Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years (200 page)

One national Reformation which became a very individual branch of the Reformed family is introduced in D. MacCulloch,
Thomas Cranmer: A Life
(New Haven and London, 1996), D. MacCulloch,
The Later Reformation in England, 1547-1603
(rev. edn, Basingstoke, 2001), C. Haigh,
English Reformations: Religion, Politics and Society under the Tudors
(Oxford, 1993), and P. Marshall,
Reformation England 1480-1642
(London, 2003). The contrasting Reformation which in the same islands became
plus Calviniste que Calvin
is absorbingly described in all its vitality in M. Todd,
The Culture of Protestantism in Early Modern Scotland
(New Haven and London, 2002), while the Reformation which went wrong and the Counter-Reformation which supplanted it are sympathetically evoked in R. Gillespie,
Devoted People: Belief and Religion in Early Modern Ireland
(Manchester, 1997). G. Williams,
Wales and the Reformation
(Cardiff, 1997), is one work from the master of the subject. The mid-century crisis of the whole Atlantic Isles is most comprehensively described in A. Woolrych,
Britain in Revolution 1625-1660
(Oxford, 2002).

One monumental gazetteer of 'non-magisterial' possibilities of Reformation in Europe has not yet been surpassed, even though its attempts at classification are disputable: G. H. Williams,
The Radical Reformation
(London, 1962). Classic studies of an alignment which was always problematic, but which has provoked much fruitful investigation tending to undermine the original proposition, are M. Weber,
The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism
(various English edns from 1930), a translation of
Die protestantische Ethik und der Geist des Kapitalismus
, 190 4/5 ), and R. H. Tawney,
Religion and the Rise of Capitalism
(1926). More than a century of debate about the Weber-Tawney thesis is most reliably analysed in H. Lehmann and G. Roth (eds.),
Weber's
Protestant Ethic
: Origins, Evidence, Contexts
(Cambridge, 1993).

18: Rome's Renewal (1500- 1700)

A fine initial survey which has the advantage of taking seriously the worldwide mission of sixteenth-century Catholicism is R. Bireley,
The Refashioning of Catholicism, 1450-1700
(Houndmills, 1999), and a sprightly overview is given by one of the elder statesmen of the field in J. O'Malley,
Trent and All That: Renaming Catholicism in the Early Modern Era
(Cambridge, MA, 2000). His study of the origins of the Society of Jesus is currently the best available:
The First Jesuits
(Cambridge, MA, 1993). A rich variety of sources with commentary is provided by J. C. Olin (ed.),
The Catholic Reformation: Savonarola to Ignatius Loyola
(New York, 1992), and a lively treatment of a controversial topic is J. Edwards,
The Spanish Inquisition
(Stroud, 1999). J. Bergin,
Church, Society and Religious Change in France, 1580-1730
(New Haven and London, 2009), deals in masterly fashion with one Protestant Reformation which was eventually vanquished by Counter-Reformation. Admirably sensitive on one of the great mystics of the Christian tradition is A. Weber,
Teresa of Avila and the Rhetoric of Femininity
(Princeton and London, 1990). On the early modern witch-craze which has so fascinated post-Enlightenment Europeans for good or ill, a sensible short introduction is G. Scarre,
Witchcraft and Magic in 16th and 17th Century Europe
(Basingstoke, 1987), and a superb set of case studies is to be found in J. Barry, M. Hester and G. Roberts (eds.),
Witchcraft in Early Modern Europe: Studies in Culture and Belief
(Cambridge, 1996). K. Thomas,
Religion and the Decline of Magic
(London, 1971), provides a formidable mound of data on the subject. L. Roper,
Oedipus and the Devil: Witchcraft, Sexuality and Religion in Early Modern Europe
(London, 1994), is one thoughtful perspective on the problem, while a study of rare subtlety is S. Clark,
Thinking with Demons: The Idea of Witchcraft in Early Modern Europe
(Oxford, 1997).

19: A Worldwide Faith (1500- 1800)

The beginnings are superbly introduced in D. Abulafia,
The Discovery of Mankind: Atlantic Encounters in the Age of Columbus
(New Haven and London, 2008), and breathtaking in its ability to range across the globe is F. Fernandez-Armesto,
Pathfinders: A Global History of Exploration
(Oxford, 2006). A good background survey is still J. H. Parry,
The Spanish Seaborne Empire
(London, 1966). Phenomenal in his learning on Catholic world mission and a brilliant writer was C. R. Boxer, who complements Parry in his
The Portuguese Seaborne Empire, 1415-1825
(London, 1973), sweeps over the field in
The Church Militant and Iberian Expansion 1440-1770
(Baltimore, 1978), and expounds his particular passion in
The Christian Century in Japan, 1549-1650
(Berkeley, 1967). A work equally bidding fair to achieve classic status is M. Brockey,
Journey to the East: The Jesuit Mission to China, 1579-1724
(Cambridge, MA, 2007), and a fascinating and quirky companion to the early days of Christian mission is J. D. Spence,
The Memory Palace of Matteo Ricci
(London, 1984). Authoritative on its previously neglected subject is J. K. Thornton,
The Kingdom of Kongo: Civil War and Transition, 1641-1718
(Madison, WI, 1983).

20: Protestant Awakenings (1600- 1800)

Astride the field is what may be the culmination of a scholarly career spent explicating the worldwide links of early Evangelicalism: W. R. Ward,
The Protestant Evangelical Awakening
(Cambridge, 1992). The most central composer of the Western Christian tradition is enjoyably approached through W. Mellers,
Bach and the Dance of God
(London 1980), and C. Wolff,
Bach: The Learned Musician
(New York and London, 2000); equally one might wish to contemplate Bach's achievement through the recordings conducted by Sir John Eliot Gardiner. A classic exposition of British self-understanding and imperial expansion is L. Colley,
Britons: Forging the Nation, 1707-1837
(New Haven and London, 1992). A deeply felt survey from a great Methodist historian is E. G. Rupp,
Religion in England 1688- 1791
(Oxford, 1986), and a usefully different if perhaps skewed perspective may be gained from J. C. D. Clark,
English Society 1660-1832: Religion, Ideology and Politics during the Ancien Regime
(Cambridge, 2000). D. Bebbington,
Evangelicalism in Modern Britain: A History from the 1730s to the 1980s
(London, 1989, and subsequent expansions), has the same centrality for a narrower but still vast field. A splendid introduction to one of Christianity's most significant founder-churchmen from the present doyen of British Methodist scholarship is J. Walsh,
John Wesley: 1703-1791. A Bicentennial Tribute
(London, 1993), and H. D. Rack,
Reasonable Enthusiast: John Wesley and the Rise of Methodism
(London, 1989), likewise avoids Methodist hagiography. D. Hempton,
Methodism: Empire of the Spirit
(New Haven and London, 2005), helps to show why Wesley's legacy continued to be so important. A good introduction to early anglophone colonization in North America is C. Bridenbaugh,
Vexed and Troubled Englishmen, 1590-1642
(Oxford, 1968), while the relationship between Old and New Worlds is usefully complicated by F. J. Bremer,
Congregational Communion: Clerical Friendship in the Anglo-American Puritan Community, 1610-1692
(Boston, 1994), and S. Hardman Moore,
Pilgrims: New World Settlers and the Call of Home
(New Haven and London, 2007). L. E. Schmidt,
Holy Fairs: Scottish Communions and American Revivals in the Early Modern Period
(Princeton, 1989), like W. R. Ward, makes unexpected connections across the Atlantic, and is paralleled by a highly engaging and original survey, P. Bonomi,
Under the Cope of Heaven: Religion, Society and Politics in Colonial America
(New York and Oxford, 1986). Lively and wise is J. Butler,
Awash in a Sea of Faith: Christianizing the American People
(Cambridge, MA, 1990).

PART VII: GOD IN THE DOCK (1492-PRESENT)

General Reading

D. Cupitt,
The Sea of Faith: Christianity in Change
(London, 1984), is a concise statement of this important theologian's historical reflection on the Enlightenment and its significance for Christianity, paralleled in its radical questioning and historical analysis by P. Kennedy,
A Modern Introduction to Theology: New Questions for Old Beliefs
(London, 2006). A more sober but highly useful historical account is D. Rosman,
The Evolution of the English Churches 1500-2000
(Cambridge, 2003), and a wide sweep of a central topic is N. Atkin and F. Tallett,
Priests, Prelates and People: A History of European Catholicism since 1750
(London, 2003). A counter-theme of some importance is dealt with by D. Nash,
Blasphemy in Modern Britain 1789-present
(Aldershot, 1999).

21: Enlightenment: Ally or Enemy? (1492- 1815)

There is a lack of any short introduction to the religion of the period, but a superb collection of essays is to be found in S. J. Brown and T. Tackett (eds.),
The Cambridge History of Christianity 7: Enlightenment, Reawakening and Revolution 1660-1815
(Cambridge, 2006). J. I. Israel,
Radical Enlightenment: Philosophy and the Making of Modernity 1650- 1750
(Oxford, 2001), offers a superb reinterpretation of the origins of the Enlightenment which has won much approval. O. Chadwick,
The Popes and European Revolution
(Oxford, 1981), is perhaps Chadwick's most remarkable and original book; there is nothing else like it, although D. Beales,
Prosperity and Plunder: European Catholic Monasteries in the Age of Revolution, 1650-1815
(Cambridge, 2003), is a richly enjoyable and equally original treatment of one aspect of the same subject, beautifully illustrated. J. McManners,
Church and Society in Eighteenth-century France
(2 vols., Oxford, 1998), is unequalled in its treatment. Of the vast literature on the French Revolution, D. Andress,
The French Revolution and the People
(London, 2004), is one of the most interesting recent considerations.

