This important book contains eight articles by clergy and scholars who have experienced the vibrancy of Korean Christianity in Australia and New Zealand.
With a third of South Koreans now identifying themselves as Christian, Christian churches play an increasingly prominent role in the social and political events of the Korean peninsula. Sebastian C. H. Kim and Kirsteen Kim's comprehensive and timely history of different Christian denominations in Korea includes surveys of the Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant traditions as well as new church movements. They examine the Korean Christian diaspora and missionary movements from South Korea and also give cutting-edge insights into North Korea. This book, the first recent one-volume history and analysis of Korean Christianity in English, highlights the challenges faced by the Christian churches in view of Korea's distinctive and multireligious cultural heritage, South Korea's rapid rise in global economic power and the precarious state of North Korea, which threatens global peace. This History will be an important resource for all students of world Christianity, Korean studies and mission studies.
Since publication of the first edition in 1918, A History of the Christian Church by Williston Walker has enjoyed outstanding success and recognition as a classic in the field. Written by an eminent theologian, it combines in its narrative a rare blend of clarity, unity, and balance. In light of significant advances in scholarship in recent years, extensive revisions have been made to this fourth edition. Three scholars from Union Theological Seminary in New York have incorporated new historical discoveries and provided fresh interpretations of various periods in church history from the first century to the twentieth. The result is a thoroughly updated history which preserves the tenor and structure of Walker's original, unparalleled text.
What is Ecumenism? How and when did it start? What are its goals and how will they affect the future of the Christian churches? This book answers these questions and examines the remarkable story of new encounters between Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Anglican, Old Catholic, and most Protestant churches. Most of these churches have been divided for centuries over issues of theology, faith, and practice. Ecumenism seeks to reconcile these differences and to bring the churches together into a new unity based on their commonalities and their understanding of Christian faith. Here, FitzGerald traces the history of the churches and their divisions and focuses on the ways in which the Ecumenical movement began and the efforts that have been made to assist the churches in overcoming age-old strife, animosity, and misunderstanding. For centuries, Christian churches have remained divided over their doctrinal differences, but beginning in the late nineteenth century, churches and their members slowly began to emerge from their isolation. They began to abandon competition, mistrust, and misunderstanding in an effort to seek out their common interests and faith through meetings and organizations meant to bring them together. The encounters between the churches led to proposals for common prayers for unity, and for common witness in society. While not without difficulty, these encounters have fostered a renewal in Christian theology, worship, and witness, affecting all levels of church life. The process has touched Christians all over the world in various ways. FitzGerald carefully traces the history of the movement and its impact on the churches themselves, as well as the believers who attend them, making this important reading for all Christians and anyone interested in learning more about church division and efforts to restore unity.
This is a general, comprehensive introduction to John Wesley's life and work, and to his theological and ecclesiastical legacy. Written from various disciplinary perspectives, this volume will be an invaluable aid to scholars and students, including those encountering the work and thought of Wesley for the first time.
First Published in 1996. A comprehensive reference guide to saints, popes, martyrs, orders, heresies, schisms and religious movements and practices, the Dictionary of Christianity is an alphabetically-arranged volume of essential facts about Christianity and the Christian church. It includes: accounts of the lives of theologians, philosophers, and reformers whose works influenced the development of Christianity; biblical statistics and information about the chief editions of the Bible; the lives of saints, including their feast days; and details about offices and vestments, rituals and festivals. In recent years there has been an upsurge in ecumenical movements, and increased communication between Eastern and Western Catholics and Protestants. There has also been an increase in the membership of the Eastern Church in Western countries and, with the fall of Communism in Russia, a revival of the Russian Orthodox Church. In responseto this phenomena, the Dictionary of Christianity covers all the main branches of the Christian church. It will be an invaluable reference for all students of religion.
Christianity has transformed many times in its 2,000-year history, from its roots in the Middle East to its presence around the world today. From the mid-twentieth century onward the presence of Christianity has increased dramatically in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, and the majority of the world’s Christians are now nonwhite and non-Western. The Encyclopedia of Christianity in the Global South traces both the historical evolution and contemporary themes in Christianity in more than 150 countries and regions. The volumes include maps, images, and a detailed timeline of key events. The phrases “Global Christianity” and “World Christianity” are inadequate to convey the complexity of the countries and regions involved—this encyclopedia, with its more than 500 entries, aims to offer rich perspectives on the varieties of Christianity where it is growing, how the spread of Christianity shapes the faith in various regions, and how the faith is changing worldwide.
Winner of the 2007 Saddlebag Selection Award from the Historical Society of The United Methodist Church as “the best book published during the year on the history, biography, polity or theology of United Methodism or its predecessors.” Understanding history rests largely on a grasp of two things: sequence and context. Know which events came earlier and which later, and you’ve gone a long way toward understanding influence and causation. Know what was going on in the wider world at the same time a historical event occurred, and you’ll better grasp the meaning and significance of that event for the people who experienced it. Yet even with the best history textbooks students have difficulty in gaining an immediate sense of sequence and context. Hence the purpose of this book: To lay out the most important events in the history of the Wesleyan/Methodist movement, to show them in their proper order, and to include the most important occurrences taking place on the national and international stages at the same time. Matthews presents his material in an easy to comprehend and visually appealing layout, enumerating the major trends and developments in Methodist history from 1700 to 2004. Rex D. Matthews is Assistant Professor in the Practice of Historical Theology at Candler School of Theology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia. He currently serves as co-chair of the Wesleyan Studies Group of the American Academy of Religion, as General Editor of the Kingswood Books series, and as Managing Editor of the new electronic academic journal Methodist Review. An excerpt from the Circuit Rider review: "This is a book for college and seminary professors, for high school teachers of religion, for Sunday School teachers of children, youth and adults. It is a book for preachers and church musicians. It should be in every church library. This is a book for people who think history is boring as well as for those who delight in rich historical detail and story. It is a book to be savored and returned to again and again. And this is a book for all who love the church and yearn to be part of perfecting its mission and its life." (Click here to read the entire review.)