The Story of Christianity: A History of 2000 Years of the Christian Faith

Written by David Bentley Hart

Narrated by Derek Perkins

In The Story of Christianity, the distinguished theologian David Bentley Hart provides a broad picture of Christian history. Presented in fifty short chapters-each focusing on a critical facet of Christian history or theology, and each amplified by timelines, and quotations-his magisterial account does full justice to the range of Christian tradition, belief and practice-Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Anglican, Presbyterian, Evangelical, Coptic, Chaldean, Ethiopian Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox, Malankaran, to name but a few of the many possibilities.

From the persecutions of the early church to the papal-imperial conflicts of the Middle Ages, from the religious wars of 16th and 17th-century Europe to the challenges of science and secularism in the modern era, and from the ancient Christian communities of Africa and Asia to the "house churches" of contemporary China, The Story of Christianity triumphantly captures the heterogeneous richness of Christian history.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Jun 1, 2021
• ISBN: 9781705266281

David Bentley Hart

David Bentley Hart is a writer, religious studies scholar, philosopher, and cultural commentator. He is the author and translator of twenty-three books, including the award-winning You Are Gods.

Reviews for The Story of Christianity

[Nik Wight · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It's refreshing to read a church history that doesn't ignore the eastern Christian churches.

[Isaac Powell · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I learned a lot of new things about non European Christianity. Very succinct writing style which made it easy to learn and enjoy.

[Edmund Saley · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

,I finished listening to this book on Christmas eve 2021. Why have I not read such history before! When I was young and reading history our teachers, and our bookstores just gave us little snippets of popular history, all from the fashionable worldview of the time, which was naturalism and scientism. That with our traditional Christian professions of faith, belief and culture was quite at odds and completely confusing. And how did all that mix with the horrors of two world wars from which we had only short years previously emerged? After all, when I was a kindergartener, the playground beneath which I played was a bomb shelter. Now, only when I'm 71 years old, am I exposed to a history which explains things to me! This history manages to cover a full 2000 years of history right up to recent years. It is one of the most reasonable and healing books I have read for some time. It really puts it all together--love, faith, reason, purpose, hope.