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Christianity: A Global History
David Chidester, one of the world's foremost scholars of religion, traces Christianity's growth and development from the time of Jesus to the dawn of the third millennium, revealing its rich diversity through the deeds and beliefs of heretics and saints, witches and healers, preachers and inquisitors. Chidester explores the emergence of the major streams of Christian thought and practice, distilling the cultural history of the Church and its impact on the world into this superbly readable book. Alongside this broad panorama is a richly human story that the author brilliantly encapsulates in incisive character sketches and historical vignettes. Christianity, in all its many facets, has been and continues to be one of the most influential forces in history. Chidester shows that this religion, with its roots deep in the ancient world, has always been in a constant state of evolution, affecting and affected by the religions and societies around it. At times Christianity has coexisted peacefully with other forms of belief, exchanging ideas and practices with them. At other times profound, even violent, conflict has arisen. In this book David Chidester intelligently and objectively portrays Christians in different times and places, as a minority and as the majority group, a religion both absorbing and resisting the world around it. Christianity reveals the religion as it was and is lived in the life of everyday people rather than focusing on the dry dogmas and beliefs that fill most histories. Chidester's accomplishment is to capture the complexity and grand sweep of this story in one remarkable volume that is destined to take its place as a classic of religious history.
656 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
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About the author
David Chidester
32 books12 followersDavid Chidester is a Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Cape Town.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
December 17, 2024
did I reread almost this entire thing for my exam?.. yes, yes I did.. Am I going slightly mad? yes, yes I am..
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December 20, 2023aanrader!
July 2, 2015
This book was not exactly what I was looking for when I first picked it up – though that’s more my fault than the book’s. I wanted more of a politically based history, focusing more in the internal structure of Christianity. Which I understand isn’t exactly easy to do, as “Christianity” is a big umbrella under which many denominations find shelter – also part of what I wanted to see explored. And it was, but in a different way than what I expected.
This book provided a much wider scope: it looked into the evolution of beliefs and ideas, the expansion and mutation of thoughts as it spread across the world, and the adaptability according to different time frames and geopolitical realities. There was much more to it than mere sequence of events, it was infused with a great variety of topics within the historical progression of Christianity, which, while did make it a much more complete and richer read, didn’t allow for such a clear or as in-depth view into the mainstream evolution of Christianity as a whole.
It wasn’t the most linear, and was at some points divided a little awkwardly, but I don’t think there was any way to get around that when handling a topic with such an expansive and extensive history. It’s much too big a topic to be covered in one book (hence the “brief history”), but I would have liked to see a little more development in the last part of the book, which dealt with Christianity in particular moments in history. The ending was quite abrupt and not very well explored. I do think the later part of history was lacking, in comparison to the early history.
That being said, it was a fascinating book. The fact that it wasn’t exactly what I wanted or expected was a happy mistake because it led me to discover some ideas and beliefs that I wasn’t aware of, and gave me loads of new material to investigate further.
Overall it was very worth a read, written clearly and without too many flourishes. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and definitely recommend it, if the topic interests you, and especially if you want an introduction on a universal evolution of Christianity as a religion, as a social component, and as a historically significant instrument.
This book provided a much wider scope: it looked into the evolution of beliefs and ideas, the expansion and mutation of thoughts as it spread across the world, and the adaptability according to different time frames and geopolitical realities. There was much more to it than mere sequence of events, it was infused with a great variety of topics within the historical progression of Christianity, which, while did make it a much more complete and richer read, didn’t allow for such a clear or as in-depth view into the mainstream evolution of Christianity as a whole.
It wasn’t the most linear, and was at some points divided a little awkwardly, but I don’t think there was any way to get around that when handling a topic with such an expansive and extensive history. It’s much too big a topic to be covered in one book (hence the “brief history”), but I would have liked to see a little more development in the last part of the book, which dealt with Christianity in particular moments in history. The ending was quite abrupt and not very well explored. I do think the later part of history was lacking, in comparison to the early history.
That being said, it was a fascinating book. The fact that it wasn’t exactly what I wanted or expected was a happy mistake because it led me to discover some ideas and beliefs that I wasn’t aware of, and gave me loads of new material to investigate further.
Overall it was very worth a read, written clearly and without too many flourishes. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and definitely recommend it, if the topic interests you, and especially if you want an introduction on a universal evolution of Christianity as a religion, as a social component, and as a historically significant instrument.
May 17, 2025
I felt rather mixed when I attempted to review Christianity: A Global History by David Chidester. Some books have a natural comparison to them. For me, the natural comparison between Christianity: A Global History is A History of Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years by Diarmaid MacCulloch. I loved A History of Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years for its daring attempt to map the entirety of the Christian religion and its origins. Christianity: A Global History pales in comparison.
