This wide-ranging and authoritative survey begins with the life of Jesus and sweeps over a millennium to explore Christianity as it has taken roots in societies and cultures across five continents. From Jerusalem to Byzantium, from medieval Catholicism to the sixteenth century's Reformations, from the Americas to Africa and Asia, David L. Edwards provides not only the historical but the social, political, and philosophical context of each period. A writer with a long and distinguished career in religious publishing, academia, and the church, David Edwards provides a compelling and complete view of one of the most influential movements in the history of the world.