Mark A. Noll is the Francis A. McAnaney Professor of History at the University of Notre Dame and the author of A History of Christianity in the United States and Canada and "The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind."
Noll (Christian thought and church history, Wheaton Coll.) has taken the broad topic of the history of Christianity and given it a structure of turning points, focusing on individuals and events at key points in Christian history. The "turning points" put history into perspective and provide opportunity to add a human quality by often focusing on individuals while looking over particular events. Noll adds intimacy by opening each chapter with a hymn of the times and closing with a prayer of the period. When the hymn is familiar, it is particularly poignant. The book looks both at the historical roots and at the different paths the Christian church has taken, enabling readers of different backgrounds to appreciate the context for differences within the churches. This highly recommended work provides a thoughtful yet comprehensive framework for the history of Christianity.‘George Westerlund, Providence P.L., R.I.
Based on his substantial experience teaching the history of Christianity at Wheaton College, Noll has organized the formidable body of material that must be included in any historical survey of Christianity around 12 turning points: the destruction of Jerusalem (70); the Council of Nicea (325); the Council of Chalcedon (451); the Benedictine Rule (540); the coronation of Charlemagne (800); the Great Schism (1054); the Diet of Worms (1521); the English Act of Supremacy (1534); the founding of the Jesuits (1534); the conversion of John Wesley (1738); the French Revolution (1789-1799); and the Edinburgh Missionary Conference (1910). Noll's introduction includes a cogent argument for his approach as well as a candid recognition that any selection of turning points will exclude important events with equally valid claims as turning points. Noll's treatment of the material is evenhanded, engaging and illuminating. This will be a useful text for readers seeking a historical framework within which to understand their Christian faith. (Nov.)
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