The Story of Christianity, Vol. 1: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation PDF
Preview The Story of Christianity, Vol. 1: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation
Dedication To Catherine Contents Dedication Preface Preface to the Revised and Updated Edition 1 Introduction PART 1: THE EARLY CHURCH Chronology 2 The Fullness of Time Judaism in Palestine Diaspora Judaism The Greco-Roman World 3 The Church in Jerusalem Unity and Diversity Religious Life The Waning of the Jewish Church 4 Mission to the Gentiles The Scope of the Mission Paul’s Work The Apostles: Facts and Legends 5 First Conflicts with the State A New Jewish Sect Persecution Under Nero Persecution Under Domitian 6 Persecution in the Second Century The Correspondence Between Pliny and Trajan Ignatius of Antioch, the Bearer of God The Martyrdom of Polycarp Persecution Under Marcus Aurelius Toward the End of the Second Century 7 The Defense of the Faith Base Rumors and Lofty Criticism The Main Apologists Christian Faith and Pagan Culture The Arguments of the Apologists 8 The Deposit of the Faith Gnosticism Marcion The Response: Canon, Creed, and Apostolic Succession The Ancient Catholic Church 9 The Teachers of the Church Irenaeus of Lyons Clement of Alexandria Tertullian of Carthage Origen of Alexandria 10 Persecution in the Third Century Persecution under Septimius Severus Under Decius The Question of the Lapsed: Cyprian and Novatian 11 Christian Life The Social Origins of Early Christians Christian Worship The Organization of the Church Missionary Methods The Beginnings of Christian Art 12 The Great Persecution and the Final Victory Suggested Readings PART II: THE IMPERIAL CHURCH Chronology 13 Constantine From Rome to Constantinople From the Unconquered Sun to Jesus Christ From Persecution to Dominance The Impact of the New Order Reactions to the New Order 14 Official Theology: Eusebius of Caesarea 15 The Monastic Reaction The Origins of Monasticism The First Monks of the Desert Pachomius and Communal Monasticism The Spread of the Monastic Ideal 16 The Schismatic Reaction: Donatism 17 The Arian Controversy and the Council of Nicea The Outbreak of the Controversy The Council of Nicea 18 The Pagan Reaction: Julian the Apostate Julian’s Religious Policy 19 Athanasius of Alexandria The Early Years Through Many Trials A Theological Agreement Further Trials 20 The Great Cappadocians Macrina Basil the Great Gregory of Nyssa Gregory of Nazianzus 21 Ambrose of Milan An Unexpected Election The Bishop and the Throne 22 John Chrysostom A Voice from the Wilderness Return to the Wilderness 23 Jerome 24 Augustine of Hippo A Tortuous Path to Faith Minister and Theologian of the Western Church 25 Beyond the Borders of the Empire 26 The End of an Era Suggested Readings PART III: MEDIEVAL CHRISTIANITY Chronology 27 The New Order The Germanic Kingdoms Benedictine Monasticism The Papacy The Arab Conquests 28 Eastern Christianity The Christological Debates to the Council of Chalcedon Further Theological Debates The Dissident Churches of the East Eastern Orthodoxy After the Arab Conquests 29 Imperial Restoration and Continuing Decay Charlemagne’s Reign Theological Activity New Invasions Decay in the Papacy 30 Movements of Renewal Monastic Reform Canonical and Papal Reform The Papacy and the Empire in Direct Confrontation 31 The Offensive Against Islam The First Crusade Later History of the Crusades The Spanish Reconquista Consequences of the Offensive against Islam 32 The Golden Age of Medieval Christianity The Mendicant Orders One Flock Under One Shepherd Theological Activity: Scholasticism Missionary Endeavors Stones That Bear Witness: Architecture 33 The Collapse New Conditions The Papacy Under the Shadow of France The Great Western Schism 34 In Quest of Reformation The Conciliar Movement John Wycliffe John Huss Girolamo Savonarola The Mystical Alternative Popular Movements 35 Renaissance and Humanism The Later Course of Scholasticism The Revival of Classical Learning A New Vision of Reality The Popes of the Renaissance Suggested Readings PART IV: THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL CHRISTIANITY Chronology 36 Spain and the New World The Nature of the Spanish Enterprise The Protest The Caribbean Mexico Golden Castile Florida Colombia and Venezuela The Four Corners of the Earth: The Incan Empire La Plata 37 The Portuguese Enterprise Africa Toward the Rising Sun Brazil 38 The New World and the Old Suggested Readings Appendix: The Ecumenical Councils Notes Index Maps Palestine: Birthplace of Christianity The Roman Empire The Roman Empire under Diocletian Constantine’s path to absolute power The birthplace of Donatism Europe after the Invasions The First Crusade The Portuguese in Africa and the Orient About the Author Also by Justo L. González Credits Copyright About the Publisher Preface The reader will probably be surprised to learn that I regard this book in large measure as autobiographical. It is so first of all because, as José Ortega y Gasset said, each generation stands on the shoulders of its predecessors like acrobats in a vast human pyramid. Thus, to tell the story of those to whom we are heirs is to write a long preface to our own life stories. But this book is also autobiographical in a second sense, for it deals with friends and companions with whom I have spent the last three decades. Since I first met