Church history in plain language updated 4th edition - Softcover

Shelley, Bruce

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1401676316 ISBN 13: 9781401676315

Publisher: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2012

Synopsis

Church History in Plain Language makes church history clear, memorable, and accessible to every reader.

Dr. Bruce Shelley makes church history come alive in this classic book that has become not only the first choice of many laypeople and church leaders but the standard text in many college classrooms.Church History in Plain Language treats history as the story of people—their motivations, the issues they grapple with, the decisions they make—and the result is that history reads like a story, almost as dramatic and moving as a novel.

This fourth edition, revised by R.L. Hatchett, brings the story of Christianity into the twenty-first century, with detailed information on:

• Theology of the early church and Reformation
• Gnosticism and its ongoing relevance
• The rapid global extension and transformation of Christianity since 1900
• The decline in traditional mainline denominations
• The influence of technology on the spread of the gospel
• How Christianity intersects with other religions in countries all over the world

Church History in Plain Language makes history easy to follow and retain by dividing the Christian story into the great ages of the church. Its clarity, organization, and historical accuracy are part of what make this book a go-to resource for today's readers.

About this title

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

CHURCH HISTORY IN PLAIN LANGUAGE

By BRUCE L. SHELLEY

Thomas Nelson

Copyright © 2013 Bruce L. Shelley
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-4016-7631-5

Contents

Foreword...................................................................
ix
Prologue...................................................................
xi
The Age of Jesus and the Apostles 6 BC–AD 70...............................
1
Chapter 1 Away with the King! The Jesus Movement..........................
3
Chapter 2 Wineskins: Old and New The Gospel to the Gentiles...............
14
The Age of Catholic Christianity 70–312....................................
27
Chapter 3 Only Worthless People Catholic Christianity.....................
29
Chapter 4 If the Tiber Floods The Persecution of Christians...............
40
Chapter 5 Arguing About the Event The Rise of Orthodoxy...................
49
Chapter 6 The Rule of Books The Formation of the Bible....................
64
Chapter 7 The School for Sinners The Power of Bishops.....................
75
Chapter 8 Apostles to Intellectuals The Alexandrians......................
84
The Age of the Christian Roman Empire 312–590..............................
95
Chapter 9 Laying Her Sceptre Down The Conversion of the Empire............
97
Chapter 10 Splitting Important Hairs The Doctrine of the Trinity..........
105
Chapter 11 Emmanuel! Christ in the Creeds.................................
116
Chapter 12 Exiles from Life The Beginnings of Monasticism.................
125
Chapter 13 The Sage of the Ages Augustine.................................
133
Chapter 14 Peter as "Pontifex Maximus" The Beginnings of the Papacy.......
141
Chapter 15 Somewhere Between Heaven and Earth Eastern Orthodoxy...........
150
Chapter 16 Bending the Necks of Victors Mission to the Barbarians.........
162
The Christian Middle Ages 590–1517.........................................
171
Chapter 17 God's Consul Gregory the Great.................................
173
Chapter 18 The Search for Unity Charlemagne and Christendom...............
182
Chapter 19 Lifted in a Mystic Manner The Papacy and the Crusader..........
192
Chapter 20 The Nectar of Learning Scholasticism...........................
203
Chapter 21 A Song to Lady Poverty The Apostolic Lifestyle.................
214
Chapter 22 Sleeping Men and the Law of Necessity The Decline of the 
Papacy.....................................................................
225
Chapter 23 Judgment in the Process of Time Wyclif and Hus.................
234
The Age of the Reformation 1517–1648.......................................
245
Chapter 24 A Wild Boar in the Vineyard Martin Luther and Protestantism....
247
Chapter 25 Radical Discipleship The Anabaptists...........................
258
Chapter 26 Thrust into the Game John Calvin...............................
267
Chapter 27 The Curse upon the Crown The Church of England.................
275
Chapter 28 "Another Man" at Manresa The Catholic Reformation..............
282
Chapter 29 Opening the Rock America and Asia..............................
292
Chapter 30 The Rule of the Saints Puritanism..............................
303
Chapter 31 Unwilling to Die for an Old Idea Denominations.................
313
The Age of Reason and Revival 1648–1789....................................
321
Chapter 32 Aiming at the Foundations The Cult of Reason...................
323
Chapter 33 The Heart and Its Reasons Pascal and the Pietists..............
334
Chapter 34 A Brand from the Burning Wesley and Methodism..................
346
Chapter 35 A New Order of the Ages The Great Awakening....................
357
The Age of Progress 1789–1914..............................................
367
Chapter 36 The Restoration of Fortresses Catholicism in the Age of 
Progress...................................................................
369
Chapter 37 A New Social Frontier Nineteenth-Century England...............
381
Chapter 38 To Earth's Remotest People Protestant Missions.................
390
Chapter 39 The Destiny of a Nation A Christian America....................
400
Chapter 40 A Bridge for Intelligent Moderns Protestant Liberalism.........
411
Chapter 41 Nothing to Lose but Chains The Social Crisis...................
422
The Age of Ideologies 1914–1989............................................
433
Chapter 42 Graffiti on a Wall of Shame Twentieth-Century Ideologies.......
435
Chapter 43 Rootless Immigrants in a Sick Society American Evangelicals....
447
Chapter 44 New Creeds for Breakfast The Ecumenical Movement...............
459
Chapter 45 The Medicine of Mercy Roman Catholicism: Vatican II............
468
The Age of Global Expansion and Relocation 1900–...........................
479
Chapter 46 Christianity in the West Decline and Reconstruction............
481
Chapter 47 Shift to the Global South What is the "New Christianity"?......
494
Chapter 48 Windows to the Christian World Places and Persons of Faith.....
507
Epilogue...................................................................
515
Notes......................................................................
522
List of Popes from Leo I to the Present....................................
532
Indexes (People, Movements, Events)........................................
535

