About the Book
Johnson takes a unique approach to church history. He examines twelve crises that motivated the evolution of Christianity. In his survey of Church history, he chronicles the story from the first century and the "birth and adolescence" of Christianity to postmodernism, a feat which no other introduction can claim. His chapters examine the basic conflicts that gave permanent shape to Christian theology, and, to a lesser degree, church institutions.
Table of Contents:
1.From Jesus to the "Apostolic Fathers": The Crisis of Birth and Adolescence
2.From Variety to Orthodoxy and Heresy: The Crisis of Self-Definition
3.From Persecution and Calumny to State Religion: The Crisis of the State
4.The Trinitarian and Christological Controversies: The Crisis of Monotheism
5.Augustine and the Pelagian Controversy: The Crisis of Salvation
6.Oligarchy and Monarchy, East and West: The Crisis of Authority
7.The "Crusades": The Crisis of Islam
8.Scholastics, Friars, Heretics, and Mystics: Crises of Spirituality
9.The Reformation: The Crisis of Salvation Once Again
10.Orthodoxism, Pietism, and Rationalism: The Crisis of Modernity
11.Copernicus, Darwin, and Freud: The Crisis of Relativity
12.Christian Faith Today: The Crisis of Postmodernism
About the Author :
Marshall D. Johnson is the former Director of Fortress Press (1990-1997). His recent book Making Sense of the Bible: Literary Type as an Approach to Understanding (Eerdmans, 2002) was selected as one of Choice’s “Outstanding Academic Books†for 2002.
Review :
-Mention. Theology Digest/ Vol. 52 No. 3/ Fall 2005
"He is clear and, perforce, concise. Without recourse to jargon, he writes accurately about the tangled issues he deals with." -America, 4/25/05
"Marshall Johnson combines attention to specific facts with a sense of larger issues (the 12 crises) in a remarkably crisp, readable, and useful survey of Christian history, especially in the West. He is especially good at showing how intellectual debate and spiritual diversity helped shape Christianity's evolution. This book is a fine starting point for those seeking a sense of the great sweep of the Christian story." -Luke Johnson, Robert W. Woodruff Professor of New Testament and Christian Origins, Candler School of Theology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia
"Marshall Johnson's book is an absorbing account of Christian history. By focusing on theological and ecclesiastical crises from ancient to modern times, he succeeds in conveying a dramatic narrative of the emerging identity of the church and its message. The reader will be rewarded with a deeper understanding of a complex and fascinating story." -Paul Jersild, Professor Emeritus of Theology and Ethics, Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, Columbia, SC
"At a time when serious Christians throughout the West are attempting to achieve a more articulate understanding of the evolution of the Christian faith, I can think of no more stimulating and informative approach to the subject than Marshall Johnson's work. The "twelve crises" that historian Johnson describes constitute, in fact, a brief but highly imaginative course in the history of the church and its doctrine. Beyond that, however, the approach substantiates the view that crises, such as pertain in the Christian Movement today, are never wholly negative factors in the life of faith but may function as clarifying moments through which a living religion continuously defines its essence over against internal and external threats to its integrity. I have been taught and deeply moved by this carefully structured and finely nuanced study. -Douglas John Hall, C.M., Th.D., Emeritus Professor of Christian Theology, McGill University, Montreal
"To tell the historical story of Christianity in a volume of fewer than 200 pages is a daunting task, but one that Johnson sets for himself. Johnson (former director, Fortress Press) organizes his material around what he calls "twelve crises that shaped the church": birth and adolescence, self-definition, the state, monotheism, salvation, authority, Islam, spirituality, "salvation once again," competing truth claims, modernist worldviews, and postmodernism. This scheme allows him to apportion the material fairly over the two millennia of Christian history, which is one of the strengths of the book. Each chapter is tightly organized, with subject headings and several helpful charts...On the whole Johnson's work is a clear, helpful introduction to the Christian story for the educated reader. The footnotes and bibliography are basic at best. Summing Up: Recommended. Undergraduates and graduate students; general readers." - Choice, January 2006
"Marshall Johson presents a crisp and well-digested story imaginatively divided into 12 chapters, each describing a crisis that shaped the Church from birth and adolescence, through self-definition, persecution, and doctrinal debate, to Islam, science modernism, and postmodernism."
"Johnson has written a brief, succinct church history built around the idea that doctrine and practice are shaped and changed by conflict.... This clear and readable presentation of a complex subject is excellent for both students and interested lay readers. Recommended for academic and public libraries." -Library Journal, 2005