22: Europe Re-enchanted or Disenchanted? (1815- 1914)

An absorbing survey of European religion, perhaps a little kind to Roman Catholicism, at least by omission, is M. Burleigh,
Earthly Powers: The Conflict between Religion and Politics from the French Revolution to the Great War
(London, 2005). The Oxford History of the Christian Church series serves the period well with O. Chadwick,
A History of the Popes 1830-1914
(Oxford, 1998), and N. Hope,
German and Scandinavian Protestantism, 1700- 1918
(Oxford, 1995). A fine life of one who appears far more important in retrospect than he seemed at the time is J. Garff,
Soren Kierkegaard: A Biography
(Princeton, 2005), and one who was immediately recognized as exceptional is superbly portrayed in J. Browne,
Charles Darwin
(2 vols., London, 1995, 2002). Of the literature on Marian devotion in the nineteenth century, D. Blackbourn,
Marpingen: Apparitions of the Virgin Mary in Bismarckian Germany
(Oxford, 1993), is perhaps the most important case study of an extraordinary phenomenon in European society. J. McManners,
Church and State in France 1870- 1914
(London, 1972), is a concise survey of a deeply riven era of French politics, whose fruits are to be sampled more seriously than a comic novel might normally promise in G. Chevallier,
Clochemerle-les-Bains
, whose French original of 1934 has various English translations. M. Angold (ed.),
The Cambridge History of Christianity 5: Eastern Christianity
(Cambridge, 2006) is a sure guide to the travails and growing ascendancy of Orthodoxy during the period.

O. Chadwick,
The Secularization of the European Mind in the Nineteenth Century
(Cambridge, 1975), is a fine survey, while on a more restricted subject, O. Chadwick,
The Victorian Church
(2 vols., 2nd edn, London, 1970-72), is written with such lightness of touch that one hardly notices its two-volume size. Other dimensions of English religion are well served by F. Knight,
The Church in the Nineteenth Century
(London, 2008), and British theology is serviceably introduced by B. M. G. Reardon,
Religious Thought in the Victorian Age
(London, 1980); background documents are usefully gathered in A. O. J. Cockshut,
Religious Controversies of the Nineteenth Century: Selected Documents
(London, 1966). One of the most balanced accounts of the Oxford Movement and its consequences, by a primate of the allied Swedish Lutheran Church, is still Y. Brilioth,
The Anglican Revival: Studies in the Oxford Movement
(London, 1933). The character of nineteenth-century Anglicanism is beautifully traced in the works of D. Newsome,
Godliness and Good Learning: Four Studies on a Victorian Ideal
(London, 1961), on the impact of religion on education, and his
The Parting of Friends: A Study of the Wilberforces and Henry Manning
(London, 1966). Newsome also wrote an illuminating dual biography of
The Convert Cardinals: John Henry Newman and Henry Edward Manning
(London, 1993), though the standard biography of Newman is still I. Ker,
John Henry Newman
(Oxford, 1988).

23: To Make the World Protestant (1700- 1914)

In addition to the surveys of particular regions listed above under 'General Reading for All Christian History', the essayists of S. Gilley and B. Stanley (eds.),
The Cambridge History of Christianity 8: World Christianities c. 1815-c. 1914
(Cambridge, 2006), should be eagerly consulted. The greatest of world empires of the period is presented in B. Stanley,
The Bible and the Flag: Protestant Missions and British Imperialism in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries
(Leicester, 1990), A. Porter,
Religion versus Empire? British Protestant Missionaries and Overseas Expansion, 1700-1914
(Manchester, 2004), and J. Cox,
The British Missionary Enterprise since 1700
(New York and London, 2008). A principal theme tangled with that story and Britain's American offshoot is magisterially discussed in both D. B. Davis,
Inhuman Bondage: The Rise and Fall of Slavery in the New World
(Oxford, 2006), and C. Kidd,
The Forging of Races: Race and Scripture in the Protestant Atlantic World, 1600-2000
(Cambridge, 2006). I. Breward,
A History of the Churches in Australasia
(Oxford, 2001), is judicious and comprehensive.