A History of Christianity Volume 1: Beginnings to 1500

by Kenneth Scott Latourette

The most useful survey of Christian history for the student or general reader, fully updated by a team of respected scholars.

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

768 pages, Paperback

First published October 15, 1975

About the author

Kenneth Scott Latourette (August 6, 1884 – December 26, 1968) was an American historian of China, Japan, and world Christianity. His formative experiences as Christian missionary and educator in early 20th century China shaped his life's work. Although he did not learn the Chinese language, he became known for his magisterial scholarly surveys of the history of world Christianity, the history of China, and of American relations with East Asia.

Latourette was born in Oregon City, Oregon, the son of DeWitt Clinton Latourette and Ella (Scott) Latourette. His mother and father both attended Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon, where they graduated in 1878. DeWitt Clinton Latourette was a lawyer in Oregon City. The Latourette family migrated to Oregon in the 1860s; the family's origins are from France where they fled religious persecution as Huguenots and migrated to Staten Island, New York in the 1600s.

In 1904, Latourette was awarded a Bachelor of Science degree from Linfield College in Oregon. He continued his education in New Haven, Connecticut at Yale, earning a BA in 1906, an MA in 1907 and PhD in 1909.

Latourette served as president of the American Historical Association, the Association for Asian Studies, the American Baptist Convention, the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society and the Japan International Christian University Foundation.

He was a leader in the ecumenical movement, and he held leadership positions in the American Baptist Missionary Union, the International Board of the Y.M.C.A., the United Board for Christian Colleges in China and the World Council of Churches.

Throughout his life he remained active in the Yale-in-China Association.

At the Yale Divinity School, the "Latourette Initiative" is a proactive program to preserve and provide access to the documentation of world Christianity. It provides funding for the microfilming of published and archival resources documenting the history of Christian missions and Christian life.

Reviews

[Janelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Latourette has provided a great resource to the student of church history in this book. For American readers, his style may be difficult to get used to, due to the combination of British spellings and sentence structures which do not fit well with modern grammar, (so consider yourself warned!) but the effort you put into reading and understanding what he has to say is well worth it. The highly detailed index in the back is the best feature. Chances are that if someone or something is worth looking up, it's in the index. This is the first volume of a two volume set, and the index includes both. I have not seen the second book, but I imagine it bears a striking resemblance to the first.

As someone who knew very little of church history beyond the books of the New Testament, I have found this book to be extremely helpful for establishing a firmer foundation for my understanding of the church's story. It is also helpful in providing appropriate context to the writings of church fathers and leaders of various movements.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very cool to be reading this book while traveling through Italy, visiting places like Rome and Milan.

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

Latourette's seminal work accomplishes what it sets out to do: bombard the reader with as much information as is possible in 700 pages of size 6 font. Now, it so happens that I love information. I also enjoy history. Latourette is sufficiently unbiased to acknowledge the many shortcomings and schisms in the adolescent church while still maintaining a respect for the subject matter. Secular authors can't help but take pot shots along with their information, Latourette provides the information as a realistic Christian would.

It doesn't disappoint in providing exactly what the title claims.

[Frank Peters · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a much longer book than it should be based on the content. While the history is fine, the author spends far too many pages talking about history. This part of the book was irritating, as I wanted to read history rather than being indoctrinated about why that history is important, or why some parts of history are more important than others. I can start to see why this book was traditionally advocated in bible schools, who want to indoctrinate their students. However, this is not a book that I will read again, and plan to give away both volumes assuming I can convince myself to labour through the second part (something I am not looking forward to). I am still on the lookout for a book on Christian History that I can fully recommend. This one fails.

[Gary Gabbard · Rating 5 out of 5]

All of Mr Laturrettes books
Are fabulous

He is a must read

[Nene Meh · Rating 5 out of 5]

good one

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

At some dim and distant time I set out to read this from start to finish, but apparently decided that wasn't going to work, as I don't have a bookmark in it and can't remember the last time I used for anything but reference. But it IS very good for reference -- so good, in fact that I just acquired volume two -- Reformation to 1975.

7/1/20: dipped into this and Vol. II to research Borgia and Medici popes. Useful and brightly written.

8/8/20: Dipped in to research how the conanical New Testament was developed and/or chosen. Seems it wasn’t adopted at some great council but just evolved by consensus — the 27 books most accepted as authentic made the cut over a period of time. First list of the 27 dates to 367 but took centuries for total agreement.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good book for anyone interested in learning about Christian history from 100-1500 AD. Though a bit dated, originally written in the mid-20th century, the book is a great overview of early and medieval Christianity with an emphasis on the expansion of the faith.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is a good resource for early Christian history. But if you don't like history, it will be dry.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

religion,history,nonfiction

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great, well-rounded intro to the history of Christianity.

[Douglas Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent.

[gfguildjr · Rating 3 out of 5]

I need to read vol. 2

[Peter Twele]

Read this back in the late 70's.

[Glen · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite Church history book.

[Edmundo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Muy bien presentado y exhaustivo. Para ser un libro casi didáctico la prosa es muy entretenida.

[Jerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic overview, small font!

[Joseph Gascho · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of best books for me

[Scott · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very hard to read, but solid material.

[T.R. Estep · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good book.