Christianity

The city of Jerusalem in the modern state of Israel is an appropriate place to begin our introduction to Christianity. Although Christianity is the minority religion in this city dominated by Jews and Muslims, Jerusalem still exercises a fascination over the imaginations of many Christians. It was here that Jesus of Nazareth is said to have been executed by the Roman authorities some 2000 years ago.

Orthodox and Catholic Christians are not the only branches of Christianity to worship in Jerusalem . Some Protestants participate in the rituals of the Catholics and the Orthodox, attracted by the pomp and magnificence of these centuries-old ceremonies. Other Protestants come to Jerusalem , but choose not to mingle with Catholics or Orthodox. Intensely concerned with finding the correct historic site for the biblical events and offended by the "indecorous worship" occurring at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Anglicans in the late nineteenth century sought an alternative site. They found it on a hillside just outside the old city. Here, a rock formation reminded them of Golgotha , and the presence of an ancient tomb there convinced them that this was the true place of Jesus' death and resurrection.

In a way, the Christian situation in Jerusalem is symbolic of the larger situation of Christianity worldwide. As in the city, the world is filled with a diversity of Christian groups, all competing to define the center of the tradition. Of course, the situation on the global level is qualitatively different and far more complex: if a dozen or so Christian denominations are found in Jerusalem , an estimated 21,000 distinct Christian groups exist worldwide. Nevertheless, in order to seriously understand the reality of global Christianity one must adopt an approach similar to that taken in the city.

In other words, it is necessary to bracket out the claims of individual groups to represent the center and to frankly recognize Christianity's untidy and permanent diversity. That is the goal of this volume.

Instead of focusing exclusively on the development of a mainstream or majority Christianity, this text seeks to understand the development of the Christian tradition as holistically and globally as possible. Of course, it would be impossible, if not exhausting, to cover the Christian tradition in all its varieties within the confines of an introductory text. To be rigorously inclusive would involve writing an encyclopedia. That, however, is not the approach of this book. Rather, what we attempt to do here is to demonstrate a spectrum of Christian diversity by charting representative transformations within the tradition from its origins to the present day. In this way, Christianity can be seen for what it was historically and what it continues to be today: a living, ever-changing religion which, like any other religion, owes its vitality to its diversity.

Such, in large part, has been the history of Christianity. This volume has been designed to introduce the reader to that history by charting the development of Christianity through five broad periods: Late Antiquity, the Middle Ages, the Reformation, the Modern Period, and lastly, the period we are now entering, called by some "postmodern." Each of these periods has witnessed the progressive growth and spread of Christianity, while at the same time each has also been characterized by unique changes in the structures and dynamics of the societies in which Christian groups were found. The combination of these two factors has meant that each period has given rise to a unique set of Christianities.

Of course, not all of these new Christian groups sary to bracket out the claims of individual groups to represent the center and to frankly recognize Christianity's untidy and permanent diversity.