One of the big differences between these books is that David Chidester focuses much more on Western Christianity of Catholicism and Protestantism, whilst Dairmaid MacCulloch looks at Christianity throughout its history, spanning across the world. As a result, despite being called Christianity: A Global History, the book appears to be much more limited in scope and hence not as impactful.
Christianity: A Global History is split into three sections. Each of these sections are thematic, roughly corresponding to a section of history within the Western church. Part One is the origins of Christianity and looks at the church stretching from the period of the 1st century BCE Palestine, looking at the different factions in Judaism, to the Early Medieval Period after the Council of Nicaea. Part Two looks at Christianity stretching the Medieval period into the Renaissance, whilst Part Three looks at Christianity being spread across the world.
The book is non-linear in its structure, so whilst there is a broad historical period covered, the book is more thematically structured than structured by timeline. This contrasts with MacCulloch’s book, which is more linear in the timeline of the subjects. However, the focus of this book are interesting. Multiple different themes are looked at in the first two sections, including faith and reason, scholars, heretics, martyrs, Christendom and the Renaissance. The last section of the book is more global, stretching across the world, looking at Christianity in North America, India, Oceania and Africa.
Despite the background of David Chidester, I found the research and the lack of citations to be at times frustrating. There is no bibliography, and the references are sporadic. At times, weasel quotes are used. For example, Chapter Two holds a claim that “many historians” recognise a parallel between Jesus’ teachings and the Cynics. There is no reference, and so it leaves the reader puzzled as to the source of the claim. Weasel references are annoying at the best of times, but given that the book is supposed to have been written by a professor, I found it to be infuriating.
I also found at times the research on subjects to be lacking in historical background and analysis. An example of this is found in Chapter Ten, which looks at the development of Hell as an idea. This could have looked at the historic background, like the Greek and Persian influences on help, but it attempts to argue that Hell was developed from Christian tradition itself, without any outside influences. This again is refutable with the data.
There are some positives about this book, however. I did find some of the details in the third part of the book to be interesting. For example, there is mention of how Mayans incorporated Christianity into their belief systems, with Mayan prophets prophesying their doomsday. I also found the research on the political views in early Twentieth-century USA to be interesting, particularly the reference to a survey of clergymen in 1934 having high support for the socialist candidate and only 5 per cent of them supporting capitalism. That was an interesting factoid.
Overall, this book gives a good overview of Christianity from a Western theological perspective, but I wouldn’t rate it as high as A History of Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years.
One of the big differences between these books is that David Chidester focuses much more on Western Christianity of Catholicism and Protestantism, whilst Dairmaid MacCulloch looks at Christianity throughout its history, spanning across the world. As a result, despite being called Christianity: A Global History, the book appears to be much more limited in scope and hence not as impactful.
Christianity: A Global History is split into three sections. Each of these sections are thematic, roughly corresponding to a section of history within the Western church. Part One is the origins of Christianity and looks at the church stretching from the period of the 1st century BCE Palestine, looking at the different factions in Judaism, to the Early Medieval Period after the Council of Nicaea. Part Two looks at Christianity stretching the Medieval period into the Renaissance, whilst Part Three looks at Christianity being spread across the world.
The book is non-linear in its structure, so whilst there is a broad historical period covered, the book is more thematically structured than structured by timeline. This contrasts with MacCulloch’s book, which is more linear in the timeline of the subjects. However, the focus of this book are interesting. Multiple different themes are looked at in the first two sections, including faith and reason, scholars, heretics, martyrs, Christendom and the Renaissance. The last section of the book is more global, stretching across the world, looking at Christianity in North America, India, Oceania and Africa.
Despite the background of David Chidester, I found the research and the lack of citations to be at times frustrating. There is no bibliography, and the references are sporadic. At times, weasel quotes are used. For example, Chapter Two holds a claim that “many historians” recognise a parallel between Jesus’ teachings and the Cynics. There is no reference, and so it leaves the reader puzzled as to the source of the claim. Weasel references are annoying at the best of times, but given that the book is supposed to have been written by a professor, I found it to be infuriating.
I also found at times the research on subjects to be lacking in historical background and analysis. An example of this is found in Chapter Ten, which looks at the development of Hell as an idea. This could have looked at the historic background, like the Greek and Persian influences on help, but it attempts to argue that Hell was developed from Christian tradition itself, without any outside influences. This again is refutable with the data.
