This book is a history of Christianity from its earliest beginnings to the end of the twentieth century. The book provides students with an introduction to the many persons, places, movements, and events necessary for the telling of our story, the story of the Church. This history of Christianity is told in its essentials, simply and straightforwardly for students with little or no experience in the academic study of religion. It is a story told within the complex contexts of larger world events...

Originally published more than forty years ago, this important collection brings together the works and writings of the revolutionary minds behind the Protestant Reformation—and it remains a major resource for teachers, students, and history buffs alike. Over the decades, however, modern scholarship has shed new light on this tumultuous period, raising probing questions and providing new connections that have radically changed our understanding and outlook.\nWith this newly revised and...

In The Division of Christendom, revered historian Hans J. Hillerbrand details the events and ideas of the sixteenth century and contends that the Protestant Reformation must be seen as an interplay of religious, political, and economic forces in which religion played a major role. Hillerbrand tells the fascinating story of the ways in which theological disagreements divided the centuries-old Christian church and the roles that leading characters such as Luther, Zwingli, Anabaptists, and...