Ebook
This timeline comprises one thousand significant dates for global Christianity. It includes events across all inhabited continents (and also in Antarctica and outer space), emphasizing those occurring in the non-Western world. The detailed annotations on each date are intended as provocative “ignition points” to spark historical curiosity, functioning as “launchpads” into further exploration in global Christianity. For example: -739: What did the finding of the Rotas-Sator palindrome on the walls of an eighth-century Sudanese cave dwelling indicate? -1346: Who were the mysterious Christians in the Javanese Royal Court of Majapahit? -1969: Why was the “secret communion” on the Moon hushed up by NASA? -1992: Why was Paraguay the only Latin American country to include an indigenous language as a national language? Since previous histories of Christianity usually have a European or North American perspective, students will find this book useful for its global coverage. It can be used in three ways. Firstly, it can be used chronologically as a continuous global timeline. It can also be used as a sampling of Christianity in each country, or as an index of significant figures in the history of global Christianity. Each section is cross-referenced to the timeline, making it a valuable resource for historical study.
“Brett Knowles is a top-flight scholar and A Timeline of
Global Christianity is a first-class quality contribution.
Students, interested laypeople, and historical scholars alike will
find this comprehensive, concise, and highly informative resource
so helpful in displaying the most significant people, events, and
theological issues across the globe. This Timeline will be
an indispensable tool for situating and contextualizing the social
movements, historical landmark decisions, and most notable figures
in the story of Christian faith. This should be a required
first-purchase for all students in theological schools in the
English-speaking world.”
—Mark A. Lamport, professor and editor, Grand Rapids,
Michigan
“This chronology is genuinely global, reinforcing one of
the most dramatic and welcomed developments in the historiography
over the past two decades: the recovery of non-Western Christian
history. I can hardly imagine a timeline that could be more
comprehensive in how it treats that history around the world and
across the span of two millennia. I am confident Brett’s work will
prove to be of enduring service to students and their teachers, as
well as the many others interested in navigating the Christian
past. This work is a timely gift to us all.”
—Tim Cooper, University of Otago, New Zealand
Brett Knowles is Associate Professor of Church History at Sydney
College of Divinity, Australia, and Teaching Fellow in Church
History in the Theology Programme at the University of Otago,
Dunedin, New Zealand. His most recent publications include
Transforming Pentecostalism: The Changing Face of New Zealand
Pentecostalism, 1920–2010 (2014) and New Life: A History of
the New Life Churches of New Zealand, 1942–1979, 3rd edition
(2015).