There are some positives about this book, however. I did find some of the details in the third part of the book to be interesting. For example, there is mention of how Mayans incorporated Christianity into their belief systems, with Mayan prophets prophesying their doomsday. I also found the research on the political views in early Twentieth-century USA to be interesting, particularly the reference to a survey of clergymen in 1934 having high support for the socialist candidate and only 5 per cent of them supporting capitalism. That was an interesting factoid.
Overall, this book gives a good overview of Christianity from a Western theological perspective, but I wouldn’t rate it as high as A History of Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years.
December 8, 2020
Well written book about the history, development and expansion of Christianity over the past 2000 years.
April 13, 2024
He makes several errors by assuming that the gospel of Thomas is a first century work, which is highly debatable. Asside from that his history of the Church is well articulated.
November 2, 2015
Christianity: A Global History
by David Chidester
"It takes a brave author to write this kind of history, where every chapter, in some cases every sentence, requires passing through territory that has been analyzed, debated, deconstructed and reassembled for 2,000 years. Yet Chidester (professor of comparative religion at Cape Town University) is up to the task, providing a readable, objective sweep of Christian history that reflects an admirable knowledge of the details without ever losing sight of the larger currents. He takes the reader through three epochs: from the birth of Christianity in 1st-century Roman Palestine to the 4th century, when Christianity was the imperial cult; from the fall of Rome through the Reformation; and from the discovery of the New World to today's New World Order. Perhaps necessarily, his most intriguing chapters come in the final third of the book, where there is less familiar material to explore, though each of the first two sections offers a lucid summary of current scholarship. In the chapter on Asia, his description of the fracture between Thomas Christians in India (who took on the trappings of elite Hindi culture) and 16th-century Portuguese missionaries, laden as it was with issues of class as well as theology, has great relevance for today's debates over inculturation. Specialists will find omissions and oversimplifications, but Chidester has braved their scorn, and the reader seeking a broad understanding of Christianity's evolution will be grateful. (Dec.)"
by David Chidester
"It takes a brave author to write this kind of history, where every chapter, in some cases every sentence, requires passing through territory that has been analyzed, debated, deconstructed and reassembled for 2,000 years. Yet Chidester (professor of comparative religion at Cape Town University) is up to the task, providing a readable, objective sweep of Christian history that reflects an admirable knowledge of the details without ever losing sight of the larger currents. He takes the reader through three epochs: from the birth of Christianity in 1st-century Roman Palestine to the 4th century, when Christianity was the imperial cult; from the fall of Rome through the Reformation; and from the discovery of the New World to today's New World Order. Perhaps necessarily, his most intriguing chapters come in the final third of the book, where there is less familiar material to explore, though each of the first two sections offers a lucid summary of current scholarship. In the chapter on Asia, his description of the fracture between Thomas Christians in India (who took on the trappings of elite Hindi culture) and 16th-century Portuguese missionaries, laden as it was with issues of class as well as theology, has great relevance for today's debates over inculturation. Specialists will find omissions and oversimplifications, but Chidester has braved their scorn, and the reader seeking a broad understanding of Christianity's evolution will be grateful. (Dec.)"
September 7, 2012
Hmmmm - I read this for my OU A307 course. It does what it says - looks at 2000 years of christianity. The last 200 years seemed rushed compared to some tedious details of early christianity. There were some interesting bits - the holy greyhound, some funny bits - stealing each others relics, some eye opening bits - differences between various sects & schisms and some bits you'd expect - the obsession with sex - with who, how often and when! Good if this is your thing but be warned its about 1.5" thick
March 6, 2017
This is a long book. Sections of it move quickly and other areas bog down. While overall the author presents the information in chronological order,at times the information is organized topically instead. As the title states, it is a global history covering the ancient world to Europe, Africa, Asia, India and the US. There were some very interesting portions. But there were other sections it seemed like the author rambled and didn't clearly present the essential information. It's a good source for a history of Christianity but I would combine it with other sources to get a complete overview.
September 28, 2007
This book is incredible in its scope and detail. Due to the influence of Christianity on much of history, this is important reading for people of any faith. Eye-opening; especially the sections about the creation of the biblical canon.
February 1, 2016
3.0 - An honest and objective work that covers a lot of ground. There were some areas that I felt were given too much attention and others that I was interested in that were given too little, but that's inevitable in a book with this broad of scope. Overall a very interesting read.
December 20, 2013
Set text for Open University module AA307 (Religion in History: Conflict Conversion and Coexistence)
July 31, 2016
Although this was required reading for a class I actually enjoyed and decided it needed to remain in my library. I am sure I will refer to it again and again in preparation for sermons.
April 27, 2017
A well written survey of Christianity over 2,000 years that presents the various forms of the religion that developed treating them in an even-handed manner. This is a good read for those looking for the big-picture overview.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews