The Christian World: A Global History

by Martin E. Marty

In this cogent volume, historian Martin Marty gives readers of all faiths a brief yet sweeping account of Christianity and how it grew from a few believers two thousand years ago to become the world’s largest religion. He depicts the life of Christ and his teachings and explains how the apostles set out to spread the Gospel. With a special emphasis on global Christianity, Marty shows how the religion emerged from its ancestral homeland in Africa, the Levant, and Asia Minor, was imported to Europe, and then expanded from there to the rest of the world. While giving a broad overview, Marty also focuses on specific issues, such as how Christianity attempts to reconcile with the teachings of Christ some of its stances on armed conflict, justice, and dominion. The Christian World is a remarkable testament to how Christ’s message has touched human experience everywhere.

Genres: History, Religion, Christianity, Nonfiction, Church History, Theology, Spirituality

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Martin E. Marty was an American religious scholar and historian known for his extensive work on religion in the United States. A Lutheran pastor before transitioning into academia, he became a leading voice in religious studies, particularly in the areas of American Protestantism, fundamentalism, and public religion. He was a longtime professor at the University of Chicago Divinity School, where he mentored numerous doctoral students and held the prestigious Fairfax M. Cone Distinguished Service Professorship.
Marty wrote or edited a book for nearly every year of his academic career, producing influential works such as Righteous Empire: The Protestant Experience in America, which won the National Book Award, and the five-volume Fundamentalism Project, co-edited with R. Scott Appleby. He was a prolific columnist for The Christian Century and wrote extensively on religion's role in American public life.
A recipient of numerous honors, including the National Humanities Medal and over 80 honorary doctorates, Marty also served as president of several academic societies and participated in U.S. presidential commissions. The Martin Marty Center for the Advanced Study of Religion at the University of Chicago was named in his honor.

Reviews

[Jim Gallen · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The Christian World” is a history of Christianity unlike any I have ever read. Whereas others focus on the doctrinal development and individual heroes, this one focuses on a collection of geographical Christian Episodes. Author Martin Marty raises the readers’ awareness that early Christianity was concentrated in Western Asia and North Africa, as much or more than in Europe. The initial patriarchs were distributed among the continents in Damascus, Alexandria and Rome. The rise of Islam extinguished the First Christian Episodes in North Africa and Asia while conversion of barbarian tribes expanded the faith in Europe. Over time work of missionaries and imperialists would spawn new Asian and African episodes. North and South America would take their places in the Christian world as European culture spread and converted native peoples. The Protestant Reformation would transform the nature of Christianity in Europe and wherever its influence extended.

With less emphasis on Councils and heresies, this book is a tale of Popes and Patriarchs, missionaries and mobility, tribes and territories. It is truly not the history of the Church but the world in which it has existed and which it created. The organization into Christian Episodes makes for a compartmentalized study that is easy to follow and weave back together in a unified whole. It places the story, life and soul of Christendom in a new light, a perspective to be contemplated and appreciated.

[Patty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Martin Marty is a prolific author whose books I have never read. Of course, there are lots of authors I have never read and will never bother to try. However, Marty is a Lutheran "rock star". He has written over fifty books and I know that his writing is well researched and worth reading. That is especially true since I am Lutheran and many people have suggested that I read some of his books.

So when I saw this book on the library shelves, I picked it up because it is written by Marty. However, I read it because I thought the overview of Christian history might help me better understand some things about the world I live in.

I got exactly what I was looking for and for that I am grateful. Most of the history classes I have taken were narrowly focused. I don't feel that I have a broad view of world history. I know that is not really possible for a lay reader to achieve, but any surveys like this book help me see the bigger picture.

Thanks to Marty, I am clearer about the beginnings of Christianity, how the religion moved around the globe and what the future may hold for the church. It is hard to cover 2,000 years in less than 300 pages, but I appreciate the effort Marty has gone to.

I recommend this book to any reader who might want to see world history through the lens of Christian history.

[Nate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Martin Marty effortlessly sums up the past 2000 years of Christian history, dividing it into episodes on Asian, African, European, North and South American continents. He hits all the major high points from a pretty neutral standpoint. He introduces all the major players, from the Apostles to Frumentius to Cyril and Methodius to Kierkegaard to Billy Sunday, and everyone in between.

A must-read for anyone who feels like they have something to learn from Church history but doesn't want to read twenty volumes of encyclopedia........

[Ruttanan Rongsawad · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think the book does a great job of telling enthralling stories from the nuances of Christian history, dividing them into sections that can be easily followed through. I give it a 4 star for my personal curiosity, as a Buddhist in Asia, before reading the book about how people bought into Christianity and it does the job of walking me through the mind of people of the time as governed by their political specifics. It’s very enlightening and intuitive from the historical perspective how Christianity came about and how the teachings are so diverse. One thing that sticks out to me was “martyrdom”, which from my view, is what’s keeping its religious endeavors alive. Cuz what do you mean you can spin religious narratives out of thousands of believers being gen*cided for their faith? I think that to me is a cockroach level of survival skill. Although I think the simplicity and the stylization of the author invites me to read more, I believe the Asia episode is a bit too generic for me to believe this could also be true for other episodes I’m less familiar with. Nonetheless, this makes for a good Christian history starter.

[Curt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think we all know to be careful when we encounter a book that only has seven reviews. Well, here’s the eighth.

Martin Marty is a distinguished historian from the University of Chicago‘s divinity school who wrote over 60 books over 70 years.

This is a Readable and concise history of Christianity from its bizarre beginnings to its spread to five continents. If you are interested in the history of the religion, then this story is really something you should know.

But here is my favorite Takeaway from this book. Many believers assume That the version of Christianity in which they believe is not only the correct one, but one that has always been around. This book underscores how elitist and frankly absurd this idea is. Rest assured, believers that no matter how certain you are, millions have come before you with wildly conflicting views that were just as certain.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marty provides a sufficient overview about the global development of Christianity by focusing geographically on specific areas within specific eras. Because he is trying to cover so much material though, there is much that is either glossed over or presented very simplistically. However, this will provide an excellent introduction to seeing Christian history as a global series of events rather than along a westernized trajectory that goes from Jerusalem to Rome to Western Europe to the United States. My hope is that the reader would find bits that intrigue them that lead them to further research and appreciation.

[Spencer Galit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Being critical with church traditions is really important to strengthen your faith. Christianity as a religion is not perfect and there are flaws/issues/problems in how we sometimes interpret the Word of God and how we apply in our lives. This book provides a good summary of how the history of Christianity has unfolded from the Death and resurrection of Christ, to how we are now as the Christian community.

[Josiah Trigg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short and easy to read. Marty doesn’t get bogged down in the theological details of different era’s but gives enough detail to provide context for why such discussions were and are important. I’d recommend this to anyone who wants a short, entry-level overview of 2000 years of Christian history.

[Earl · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's my nth time reading Church history with a more general and broad perspective, and it continues to spell out new frontiers and challenges for genuine Christianity to flourish.

[Stephen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rounding up considerably to "read" here.

[Joshua Uy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great resource to learn church history. I love how it focused on regional “episodes” per chapter rather than the traditional chronological approach.

[Christopher Gould · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stunning how Marty summarized the entire history of Christianity effortlessly in just ~230 pages.

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very interesting book but not sure audio book was the way to go. I find that books that require concentration or too much focus don't work for me. I can easily tune out the book and get lost in my own thoughts. The narrators voice in this case also made it easy to slip in and out of focus.

But the book does provide a useful and interesting big picture look at Christianity's history from a global perspective. It gives you key ideas, time frames and personalities in each region along with a sense of how these fit into the larger history of which they are a part. Deals with controversy and disagreements but doesn't do so for the sake of being provocative or taking sides. If you have strong feelings on an issue or subject you might disagree however. :-)

[Neil · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had to read this book due to an online course I am taking as an elective in college. I actually enjoyed the book more than I thought I would. It is about the history of Christianity in different parts of the world and is broken up in chapters that cover the various continents. There are two chapters for Europe, two for Asia, two for Africa, one for Latin America, one for North American, and one discussing Christianity's Jewish beginnings.

The format of the book made it easily readable. I did not find it boring; instead, it was fascinating to read about Christianity's early expansion into Asia as well as Africa, how Christianity can be considered an 'Eastern Religion' because its historical roots are in Asia, and an assortment of little items I never knew [like how Genghis Khan and his son Kublai Khan were tolerant of Christianity during their rule because the interest and favor a Christian showed Genghis Khan while Khan was a youth]. Obviously, at a length of only 230 written pages, it barely scratches the surface of 2000 years of Christian history. Considering the number of Christian history books that primarily covered Christian history in terms of Europe, the Crusades, and the American continents, it was a nice breath of fresh air and better rounding of how Christianity has truly impacted this world, from the time of Christ to the present.

One item I did notice was his apparent discounting of miraculous events as well as number of conversions that occurred in history. I could not decide if he really discounted those events or if he was attempting to comment on them in a scholarly fashion, but it seemed to detract from the overall theme of the book. If he was knocking the reports, it would have made more sense to have added something else to the book instead of wasting pages and ink on something he does not believe to be historically accurate.

Overall, I like the book. It was a nice intro to the history of Christianity; a 'history lite' if you will. It provides a nice starting point for somebody who wants to dive in to studying Christian history without being overwhelmed by too much information.

[Chase Parsley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Martin Marty's book on the history of Christianity is interestingly divided by geography, and it is a worthwhile book to read. Marty does a great job explaining the early Church controversies and missionary work.

My gripe about this book is that it felt like a Sunday School version of Christianity. The author's bias towards the good of the religion is felt throughout the book, and he even mentions how, despite Christianity on the decline in the West, its rise in Africa and parts of Asia are making it stronger than ever, and this is a good thing. Really, I ask? I also would have liked to read more discussion about the overall controversies of the religion. Was Jesus a real person? Shouldn't there be only one true path to Christianity (the author seems to congratulate all of the branches)? Is the religion more harmful than good? Was it hypocritical for missionaries to win converts over by impressing them with medicine (which has little to do with religion and more with science)? Etc. But then again this might not have been the point of the book in defense of the author.

Regardless, it covered lots of ground and I recommend this book to people interested in history or Christianity. 3.33/5 stars.

[Steve Maus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent. It reads real easy.

[Robert Hasler · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good, if sometimes frustratingly broad, overview of Global Christianity. Two points stand out. First, church history is often meant synonymously with Western church history. Marty demonstrates why that is misleading. Especially today, when Christian populations in Europe and North America wane, it is important to recognize how the Lord is working in the global south. The church of the Lord Jesus Christ endureth regardless of what pundits in our country say. The second point, and perhaps Marty's most important contribution, is his attention to Christianity's primary evangelistic challenge: convincing strangers that Jesus of Nazareth is the exalted Lord. Thus, Marty is correct that Christianity is primarily distinguished by its relationship viz a viz Judaism (initially) and other world religions (throughout history). This may seem obvious to some but pick up any relatively new book on church history and you will see that Christianity is often defined against the state. By attending to the former, Marty avoids many of the modern traps into which many other historians fall.

[TC · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a Reader's Digest version of a few thousand years of a religion's development, broken out both chronologically and geographically. As it covers so much, you can expect that much is also missing, and one can take issue endlessly with what the author swoops in to look at, versus what he discards. The style is breezy and somewhat informal. As such, big moments like the Protestant Reformation are discussed in much the same tone and detail as, say, some 19th century missionary in sub-saharan Africa being killed. From this it's hard to tell, then, what were the really crucial turning points for the religion's development and spread. There are also a few factual errors here and there.

Still, it's nice to have a holistic approach to this faith's history, and it provides a good roadmap for anyone wanting to zero-in on a certain period or event, to do additional reading.

[Sean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Martin E. Marty, the eminent Professor Emeritus from the Divinity School at the University of Chicago, has done quite a difficult task: writing a concise, informative history of Christianity from a global perspective in less than 240 pages. As such, many corners were cut but it presents a narrative that, while hitting the main points, also re-frames the narrative by considering the religion from a global perspective.

I like the Modern Library Chronicles because they give you informative examinations of topic that more importantly can serve as bibliographies for further research. Like Karen Armstrong's book on Islam, Marty's examination is wide reaching but has a central heart: the way in which different manifestations of Christianity argued between the human Jesus and Jesus as the exalted Lord. Additionally, he looks at the history through certain geographically centered episodes.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is an overview of the growth and spread of Christianity. Marty succinctly and objectively traces Christianity from its inception in the Middle East to the global religion it is now. He does not claim to be writing an in depth book. It is a useful survey from which a reader may expand upon with more specific books. I especially enjoyed his "episodes" about the early church, the history in Europe, and his discussion of the episode in North America because he covered areas I knew something of. His chapters on Africa, Latin America, and Asia presented new material to me. I needed to read these

[Dan Shonka · Rating 3 out of 5]

Martin Marty gives a lot of interesting information regarding the first two thousand years of Christianity and how the years and geography have impacted the morphing of the religion. However, his writing style is a often a bit cumbersome. Maybe it was just me, but I found myself having to reread numerous sentences because the sentence structure was awkward. In the balance, I'd say the insight to the development of Christianity was worth wading through the occasional rhythmless sentence.

[Bruce Steffensen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Martin Marty Has written a delightful account of the scope of Christina History. The book is divided in episodes such as "The First Asian Episode," "The First African Episode." Marty admits that in 240 pages it is impossible to cover 2000 years of history, so he doesn't try. His goal is to show the global scope of Christianity, and the global influences that have shaped it. He does this well.

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This booked seemed very constrained by its length. Marty had an admirable mission in trying to look at the church continent-by-continent, but there seemed to be quite a bit lacking in the crossover between movements, etc.

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good overview of Christianity throughout the world from its beginnings to the present day. The book doesn't offer much new material, but it is a good introduction for someone interested in getting a basic understanding of the history.

[Aaron · Rating 2 out of 5]

200 pages weren't enough to pack 2000 years of history and remain clear. Too many important ideas and events were glossed over. The chapters on the current growth of Christianity in Asia and Africa was well done though.

[Barbara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Filled in some gaps for me in early history-- how did we get from Pentecost to a church? - but got scattered and less interesting as the author tried to cover all of Christianity over 2 millennia.

[Matt Friedman · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a kind of "Christian-history lite," and ends up being a surprisingly shallow read for someone of Dr. Marty's academic calibre.

[Doug · Rating 3 out of 5]

I only managed to listen to the first couple of disks. Very detailed, which might be interpreted as "boring."

[Eve Lumerto · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't actually finish this. It was my entrance exam book. Somehow I managed to get in.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Somewhat simplistic- an overview