CHAPTER 1

AWAY WITH THE KING!

The Jesus Movement

Christianity is the only major religion to have as its central eventthe humiliation of its God.

"Dear dying Lamb," believers sing,"thy precious BloodShall never lose its power,Till all the ransomed Church of GodBe saved to sin no more."

Crucifixion was a barbarous death, reserved for agitators, pirates,and slaves. Jewish law cursed "everyone who hangs on a tree" and theRoman statesman, Cicero, warned, "Let the very name of the crossbe far, not only from the body of a Roman citizen, but even from histhoughts, his eyes, his ears."

Part of the victim's punishment was to be whipped and then to carrythe heavy crossbeam to the place of his own death. When the cross wasraised, a notice was pinned to it giving the culprit's name and crime.In Jesus' case, INRI: Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum (Jesus of Nazareth,King of the Jews).

Pontius Pilate, Jesus' Roman judge, apparently intended it as a finalthrust of malice aimed at the Jews, but, like the cross itself, Jesus' followersfound a special meaning in the message.

JESUS AND THE CHURCH

Jesus was a Jew. He came from a Jewish family; he studied the Jewishscriptures; he observed the Jewish religion. Any serious study ofhis life makes this so clear that many people have asked if Jesus everintended to create that company of followers we call the church. AlbertSchweitzer, the famous missionary to Africa, believed that Jesus wasobsessed with a dream of the impending end of the world and died tomake the dream come true. Rudolf Bultmann, an influential Germantheologian, taught that Jesus was a prophet who challenged people tomake a radical decision for or against God. Other Christians have heldthat Jesus' kingdom was a brotherhood of love and forgiveness. If hefounded a society at all, they say, it was an invisible one, a moral or spiritualcompany—not an institution with rites and creeds.

This anti-institutional view of Christianity is so widespread that wehad better face the question straightaway. Did Jesus have anything todo with the formation of the Christian church? And if he did, how didhe shape its special character?

The gospel writers picture Jesus as retracing the steps of Israel.Reminiscent of Israel, Jesus spent time in Egypt, entered the Jordan(baptism), was tempted in the wilderness, called twelve apostles (liketwelve tribes), spoke God's word like Moses (Sermon on the Mount),preached five sermons (compare the Pentateuch) in Matthew, performedmighty deeds of deliverance (signs, wonders, and exorcisms),and confronted imperial powers. Where Israel had failed, Jesus hadbeen a faithful Son. His followers were to take up the task of beingGod's servant people. He worked with a faithful band of disciples, hetaught them about life in what he called "the kingdom of God," andhe introduced them to the new covenant that bound them together inforgiveness and love.

Granted, that simple company lacked many of the laws, officials, ceremonies,and beliefs of later Christendom, but it was a society apart.Jesus made a persistent point about the special kind of life that separatedthe kingdom of God from rival authorities among men. Little bylittle his disciples came to see that following him meant saying no to theother voices calling for their loyalties. In one sense that was the birthof the Jesus movement. And in that sense, at least, Jesus "founded" thechurch.

PALESTINE IN JESUS' DAY

During the days of Jesus, Palestine never lacked for loyalties. It wasa crossroads of culture and peoples. Its two million or more people,ruled by Rome, were divided by region, religion, and politics. "In aday's journey a man could travel from rural villages where farmerstilled their fields with primitive plows to bustling cities where menenjoyed the comforts of Roman civilization. In the Holy City of Jerusalem,Jewish priests offered sacrifices to the Lord of Israel, while atSebaste, only thirty miles away, pagan priests held rites in honor of theRoman god Jupiter."

The Jews, who represented only half the population, despised theirforeign overlords and deeply resented the signs of pagan culture intheir ancient homeland. The Romans were not just another in a longseries of alien conquerors. They were representatives of a hated way oflife. Their imperial reign brought to Palestine the Hellenistic (Greek)culture that the Syrians had tried to impose forcibly on the Jews over acentury before. All the children of Abraham despised their overlords;they simply disagreed about how to resist them.

Centuries earlier the prophets of Israel had promised a day whenthe Lord would deliver his people from their pagan rulers and establishhis kingdom over the whole earth. On that day, they said, he wouldsend an anointed ruler, a messiah, to bring an end to the corrupt worldof the present and replace it with an eternal paradise. He would raisethe dead and judge their actions in this world. The wicked would bepunished, but the righteous would be rewarded with eternal life in thekingdom of God.

According to the book of Daniel and other popular Jewish writings,the Lord's kingdom would be established only after a final cosmicstruggle between the forces of evil, led by Satan, and the forces of good,led by the Lord. It would end with the destruction of the existing worldorder and the creation of a kingdom without end (Dan. 7:13–22). Thisbelief, along with ideas about the resurrection of the dead and the lastjudgment, was in Jesus' day very much a part of popular Jewish faith.

Out of the distaste for life under the Romans, several factions aroseamong the Jews, each interpreting the crisis in a different way. TheJesus movement was one of them.

One group, the Pharisees, emphasized those Jewish traditions andpractices that set them apart from pagan culture. Their name meansseparated ones, and they prided themselves on their strict observance ofevery detail of the Jewish law and their extreme intolerance of peoplewhom they considered ritually unclean. This piety and patriotism wonrespect among the people.

On the other hand, some Jews found Roman rule a distinct advantage.Among them were members of Jerusalem's aristocracy. From thissmall group of wealthy, pedigreed families came the high priest andthe lesser priests who controlled the temple. Many of them enjoyedthe sophisticated manners and fashions of Greco-Roman culture.Some even took Greek names. Their interests were represented by theconservative political group known as the Sadducees. At the time ofJesus, these men still controlled the high Jewish council, or Sanhedrin,but they had less influence among the common people. Another party,the Zealots, were bent on armed resistance to all Romans in the fatherland.They looked back two centuries to the glorious days of the Maccabeeswhen religious zeal combined with a ready sword to overthrowthe pagan Greek overlords. Thus the hills of Galilee often concealeda number of guerrilla bands ready to ignite a revolt or destroy somesymbol of Roman authority in Palestine.

Finally came the Essenes, who had little or no interest in politics orin warfare. Instead, they withdrew in protest to the Judean wilderness,believing the temple of Judaism to be hopelessly compromised. There,in isolated monastic communities, they studied the Scriptures and preparedthemselves for the Lord's kingdom, which they believed woulddawn at any moment.

Scholars typically identify the Essenes as the occupants of the Qurancommunity who copied ancient manuscripts and wrote commentaries.These documents, called the Dead Sea Scrolls, were discovered in 1946.

Jesus had to call for the loyalty of his followers without confusing thepurpose of his mission with the objectives of these other parties amongthe Jews. It was a tough assignment.

JESUS' MINISTRY

Jesus chose to begin by recognizing a new movement in the Judeanwilderness led by a prophet named John. The ford of the Jordan, justnorth of the Dead Sea, was one of the busiest parts of the whole region,so John the Baptist got the crowds he wanted to hear him. Wearing agarment of camel's hair, his eyes ablaze, he stood on the riverbank andwarned all who passed by to repent of their sins and prepare for thecoming day of judgment by receiving baptism in the Jordan. Israel firstentered the land by crossing the Jordan; Jesus began his ministry atthis pivotal place.

Many thought John was the promised Messiah, but he vehementlydenied any such role. He explained his mission in the words of theprophet Isaiah: "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Preparethe way of the Lord, make his paths straight" (Matt. 3:3). He was, heclaimed, only the forerunner of the Messiah. "I baptize you with water"he said, "but ... he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire"(Luke 3:16).

