to the Twenty-first Centuries
- Europe
- Latin America
- Northern America
- Oceania
- Africa
- Asia
Derek Cooper's Introduction to World Christian History is a welcome contribution to the field. This accessible and informative historical narrative introduces the reader to the broad, diverse and far-reaching story of Christianity as it 'blows where it wills' from the first through the twenty-first century. In the end, the reader is left with little doubt that Christianity was and is a worldwide movement.
Jennifer Powell McNutt, associate professor of theology and history of Christianity, Wheaton College
A welcome addition to the ever-expanding scholarship in the field of world Christianity studies, Derek Cooper's book helps to rewrite our traditional Western understanding of church history and course-correct away from North Atlantic–centrism. Cooper gently leads us away from our particular tendencies to see and tell only our own stories toward a broader canvas of the 'great cloud of witnesses' that came before us and has not had its time in the spotlight.
Allen Yeh, associate professor of intercultural studies and missiology, Cook School of Intercultural Studies, Biola University
The challenge for those writing a book on this topic is negotiating the question of breadth and depth. How broad should it be, and how deep can one go without risking a superficial overview or selective analysis? To the author's credit he dexterously steers through these challenges and provides us with a work that engages and interacts with the range and diversity of the living realities of the Christian faith in various regions of the world, opening up entryways to wonder at the global expressions of Christianity.
J. Jayakiran Sebastian, dean and H. George Anderson Professor of Mission and Cultures, Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia
- Title: Introduction to World Christian History
- Author: Derek Cooper
- Publisher: IVP
- Print Publication Date: 2016
- Logos Release Date: 2022
- Pages: 254
- Era: era:contemporary
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Reader Edition
- Subject: Church history
- ISBNs: 9780830899067, 9780830840885, 0830899065, 0830840885
- Resource ID: LLS:NTRDCTNWRLDCHST
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-30T01:58:08Z