Irenaeus, Athanasius, and the rest, and as I have read their writings and pondered their thoughts and deeds, they have accompanied me through the many turns and twists of life. Like contemporary friends, they have often been a joy, at other times a puzzlement, and even sometimes an aggravation. But still, they have become part of me, and as I write of them I am also aware that I am writing of my life with them. It is customary in a preface to acknowledge those who have contributed to the writing of the book. This I find impossible, for I would have to name a long list of scholars, both living and dead—Origen, Eusebius, the Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, Harnack, and the host of unknown monks who copied and recopied manuscripts. Among my contemporaries, however, there are two who I must mention. The first is my wife, Catherine Gunsalus González, Professor of Church History at Columbia Theological Seminary, in Decatur, Georgia, who has shared with me the last decade of my journey with the ancients, and whose reading and criticism of my manuscript have proven invaluable. The naming of the second is a sign of our times, for this is my live-in, full-time secretary of six years: the word processor on which I have prepared this manuscript. Many of the adjectives usually applied to typists in prefaces also apply to my word processor: patient, careful, uncomplaining, always ready to serve. Indeed, this secretary has typed and retyped my manuscript with no more protest than an occasional beep. However, as I write these very last words of my manuscript, an electric storm has forced me to take pen in hand once again, thus reminding me that we are not as far removed as we sometimes think from the time of Origen and Eusebius! As I send this book out into the world, it is my hope that others will enjoy the reading of it as much as I have enjoyed the writing of it. Preface to the Revised and Updated Edition It may seem odd that history needs to be revisited, revised, and rewritten; and yet it does. This is so, because history is never simply the bare past as it actually happened; it is the past as read through the sources that have survived, as selected by countless generations of historians, and as interpreted from our own present and from the future for which we hope. Thus, when I now read The Story of Christianity almost a quarter of a century after it was first written, I find much to reaffirm, but also much to revise. A few years after the first publication of this book, the Soviet Union collapsed. Then there was a resurgence of Islam, of which the rest of the world became aware as extreme and fanatical Muslims plotted and perpetrated acts of terrorism in every continent. Within Christianity itself, Pentecostalism and several similar movements took center stage through their growth both in traditionally Christian lands and in other regions. In many of those areas, new religions arose, many of them inspired by Christianity and taking some elements from it. The prospect of unprecedented ecological disaster finally gained the attention of governments and their leaders. The sustainability of the world economic order was severely questioned, no longer just by radical ideologues, but also by respected economists. The technology of communications has exploded. These developments—and many more—have shaped the way we look both at the future and at the past. Hence the need for a revised edition of this book. The other compelling reason for such a revised edition is my desire to incorporate in The Story of Christianity a number of comments and suggestions that I have received during the intervening years. Some have come from colleagues who read and used this book in English. Others have come as a result of a number of translations making the book itself available to widely different cultures—for the very process of translation brings to light ambiguities that are not immediately noticeable in the original language. Students and colleagues reading The Story from widely divergent cultures—for instance, in Japan, in Brazil, in Russia, in Korea—have widened my scope of what this book should include. I have not incorporated all their suggestions into the present edition (it is impossible to satisfy both those who want more on a given subject and those who want less!). But to all of them I am deeply grateful, particularly to students who have told me that a particular subject was not clear, or that they found another illuminating. Among those colleagues whose suggestions have proven valuable, I must again single out my wife, Catherine, who has read and reread my manuscript with unparalleled patience and wise advice. I must also express a particular word of gratitude to Professor James D. Smith III, of Bethel Seminary San Diego, whose many detailed suggestions have greatly improved the book. As I send this new edition out into the world, I am acutely aware that it too will need to be revised; that history will have to be written anew again and again as generations succeed one another. It is thus my hope that this revised edition will inspire others to further revision as they enter into the fascinating dialogue between the present and the past that is the very essence of history: a dialogue in which the past addresses us, but does so in terms of our present questions.
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