Book Reflection: Church History in Plain Language – Bruce L. Shelley

     Shelley notes that ‘surely one of the most remarkable aspects of Christianity today is how few of these professed believers have ever seriously studied the history of their religion.’ I definitely belong to this category, and I certainly regret not studying the history of Christianity earlier.

     What Shelley sets out to do in this book is to chart the development of Christianity from Jesus till the modern age (my edition is published in 2008, so up to that point). He attempts to do so by telling stories of people rather than merely stating cold hard facts. This writing style makes this crash course in Christian history very readable and accessible. Furthermore, there is no cost to the level of research and scholarship. Admittedly, he cannot explore people and incidents in great depth, but he is clear that his purpose is to do a general survey of the history of Christianity – a sort of appetiser to get us excited about learning more.

     Another feature of the book worth mentioning is the way he structures the chapters. He suggests large epochs:

1)    The Age of Jesus and the Apostles (6 BC – AD 70)

2)    The Age of Catholic Christianity (70 – 312)

3)    The Age of the Christian Roman Empire (312 – 590)

4)    The Christian Middle Ages (590 – 1517)

5)    The Age of the Reformation (1517 – 1648)

6)    The Age of Reason and Revival (1648 – 1789)

7)    The Age of Ideologies (1914 - )

     Under each age, he talks about significant people, movements and events that have shaped Christianity during those eras. Chapter lengths are manageable and quite neatly divided, so top points for organisation!

     Perhaps the only negative thing I have to say about the work is that there is certainly more focus on Western Christianity. We do not hear much about the Orthodox Church; neither do we read much about Christianity in Southeast Asia and Australia. But these complaints could be just me being greedy.

     I’ve definitely learned a few lessons and have been confronted with some questions. Through reading the book, I’ve become more aware of the Christian tradition that I now find myself in. By better understanding its roots, I’ve come to realise that this position – Reformed Evangelical Anglicanism - is quite a minority one. And it is humbling and somewhat scary; humbling in that I need to learn to be more tolerant and appreciative of the diversity of Christian traditions, and asserting I am right (even if I am right) in the hopes of convincing everyone else is already a failed historical experiment. So I definitely hope to be quicker to listen when someone speaks about Christianity differently, and try to understand the backgrounds and presuppositions that have shaped his doctrines and practices.

     And it is scary because for me this raises the question of truth: either some Christians are wrong, or nobody is right. The latter cannot be true, so it has to be the former. But what would that look like? Who determines who’s wrong and right? Protestantism would say take Scripture as the highest authority, but so many denominations claim to do so, yet interpret and apply things so differently. In other words, is there a single way to be Christian, or to do Christian ministry? These are, for me, nagging unanswered questions.

     However, Shelley argues that one thing unites all Christians – the Person Jesus Christ – and I wouldn’t dare disagree. Perhaps methodology may differ, perhaps there is a ‘better’ way of doing things. But what’s likely more important is that people are turning to Christ in repentance and faith and seeking to live under his lordship until he returns, all to God’s glory. I can see a picture of that in the international community here at Christchurch Durham. There’s a Brethren and some Methodists (this is, unfortunately not too diverse a group, but I think it illustrates my point), and though I disagree with many things they believe in, I am unashamed to call them brothers and sisters in Christ and to be ministers of the gospel together. Maybe, just maybe. (Also, I’ll try to ‘convert’ them in the process, haha! XD)

     I remember an illustration our student pastor uses to talk about Christian unity. He talks about planting the gospel flag in the ground, and all who run to it – those are who we will be united with. Sounds pretty similar to what Jesus says in Matthew 12:49 ‘And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”’