A History of Christianity in Asia
Beginnings to 1500
(2nd Edition)(Vol 1)
by Samuel Hugh Moffett
Posted: Friday, June 23, 2000 at 07:05 PM CT
Book Details
Paperback: 560 pages
Publisher: Orbis Books; 2 Sub edition
(April 1, 1998)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1570751625
ISBN-13: 978-1570751622
Book Description
Synopsis
In this volume, the author examines early Asian Christianity to 1500. "Moffett
weighs the evidence for the apostolicity of the Thomas Christians of Indians;
discusses evidences for early Christian settlements in Korea; traces out the . .
. theology existing in Syriac; and . . . examines the relationshipof
Christianity to Islam." (Commonweal) Bibliography. Index.
From The Publisher
The first of a two-volume history documenting the spread of Christianity to
southern Asia, India, and China.
REVIEWS
From C.L. Hanson - Choice
Acknowledging that he is no expert in all that he covers, nevertheless Moffett
makes judicious use of other researchers' investigations and presents a
convincing and well-balanced picture of Christianity's origins and developmentin
Asia to 1500. . . . Moffett is also to be commended for the bibliographic
guidance which is provided for each chapter. This is a book that all can consult
with profit. No academic library should be without it.
From Edwin M. Yamauchi - The American Historical Review
In most respects this is an excellent text with a highly readable narrative.
The author's coverage is both comprehensive and balanced, and his scholarship is
impressive. . . . Some readers may disagree about the depth of coverage on
subjects that may be dear to their hearts. Armenia, a buffer state, which became
one of the first kingdoms to embrace Christianity, is given rather short shrift
as an area that eventually came under Byzantine orbit. But certainly in the late
Roman empire Armenia was very much under Persian (Parthian) influence. The
author does not do justice to Christianity among the Arabs beforeMuhammad, nor
does he refer to Irfan Shahid's important monographs on the subject. Moffett's
treatment of the rival Manichaean movement is rather unsatisfactory.
From Lawrence S. Cunningham - Commonwealth
Of necessity, this volume, which brings the story down to 1500, is a welter
of names, places, cultural crosscurrents, and varying religious traditions,both
within and apart from Christianity. The very detail of this history makes for
tough going but the rewards are enormous. . . . Specific vignettes add spice to
the story. . . . One thing is quite certain: anyone who has the patience to read
through this long work will look at the history of Christianity ina quite
different light. It should give pause to those who natter on about the church as
the realm of Dead White European Males. Moffett brings us a panorama of Semitic,
Indian, Asian, Mongol, Persian, and African peoples of both sexes and of many
gifts.
From Choan-Seng Song - The Journal of Religion
How can a full story be told of Christianity in Asia? . . . 'Full' of course is
a relative term, but in this first volume, . . . Moffett tells it fuller than
any historian before him has done. And he has done it brilliantly, amassing an
incredible amount of source materials, crisscrossing them and weavingthem into a
vivid story that is at once complex and coherent, informative andinsightful,
never compromising the historian's astuteness not to confuse fantasies with
facts, not to fill historical lacunae with pure speculation. Throughout Moffett
demonstrates his superb skill of storytelling, making learning of church history
a delightful, provocative, and exciting enterprise.
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