The Story of Christianity: Volume 2: The Reformation to the Present Day

by Justo L. González

Book Overview

From Justo L. Gonzalez, author of the acclaimed three-volume History of Christian Thought, The Story of Christianity Volume II: The Reformation to the Present Day is the fully revised and updated second volume of The Story of Christianity. Gonzalez's astute scholarship, lucid prose, and impassioned focus tell the narrative history of Christianity, beginning with the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century and leading all the way up to present...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0061855898
• ISBN13: 9780061855894
• Release Date: December 2010
• Publisher: HarperOne
• Length: 560 Pages
• Weight: 1.36 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.6" x 5.9" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Excellent historical overview

Gonzalez does it again! Like the first volume, the book covers a breadth of significant events in a manner that is readable and understandable. Well organized and indexed, it is a valuable reasource whether you are reading entire sections or just looking up a person or event. Though not in depth (hey, it's only two volumes!) the book does give an strong overview of important people and happenings.

Essential and fascinating

This is a very readable and detailed history (in two volumes) of the Christian religion from the time of the Apostles until 1984, when the book was published. I read this book out of general interest, although I understand that it is widely used for college courses on church history and doctrine. The history of the church is a huge topic, and Gonzalez has a real talent for summarizing complex developments and making them very accessible for a general reader. No special background in theology or history is required to appreciate this wonderful account. Gonzalez is apparently Protestant, but he gives a fair and balanced account of all denominations, including Catholic and Orthodox. He also includes mysticism and the radical sects. He is aware of the current scholarship, but he doesn't get bogged down in the numerous scholarly controversies of historians. He doesn't succumb to revisionism and p.c.; he's not afraid to call a spade a spade. But if there is genuine ambiguity and grounds for debate, he does mention that. The two volumes of this book also work well as a concise history of western civilization from year one until 1984. Gonzalez is able to identify the most important events and issues and describe them clearly and concisely. The major theological movements are described very briefly. This is not primarily a history of doctrine, but rather a history of the various Christian churches. Footnotes are kept to an absolute minimum here, in order to avoid unnecessary distractions. Suggestions for further reading are given at the end of each section, but these are very incomplete. For example, the only suggestion for further reading on English Puritanism was published in 1912. Gonzalez's area of special interest is Latin American Christianity, and so he devotes some space to the history of Christianity there from the time of the Spanish Conquistadores to the Liberation theology of the late 20th century. Since this book was written before the demise of the Soviet Union, I think a revised edition is in order.

Tell me a story...

In another text ('The Changing Shape of Church History'), Justo Gonzalez writes about the shift away from a Eurocentric focus on the history of Christianity to a recognition that Christianity is a global phenomenon, not just due to Western missionary activity, but rather has been since its earliest day. Gonzalez keeps this global perspective in mind in his two volume narrative history, 'The Story of Christianity'. Gonzalez' presentation of the Reformation period concentrates on significant people, primarily Martin Luther, Ulrich Zwingli, and John Calvin, bringing in other people as appropriate (Tetzel, various popes, etc.). However, Gonzalez does not confine himself to a 'story of great men' approach, combine the history of ideas, events, and institutions together with the biographical narratives of the people involved. Gonzalez is also the author of a three-volume history of Christian thought, and draws material from that series into this more general church history text. Gonzalez' approach to the Reformation includes the standard Luther/Zwingli/Calvin triad, with information about the reformations in Britain, the Benelux (Low) countries, France, Anabaptists, and influences in the Catholic church. Gonzalez uses the term `Catholic Reformation' rather than Counter-Reformation, for as he states, `the Catholic Reformation was well under way when Luther was still a young boy.' Gonzalez highlights some earlier controversies that influenced Luther (Hus and others), as well as so-called `minor' actors in the unfolding historical events. This is standard for Gonzalez - he addresses the major events and people while incorporating a good deal of information about the influences and people that normally do not get `topping billing' in historical narratives. His task at recovering these neglected voices puts new perspectives to the overall flow of the history. The second part of the text deals with the various events leading past the Reformations into the Enlightenment. Denominations began to solidify established patterns of belief and practice into orthodox structures, and the general Reformation continued to diversify into Spiritualist, Pietist, and other Movements, which Gonzalez describes as options. Sometimes these had direct political motivations, and other times they were more theological in tone. Gonzalez concludes this section with the Great Awakening and Jonathan Edwards, in the thirteen colonies. In the third section, the political dimensions of religious institutions and their attendant belief and practice structures is readily apparent as the rise of nation-states, the independence movements away from colonial powers, and the increasing independence of church institutions from state control (and vice versa) takes centre stage. Christianity becomes a truly global phenomenon during this period (the late 1700s through the 1800s), but not always in the best ways. Gonzalez highlights good and bad points of the expansion of church

Perfect Starting Point

A very helpful introduction. The text is accessible and lucid. Gonzalez does a good job framing church movements in the context of general trends of thought and covers key secular thinkers and movements where appropriate. He also does well covering the whole church and following the developments of the papacy, Catholic church, and Orthodox. However, this leads to the treatment of eras in parallel accountings rather than a linear narrative which was confusing at times. The pictures are fun, timeline could be more helpful in its presentation, and while I would have liked more maps, this text has the most helpful maps of those that I read on this era. It is also not referenced but it does have extensive recommended readings. I would highly recommend this as an introductory text on Church History as part of (or in preparation for) a class or for personal interest.

Fantastic, thorough presentation of Christian history

As a new believer, I had a lot of questions about how and why doctrine came about. I've been very interested in apologetics, particularly the push and pull between fundamental Christianity and the scientific community. Mr. Gonzalez presented a perfect resource for familiarizing myself with the history of the church. It could easily be used as a textbook for a college class, but it doesn't read like one. Wonderfully thorough and very well-written.I HIGHLY recommend this for anyone wanting to learn about the history of the church. Every Christian should study this to an extent, if for no other reason than to see that challenges to our faith are nothing new. There's definitely nothing new under the sun:)