Christianity has played a central role in world history, for better or worse, but beyond the life of Jesus many people know little of this story. Geoffrey Blainey takes the reader on a journey from the very beginnings of Christianity through to the present day. Looking at the development of the religion itself, as well as the social and economic forces that have influenced it, the book focuses on the stories of the key players in Christianity's rise and fall through the ages, as well as how these players shaped the faith of believers.

Geoffrey Blainey

PART ONE

1 The Boy From Galilee

2 The Death and Rebirth of Jesus

3 ‘Who Can Be Against Us?’

4 Bread, Wine and Water

5 In the Emperor’s Hands

6 The Gang of Heretics

7 Monks and Hermits

8 The Rise of Islam

PART TWO

9 The Battle of the Icons

10 Behind French Monastery Walls

11 Grenadiers of God

12 The Magic of Glass and Paint

13 A Star Above Assisi

14 The Crusaders

15 Rome, Avignon and the Golden Horn

16 The Pilgrims’ Paths

PART THREE

17 The Heralds of Christendom

18 A Swiss Sword-Carrier

19 A Tempest Across England

20 John Calvin’s Realm

21 Trent: The Endless Meeting

22 To the Ends of the Earth

23 A Reformation Untangled

PART FOUR

24 Pilgrim Bunyan and Quaker Fox

25 Two Open-Air Voices: Wesley and Whitefield

26 Turmoil in Paris

27 Christmas Carol

28 A Taste for Toleration

29 The Age of Steam and Haste

30 Coming of the Light and the Darkness

31 War and Peace

32 The Moving Eye of the Needle

33 ‘More Popular Than Jesus’

Acknowledgements

Selected Sources

Picture Credits

Search terms

Christianity has played a central role in world history, for better or worse, but beyond the life of Jesus many people know little of this story. Geoffrey Blainey takes the reader on a journey from the very beginnings of Christianity through to the present day. Looking at the development of the religion itself, as well as the social and economic forces that have influenced it, the book focuses on the stories of the key players in Christianity’s rise and fall through the ages, as well as how these players shaped the faith of believers.

Christianity has played a central role in world history, for better or worse, but beyond the life of Jesus many people know little of this story. Geoffrey Blainey takes the reader on a journey from the very beginnings of Christianity through to the present day.

A vivid, concise and balanced history of the world's largest religion, written for readers of all religious backgrounds. Christianity has played a central role in world history, for better or worse, but beyond the life of Jesus many people know little of this story. Geoffrey Blainey takes the reader on a journey from the very beginnings of Christianity through to the present day. Looking at the development of the religion itself, as well as the social and economic forces that have influenced it, the book focuses on the stories of the key players in Christianity's rise and fall through the ages, as well as how these players shaped the faith of believers.

'Few authors would be up to the task of writing a comprehensive history of one of the world's most widespread and diverse religions, but with this book, Australian historian Blainey manages to create a narrative that is both scholarly and all-encompassing without being rambling or tedious... With a conversational tone and an astonishing wealth of information compacted into more than 600 pages, this title is ideal for any pursuit, whether personal or scholarly.' - Library Journal; 'Blainey has provided with his latest book a clear and dependable history of Christianity. This is not a scholar's reference work but a very accessible, engagingly readable story. It combines organizational detail and theological controversies with the sense of what it was like to be a Christian in different contexts over two thousand years. His history has a richly human quality without sentimentality or, for that matter, 'side-taking' in the debates and conflicts reported... 'The need for a book like this is enormous... Those who are not Christian would benefit from this balanced and unvarnished account of a monumentally influential religion. Christians would benefit from what only a study of history can bring: a counter to the ignorance which predisposes us to repeat past errors.';- Insights

Geoffrey Blainey is one of Australia's most eminent historians. He held a chair at Harvard University and taught for many years at the University of Melbourne. The Oxford Companion to Australian History calls him 'the most prolific, wide-ranging, inventive' of all living Australian historians.

Catch up on two-thousand years of Christianity in this book on the growth of the biggest influence on Western society.

Short History of Christianity

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