Synopses & Reviews
Christianity is the most popular religion in the world: having long ago spread beyond its historic heartlands in Europe and the Near East, it has been embraced by hundreds of millions in the Americas, Africa, Oceania, and Asia.
Christianity: The Illustrated History provides an accessible account of the religions origins and development, as well as its key ideas and concepts. On these pages, Christianity comes alive through its mystics, saints, artists, philosophers, and writersas well as the human story of Christ and his followers.
Organized in four parts, this engrossing volume traces Christianitys growth from small local sect to global power; gives an overview of beliefs, rituals, and festivals within the Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox traditions; offers a fascinating survey of sacred scrolls, testaments, apocrypha, and prayers; and examines the issues faced by the religions diverse faith communities as they seek to meet the challenges of a new millennium. Gorgeously illustrated throughout, it includes ten special feature spreads that serve as mini-essays on various aspects of art and architecture. The scholarly yet readable text also includes more than 100 fascinating boxes and sidebars that emphasize Christianitys legacyfrom philosophical ideas and educational institutions to selfless traditions of charity and caring.
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Hans J. Hillerbrand is Professor and Chair, Department of Religion, Duke University, North Carolina. He specializes in the Reformation and the history of modern Christianity. He has written or edited some eleven books, including the standard work The Protestant Reformation (1968), and some forty articles. He served as editor-in-chief of the four-volume Oxford Encyclopedia of the Reformation (1996), which won the Roland H. Bainton Prize for reference works, and The Encyclopedia of Protestantism (2003). In 2000 he became president of the American Society of Church History.