John's call to repentance and righteousness drew Jesus to the Jordan.He found in John's message the truth of God, so "to fulfill all righteousness"he submitted to John's baptism and soon afterward beganhis own mission, proclaiming, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdomof God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel" (Mark 1:15).

Jesus, however, rather than remaining in the desert, chose to beginhis missionv in Galilee, a land of gentle hills and warm, green valleys.During those early weeks and months he traveled from village to villagethroughout Galilee, preaching in synagogues in the evening and on theSabbath. Carrying a bundle of bread, a wineskin, and a walking stick,he hiked along the dusty highways. He probably dressed as any othertraveler, in a rough linen tunic covered by a heavier red or blue mantle.

On a typical day Jesus would set out at dawn and walk mile after mile.Toward sunset he would enter a village and proceed to its synagogue.As one popular history puts it, "There he probably received a warmwelcome from the townspeople, who often had no resident rabbi andrelied on the services of wandering teachers like Jesus. When the lampshad been lit and the men of the village had taken their places, Jesuswould seat himself on the raised central platform" and begin reading apassage from the sacred Scriptures. In a clear, forceful voice he wouldannounce the fulfillment of some prophecy or relate some parable.

The main theme of Jesus' teaching was the kingdom of God. Whatdid he mean by that? Did he believe in a dramatic intervention of Godin the history of the world? Or did he mean that the kingdom is alreadyhere in some sense? He probably meant both. The two can be reconciledif we recognize that the phrase stands for the sovereignty of apersonal and gracious God, not a geographical or local realm.

Jesus taught that the rule of God was already present in saving powerin his own person. And he offered proof of the point. His miracles ofhealing were apparently not just marvels; they were signs, the powers ofthe age to come already manifest in the present age. "But if it is by thefinger of God that I cast out demons," he once said, "then the kingdomof God has come upon you" (Luke 11:20). Yet he feared that his cureswould be misinterpreted, that people would see him as just anothermagician, and he often cautioned those he healed to be silent.

Of course, the news spread, and before long people in every townand village in Galilee were talking excitedly of the new wonder-workerwho could cure the blind, the lame, and the sick with the power of hisvoice and the mere touch of his strong carpenter's hands. Soon largecrowds gathered wherever he spoke.

Jesus' growing popularity aroused controversy, especially among thePharisees, who hated to see people following a man who had neverstudied under their learned scribes. They didn't hesitate to questionhis credentials openly.

JESUS' MESSAGE

Jesus welcomed their challenge for it gave him a chance to contrasthis message of repentance and grace with the self-righteousness of thePharisees.

On one occasion, probably as pilgrims were on their way to Jerusalemfor one of the great feasts, Jesus told about two men who wentto the temple to pray. What a striking contrast they made! One was aPharisee; the other, surprisingly, was a despised tax collector.

With a touch of showmanship, the holy man took his stand andprayed, "God, I thank thee that I am not like other men, extortioners,unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, Igive tithes of all that I get" (Luke 18:11–12). That, at any rate, is whathe prayed to himself, and it was not a hollow boast. Pharisees excelledin those works of righteousness—fasting and tithing—that set themapart from wicked men.

The fault of the prayer was in its spirit of self-righteousness and itscruel contempt for others. The Pharisee alone was righteous, and allhis fellow mortals were included under one sweeping condemnation.

The tax collector believed he was religiously compromised. By workingto collect taxes for the Romans, he broke faith with his own people.Sensing his own feeble religious standing, he stood at a distance, thevery image of contrition. His eyes were downcast, his head bowed inguilt. His prayer was a sob of remorse, a cry for mercy: "God, be mercifulto me a sinner!"

"I tell you," said Jesus, "this man went down to his house justifiedrather than the other" (Luke 18:14). The contrast between the piety ofthe Pharisees and the attitude of the Jesus movement could hardly begreater. One was based on the observance of the hundreds of religiouslaws of the Jews; the other rested upon a denial of self-righteousnessand a trust in the mercy of God.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from CHURCH HISTORY IN PLAIN LANGUAGE by BRUCE L. SHELLEY. Copyright © 2013 Bruce L. Shelley. Excerpted by permission of Thomas Nelson.
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Edition details

• Publisher: Thomas Nelson Publishers
• Publication date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1401676316
• ISBN 13: 9781401676315
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 560