The Story of Christianity by Justo L. González

“If one who takes the clothing off another is called a thief, why give any other name to one who can clothe the naked and refuses to do so?” wrote Basil. See the writings of John Chrysostom, Basil, Ambrose, St. Calls for social justice aren’t new or trendy, but have been a part of church teachings for many centuries. It changed Christianity forever and marked the beginning of an ongoing, uncomfortable, and at times destructive relationship between Christianity and power.ģ. And his conversion to Christianity is as big a deal as we make it out to be.

Constantine was not baptized until just before his death. We’re always in process, always debating and discussing, always getting a little bit right and a lot wrong.Ģ. There’s less pressure to figure everything out. (The Apostle’s Creed is older.) I find this oddly comforting. The Nicene Creed, for example, was formulated largely as a response to Arianism. (And our little theological blog spats have NOTHING on the Arian controversy or the Inquisition, let me tell you!) But often, these disagreements and controversies lead to important developments in Christian thought, theology, and practice.

Christians have never been in full agreement when it comes to theology. Here are a few random observations from my first week of reading:ġ. So, in an effort to remedy that situation, I ordered The Story of Christianity, Volumes 1 and 2, by Justo Gonzalez from Amazon, and brought them with me to the beach-you know, for a little light reading. A couple weeks ago it occurred to me that I know next to nothing about church history.

The Story of Christianity by Justo L. González