A Brief History of Christianity in Asia: Beginnings, Endings, and Reflections

A Brief History of Christianity in Asia: Beginnings, Endings, and Reflections PDF

Author: R. Lamon Brown

Publisher: Malaysia Baptist Theological Seminary

Published: 2019-10

Total Pages: 250

ISBN-13: 9789675073120

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The church was born in Asia and yet we typically know very little about the development of the church in Asia. This book offers a brief accounting of the history of Christianity in Asia. Unfortunately, most church history textbooks give little space to the expansion and expressions of Asian Christianity. This book is designed to be an introductory exposure. Boasting two-thirds of the world population in more than fifty nations or autonomous regions, Asia's immensity is unparalleled. A book of this length cannot explore two thousand years of rich and diverse history in much depth but will give the reader names, places, and resources for further research.

Christians in Asia before 1500

Christians in Asia before 1500 PDF

Author: Ian Gilman

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-01-11

Total Pages: 412

ISBN-13: 1136109781

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The history of Christianity in Asia is little dealt with either by Church historians or by historians of religion. It is generally unknown, even amongst theologians, that there was a long history of Christianity in Persia, India, Central Asia and China before the appearance on the scene of the first missionaries from the West. A systematic history of the Christian Church in Asia before 1500 is needed. Drawing on material hitherto unknown in the English speaking world, this is a timely and important book because there is a heightened interest today in the early forms of Asian Christianity. The Church in Asia today seeks to find forms of religious expression that are in harmony with Asian culture as was the case in the earlier period. The book covers the period up to 1500 CE. The geographical areas dealt with are Palestine, Syria, Mesopotamia, Persia, India, Central and South East Asia, China and Japan. The book takes into account the outward development of the Church in these areas as well as the inner, theological issues.

A History of Christianity in Asia, Vol. II

A History of Christianity in Asia, Vol. II PDF

Author: Samuel Hugh Moffett

Publisher: Orbis Books

Published: 2014-07-30

Total Pages: 702

ISBN-13: 1608331636

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The story of Christianity in the West has often been told, but the history of Christianity in the East is not as well known. The seed was the same: the good news of Jesus Christ for the whole world, which Christians call "the gospel." But it was sown by different sowers; it was planted in different soil; it grew with a different flavor; and it was gathered by different reapers. It is too often forgotten that the faith moved east across Asia as early as it moved west into Europe. Western church history tends to follow Paul to Philippi and to Rome and on across Europe to the conversion of Constantine and the barbarians. With some outstanding exceptions, only intermittently has the West looked beyond Constantinople as its center. It was a Christianity that has for centuries remained unashamedly Asian. A History of Christianity in Asia makes available immense amounts of research on religious pluralism of Asia and how Christianity spread long before the modern missionary movement went forth in the shelter of Western military might. Invaluable for historians of Asia and scholars of mission, it is stimulating for all readers interested in Christian history. --

The Oxford Handbook of Christianity in Asia

The Oxford Handbook of Christianity in Asia PDF

Author: Felix Wilfred

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2014-05-23

Total Pages: 768

ISBN-13: 0199341524

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Named by the International Bulletin of Missionary Studies as an Outstanding Book of 2014 for Mission Studies Despite the ongoing global expansion of Christianity, there remains a lack of comprehensive scholarship on its development in Asia. This volume fills the gap by exploring the world of Asian Christianity and its manifold expressions, including worship, theology, spirituality, inter-religious relations, interventions in society, and mission. The contributors, from over twenty countries, deconstruct many of the widespread misconceptions and interpretations of Christianity in Asia. They analyze how the growth of Christian beliefs throughout the continent is linked with the socio-political and cultural processes of colonization, decolonization, modernization, democratization, identity construction of social groups, and various social movements. With a particular focus on inter-religious encounters and emerging theological and spiritual paradigms, the volume provides alternative frames for understanding the phenomenon of conversion and studies how the scriptures of other religious traditions are used in the practice of Christianity within Asia.

History of Christianity

History of Christianity PDF

Author: Paul Johnson

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2012-03-27

Total Pages: 816

ISBN-13: 1451688512

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First published in 1976, Paul Johnson’s exceptional study of Christianity has been loved and widely hailed for its intensive research, writing, and magnitude—“a tour de force, one of the most ambitious surveys of the history of Christianity ever attempted and perhaps the most radical” (New York Review of Books). In a highly readable companion to books on faith and history, the scholar and author Johnson has illuminated the Christian world and its fascinating history in a way that no other has. Johnson takes off in the year AD 49 with his namesake the apostle Paul. Thus beginning an ambitious quest to paint the centuries since the founding of a little-known ‘Jesus Sect’, A History of Christianity explores to a great degree the evolution of the Western world. With an unbiased and overall optimistic tone, Johnson traces the fantastic scope of the consequent sects of Christianity and the people who followed them. Information drawn from extensive and varied sources from around the world makes this history as credible as it is reliable. Invaluable understanding of the framework of modern Christianity—and its trials and tribulations throughout history—has never before been contained in such a captivating work.

The Lost History of Christianity

The Lost History of Christianity PDF

Author: John Philip Jenkins

Publisher: Harper Collins

Published: 2008-10-28

Total Pages: 342

ISBN-13: 0061472808

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In this groundbreaking book, renowned religion scholar Philip Jenkins offers a lost history, revealing that, for centuries, Christianity's center was actually in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa, with significant communities extending as far as China. The Lost History of Christianity unveils a vast and forgotten network of the world's largest and most influential Christian churches that existed to the east of the Roman Empire. These churches and their leaders ruled the Middle East for centuries and became the chief administrators and academics in the new Muslim empire. The author recounts the shocking history of how these churches—those that had the closest link to Jesus and the early church—died. Jenkins takes a stand against current scholars who assert that variant, alternative Christianities disappeared in the fourth and fifth centuries on the heels of a newly formed hierarchy under Constantine, intent on crushing unorthodox views. In reality, Jenkins says, the largest churches in the world were the “heretics” who lost the orthodoxy battles. These so-called heretics were in fact the most influential Christian groups throughout Asia, and their influence lasted an additional one thousand years beyond their supposed demise. Jenkins offers a new lens through which to view our world today, including the current conflicts in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa. Without this lost history, we lack an important element for understanding our collective religious past. By understanding the forgotten catastrophe that befell Christianity, we can appreciate the surprising new births that are occurring in our own time, once again making Christianity a true world religion.

The God Who Walks Slowly

The God Who Walks Slowly PDF

Author: Benjamin Aldous

Publisher: SCM Press

Published: 2022-10-30

Total Pages: 100

ISBN-13: 0334061113

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We live in a world in which the church inhabits a deep existential anxiety about its future, feels pushed to the edges of society and doesn’t deal well with its marginalisation. Kosuke Koyama’s writing most notably in his famous Three mile an Hour God acts as an antidote for the preoccupation with speed, size and the spectacular - “God walks slowly because He is love.” In The God Who Walks Slowly, missiologist Ben Aldous explores how Koyama’s theology encourages an approach to mission which truly reflects the rhythm, pace, vision and surrender of Christ.