J's Pages

I've read a number of books on the history of Christianity in various parts of the world. One book I haven't sought out is the history of Christianity in Europe. I figure it will be essentially the generic church history I originally learned, growing up in a culture with western European roots. (and with a western European bias.) This book, however, caught my interest. It's not really a chronicle of the history of the Church in Europe as it is an attempt to try and discover how Christianity spread amongst the various peoples of Europe. It was a bit of a challenge, the author admits, as historical records in the early medieval period--especially those about the old pagan cultures--are scant. But Dr. Fletcher worked with what he had and put together a meaty book. It's a more scholarly tome, looking to piece together the evidence to illustrate general principals rather than a story. But it did a dimension to the historical tales I already knew. I could better envision how the new churches in a newly christened culture might work... or not work, as was sometimes the case. The principles Dr. Fletcher pieced together also pointed to similar things going on in our modern day, be it in the mission field or in those "Christian" cultures that aren't quite pure. 

Check it out.
LibraryThing link

Labels: CheckItOut, HistoryOfChristianity

// posted by John @ 12:41 PM 0 Comments