REFORMATIONS: A Radical Interpretation of Christianity and the World, 1500-2000 - Hardcover

Felipe Fernandez-Armesto; Derek Wilson

3.5

14 ratings by Goodreads

9780684831046: REFORMATIONS: A Radical Interpretation of Christianity and the World, 1500-2000

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 068483104X ISBN 13: 9780684831046

Publisher: Scribner, 1997

View all copies of this ISBN edition:

Two renowned historians, one Catholic and the other Protestant, explore the current worldwide resurgence of Christianity and suggest that it is a result of an ongoing cycle of ebb and flow stemming from the Protestant Reformation. 20,000 first printing.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

Review:

The common view of the Protestant Reformation is that it was a sudden revolution that shattered the religious hegemony of the Roman Catholic Church. Then, depending on the side you take, it was either the catalyst of modern progress or the first step into secular depravity. Felipe Fernandez-Armesto and Derek Wilson team up to set the record straight: their premise is that the Reformation was actually a single link in a chain of church stagnation and reform that stretches into the centuries before and after. The breadth of research that these two scholars marshal in support of their thesis is staggering, but never overbearing.

From Kirkus Reviews:

A Catholic and a Protestant ransack the last 500 years in a search for some unifying characteristics of modern Christianity. Although originating in the Mediterranean world and Europe, Christianity is now a global religion of startling diversity. More than half the world's Christians are either African or of African descent. With tens of thousands of new Christian denominations and independent congregations emerging every decade, it is becoming more difficult to classify them all with the simple label ``Christian.'' Historians Fern ndez-Armesto (Millennium, 1995, etc.) and Wilson (The Astors 17631992, 1993, etc.) attempt to find common ground amidst the apparent anarchy. They focus on Christian leaders, Christian art, and Christian architecture to illustrate the common themes in Christian history that can be found in apparently incongruous examples of the faith. A spare Baptist preaching house in England and Philip II's massive Spanish Palace, the Escorial, are treated as contrasting instances of Christian devotion. But the authors' examples are often arbitrary and sometimes erroneous. The pioneering innovations in hymnody associated with Dwight L. Moody's revival crusades are attributed to Billy Graham. Their critique of the Pharisees fails to acknowledge the distorting anti-Semitism of the New Testament account, and their celebratory treatment of Christian missions evades the role of missionaries in Western imperialism. Each chapter has a theme, but the authors fail to stick to the subject. A discussion of the Eucharist, for instance, might be embedded in a chapter on heresy and authority. Occasionally, they deliver sweeping generalization about the fate of religion that are not sustained by the illustrative material in the chapter. As anarchic and disorganized as Christianity itself, this book might be useful as a source of anecdotes for sermons or lectures. (16 pages b&w photos, not seen) -- Copyright �1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.