Selected chapters from
“A History
of Christianity”
by Kenneth Scott Latourette
Vol. 1, pp. 3-494
The Pre-Christian Course of Mankind.
1. The general setting of Christianity in history.
The youth of Christianity. The limited area of early Christianity. The unpromising root-age of Christianity.
2. The immediate background of Christianity: Judaism.
The rise of Judaism. Jewish beliefs and literature. Apocalypse, eschatology, and messiah. The synagogue. The Scribe. Varieties of Judaism. Judaism summarized. Judaism and Christianity.
3. The immediate background of Christianity: The Græco-Roman world.
The scene of the birth of Christianity. Conditions favorable to the spread of religion. Religious rivals for the allegiance of the Græco-Roman world.
4. Jesus and the Gospel: the foundation of Christianity.
Our knowledge of Jesus. Birth, boyhood and youth. The public career begins. Jesus and the kingdom of God. Jesus’ concern for individuals. Jesus and man.
The consummation of the Kingdom. God is central and supreme. The man Jesus.
The unique relation to God. Conflict with the religious leaders. Crucified, dead,
and buried. Risen, ascended, expected, and yet still present. The coming of the spirit.
The first five hundred years: Christianity wins.
5. The sweep of Christianity across the Græco-Roman world.
Our fragmentary knowledge. Beginning from Jerusalem. Christianity begins to move out into the non-Jewish world. Paul, missionary at large. Further first century spread of the faith. Second and third century spread. Christianity begins to overflow the borders of the Empire. The social origins of the early Christians.
Persistent opposition and persecution. A breathing space and rapid growth. The sudden storms under Decius and Valerian. A generation of peace and prosperity. Climax of storm. Constantine espouses Christianity. The Christian community under the sons of Constantine. Reaction under Julian and the competition of old and new faiths. The conversion of Augustine. The geographic extension of the
faith continues. Why the phenomenal spread of Christianity?
6. Christianity Takes Shape in Organization and Doctrine.
The reticence of Jesus on organization and creed. The new Testament ideal of the
Church. The Church as it was. The organization of the Early Church. The
Church of Rome. Ideal unity and actual division: the continuing problem. The
conflict over the relation to Judaism. The Greek menace. The Gnostic threat.
Marcion and the Marcionites. The Montanist movement. The development of
catholic organization and doctrine. Apostolic succession. The canon of the New
Testament is determined. The Apostles’ Creed. The continuation of conflict
within the Church. The Easter controversy. The Novatian and Donatist divisions.
The effort to define the Trinity. Early Christian views of Christ. Christ and the
Logos. Tertullian and the Trinity. The Great Alexandrians: Clement. The Great
Alexandrians: Origen. Post-Origenist developments in Christian thought and the
rise of Arianism. The council of Nicæa. The resurgence of Arianism. The defeat
or the Arians. The Nicene creed. Further Christological controversies:
Apollinaris, Nestorius, Cyril. "Nestorianism" finds a refuge in the Persian
Empire. The continuation of the Christological controversy. The further progress
of Monophysitism. Augustine and Pelagianism. Semi-Pelagianism. The
continued development of the structure of the Catholic church. The increasing
importance of the Church of Rome. Summary.
7. Worship, and discipline in the Christian community.
Admission to the church. Early Christian worship. Later developments in
worship. Developing liturgies for the Eucharist. Other times and forms of
worship. Christian festivals and the beginning of “the Christian year.” Customs
of prayer. Psalms, hymns, music. Dionysius the Areopagite. Other forms of
private worship and devotion. The dress of the clergy. Financing the church.
Ethical ideals and moral discipline in the church.
8. The rise of monasticism.
Pre-monastic Christian asceticism. The beginning of monasticism. The further development of monasticism.
9. Earthen vessels… The exceeding greatness of
the power. The power creates the Church, Christian literature, and Christian theology. Yet no attempt was made to reshape civilization. The profound effect on the religious life. The tension between the early Christians and “the world.”
