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David Chidester. Christianity: A Global History. : San Francisco: HarperCollins, 2000. ISBN 0062517082; 608 pages; $32.

From the pax Romana of Herod the Great’s era to the New World Order following the collapse of communism in the Soviet Union, David Chidester’s new book, Christianity, A Global History, traces the great sweep of personalities, issues and events that helped define the world’s view of Christianity.

Chidester, a professor of comparative religion at the University of Cape Town in South Africa and the director of the Institute for Comparative Religion in South Africa, divides his book into three parts: the ancient origins of Christianity, the period of historical transition that followed and the global transformations that resulted from Christianity’s development.

In its first section, the book chronicles the early history of the Christian church — from Christ and his disciples to the elevation of Christianity to the only sanctioned religion of the Roman Empire in 381 C.E. Chidester thoroughly examines several of the issues that divided and defined the church in its first four centuries, especially the debates regarding the spiritual and earthly nature of Jesus. Beginning with the rejection of Marcion and Marcionite Christianity in 144, the book studies the issues introduced by the Gnosticism of Valentinus, the logos concept of Justin and the Arian controversy which eventually led to the Council of Nicaea.

According to Chidester, the Arian controversy 'divided bishops into two warring camps over a crucial question of doctrine: What is the nature of God?' But was it really doctrine that fueled the confrontation? Chidester has his doubts, seeing the issue 'growing out of a rivalry in Alexandria between the bishop Alexander and the priest Arius.' An interesting aspect of Chidester’s history is its attempt to look behind the issues to the personalities involved.

Chidester’s treatment of the life of Christ and the apostles mars this section (at least for me) because his own view of the divine differs so radically from our own beliefs. He doesn’t acknowledge the miracles in scripture. He refers at one point to a coin found 'accidentally' in the mouth of a fish. The Jesus in Chidester’s history is a prophet and teacher, not the transcendent, miracle-working Son of God of my faith.

The second part of the book marks the historical transitions that transformed Christianity from a 'local movement' begun in Judea into a world-embracing religion. As the distinction between Church and State continued to blur, Christianity — in the guise of the Holy Roman Empire — began to flex its muscles on the world stage.

As the Church began to expand to the farthest reaches of the Empire, it encountered the jihad mentality of the Muslims in the East, and the earthy paganism of Britain in the West. Ironically, the cult that was once persecuted, now became the persecutor. Chidester quotes Charles the Great: 'If there is anyone of the Saxon people lurking among them unbaptized, and if he scorns to come to baptism and wishes to absent himself and stay a pagan, let him die.' While the Church was relatively successful in establishing its superiority among the Saxons, in the East opposition from the Islamic faith was strong, growing from what started as a sort of mutual tolerance into the 'pilgrims’ war' declared in 1095 by Pope Urban II.

As the centuries passed, Christianity began to influence society — instead of being influenced by it. The liturgies of the developing monastic orders soon embraced those outside the class of the oratores, and besides dictating morality, the Church began dictating nearly everything else, controlling commerce, the military and social life. But besides fueling and inspiring the Renaissance, the Church — because of its heavy-handed rule and declining internal morality — also prompted the 'revolt' of Reformation. As the second section of Chidester’s book draws to a close, he introduces the great characters of the Reformation: Luther, Zwingli and others.

In the final third of Chidester’s work, he follows Christianity as it wanders through the changing path of history, beginning the journey with the 'New World' of Christopher Columbus, moving to Holy Russia and from there to the 'American Zion.' He examines the effect of the missionary efforts in Africa, Asia and India, dips briefly into the horror of the Holocaust, closing the journey with the 'unexpected' ending of the Cold War.

When Chidester concludes his analysis, he remarks, 'As Christianity approached the end of its second millennium, global changes in the flow of information, the attractions and seductions of consumerism, and the expanding scope of transnational relations raised profound questions about the location of Christianity in the new world order.' And he doesn’t answer that 'profound question,' except to point to the 'sacred space' of the family as important — although he cautions that Christians are 'still faced with the challenge of using local materials to build a home that is in the world but not of it.'

Chidester’s book is touted by its publisher as a 'people’s history' of Christianity — and perhaps it is. But if readers pick it up expecting a chronological timeline history of the religion, they’ll be disappointed. Instead, Christianity, A Global History is a topical approach to the 'elements' of Christianity, arranged in a roughly chronological order. Readers looking for a more encyclopedic approach should try one of Ninian Smart’s books: The Religious Experience, which has been a standard world religions text in universities associated with churches of Christ; or Atlas of the World’s Religions, which is edited by Smart.

The main value of Chidester’s book to people of faith such as the American Restoration is its illustration of the incredible diversity of thought that has fragmented the simple church begun on Pentecost. Viewed from that perspective, the book does offer valuable insight into man’s meddling nature.

CONTACT RORY FAULKNER at mincomil@swbell.net. He is a member of the Minco, Okla., church and publisher of the Millennium, a local newspaper.