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The danger of many secondary New Testament and Christianity courses is that students can remain locked in an intangible, vague past and miss the direct connection between the Christian canon, Christian history, and contemporary American social and political issues. The brilliance of Mary Jo Weaver's book is that she does not allow that to happen. With the help of David Brakke and Jason Bivins, she has organized a history of Christianity that thoughtfully and directly links the historical development of Christianity to the modern tradition and to the lives and concerns of contemporary Christians. The text is well organized into four distinct yet intricately interconnected sections. The first section of three chapters is devoted to the " Biblical and Historical Background for Christianity." The focus is on introducing readers to the religious context out of which the varieties of Christianity first arose. We are treated to a succinct history of Israel that moves readers through an understanding of Jewish history and of the central theological issues of God's immanence and transcendence, the nature of creation, and covenantal theology. The second chapter takes the reader through the context for and the life of Jesus. Themes such as Hellenization, the Kingdom of God, various religious groups within Israel, and the life of Jesus as presented in the New Testament are all covered. The third chapter on the "Emergence of the Christian Church" tackles such issues as the experience of the apostles, the internal conflicts within the Early Church, and the external conflicts of the early community. The second section of the text covers the medieval Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches, the Reformation, and Christianity in the Sixteenth, Seventeenth, and Eighteenth centuries. Each chapter is highlighted by three large themes that are repeated throughout. These themes, Controversies in Christianity, Faces of Christianity, and Concepts of Christianity are situated within the historical framework of the time periods covered. Examples of these themes within the first two sections might include the paradox of an immanent and transcendent God, Prophets and Messiahs of the First Century, Women on the Missionary Frontier, and the Jesuits. Using these themes in each chapter gives an extra vitality to an already well written book and will actively stimulate student curiosity and classroom discussion. Each chapter also comes with a excellent set of discussion questions and suggestions for further readings. The last half of the text is devoted to "Christianity in the Modern World: Context and Creativity in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries" and "Contemporary Christian Life." Each of these sections is divided into three chapters as well. "Christianity in the Modern World" breaks down into a discussion of the impact of modernity on both Roman Catholicism and Protestantism, a discussion of modern American Christianity, and Worldwide Christianity. Here is where students can first begin to bridge the gap between an historical understanding of the tradition and the world in which they live. The authors then move into a discussion of "Contemporary Christian Life." This last section with chapters devoted to Christians and the World, Culture, and the Contemporary should really get classroom discussion going. Topics covered include the question of Christianity and politics, left-wing evangelicals, nonconformity, racism, sexism, and God-talk. One danger our students constantly face is the false perception that ideas in general, and their ideas in particular, are somehow decontextual and ahistorical. One result of this is a rootlessness and disconnection from tradition that many have seen as the most prominent symptom of the malaise of modernity. By connecting past to present, idea to institution, text to ritual, and power to politics Mary Jo Weaver's "Introduction to Christianity" helps students understand one part of the complex world that surrounds them. review ©1999 Tom Collins and RSiSS
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