Christians and war. Christians and public amusements. Christians and slavery. The Christian attitude towards property. Christian philanthropy. Sex, women, children, marriage, and the family. Christians and pagan literature. Christianity and language. Christianity and art. Christians and the state. New wine in old wineskins: the power of Christ and the power of Cæsar. What happened to the new wine? The darkest hours: the great recession.
10. The setting of the great recession.
11. The Byzantine continuation.
The Justinian era. The final stages of the Christological controversy:
Monotheletism. The western and eastern sections of the Catholic Church continue to drift apart. The coming of the Arabs and Islam. The slowing down of theological creativity in the Byzantine Empire. The last great figure in Greek theology, John of Damascus. The iconoclastic controversy. The
continued monasticism of the Byzantine Church. Minority movements branded as heretical by the Orthodox. The revival of the Byzantine Church and strains in relations with Rome. The northward expansion of Byzantine Christianity. The effect of the Byzantine environment on Christianity. The effect of Christianity upon Byzantine life and culture.
12. The smaller Eastern Churches.
Monophysites of Egypt, Nubia, and Ethiopia. Syrian Monophysites. Armenian (Gregorian) Christianity. Nestorian Christianity and its eastward extension. Summary comment.
13. The course in Western Europe.
The main features of the Western Europe in which Christianity was set (A.D. 500 - A.D. 950). The general course of Christianity in Western Europe. The victory of the Catholic Church over Arianism. The emergence of Western forms of monasticism. The growing power of the Church in an age of disorder. The augmented power of the Papacy and Gregory the Great. Other contemporary theological activity. The “Donation of Constantine” and the Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals. The spread of Christianity in the West. The Carolingian revival. The decline of the Carolingians. Renewed theological activity under the Carolingians. Developments in Church discipline. Declining Carolingian and growing Papal power. The descent of darkness. Faint gleams of light. Effect of the
environment. The effect of Christianity on the West.
14. Retrospect and prospect.
Four centuries of resurgence and advance,A.D. 950 — A.D. 1350.
15. The main features and the world setting of Christianity.
16. Renewed and continued progress in the expansion of Christianity.
The conversion of the Scandinavians. The spread of Christianity in Scandinavian outposts in the Atlantic. The winning of the Scandinavians in Russia and the beginnings of Russian Christianity. The conversion of Bohemia. The conversion of Poland. The conversion of the Magyars. Christian counter-gains against Islam in Spain and Sicily. The slow completion of the conversion of north-western Europe. The Jews in Western Europe. The further spread of Christianity in
Russia. The growth of Christian minorities in Asia. Missions to Moslems in North Africa and Western Asia. Summary.
17. Expansion through the crusades.
The roots of the Crusades. The first Crusade. The later Crusades. The Crusading Spirit. Military monastic orders. The Crusading heritage.
18. Revival through monasticism:
The varied development of the monastic ideal in Europe. First hints of awakenings. The Cluny movement. The rising tide of monastic life. The monasteries gain special privileges. The Cistercian movement. Bernard of Clairvaux. Other twelfth century monastic movements. The coming of the Friars. The Franciscans. The Dominicans. The Carmelites. The Augustinian Hermits. Other mendicant orders. The friars multiply and clash with the secular clergy. Other thirteenth and fourteenth century monastic movements. Summary.
19. Popular religious movements: Popular movements which remained within the Church.
Heretical movements. Arnold of Brescia. The Waldensees. The Cathari or Albigenses. The suppression of the heresies.
20. The effort to “purify” the Church
through the papacy.
Early reform efforts by Bishops. The reforming spirit captures the Papacy. The rising power of the reformed papacy. Hildebrand exalts the papacy. Hildebrand as Pope Gregory VII. Hildebrand’s successors continue the battle for reform. The reform movement spreads in various countries. The improvement in various aspects of the morals of the laity. The Papacy attains its height as a legislative and administrative structure. Great Popes of the twelfth century. Innocent III. The
slow decline of the Papacy. Why the decline of the Papacy? The Papacy goes into captivity at Avignon. Summary.
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