Dividing of Christendom

by Christopher Henry Dawson

How did Catholics and Protestants come to be divided? What impact has their division had on Western culture? Historian Christopher Dawson answers these and other important questions in his classic study, The Dividing of Christendom. Based on Dawson’s Harvard lectures, this book provides a highly readable, masterful overview of the factors that led to one of the deepest divides in Western history—one that endures and gave momentum to social, cultural and political changes whose consequences are still with us. The decline of medieval unity, the Renaissance, the Protestant and Catholic Reformations, the cultures of divided Christendom, the rise of modern secular culture, the Enlightenment, and the French Revolution are all presented in an engagingly, popular style.

This is a work for all Western Christians who want to understand the historical origins of their present divisions and possible ways of overcoming them. Dawson writes, “Of all divisions between Christians, that between Catholics and Protestants is the deepest and the most pregnant in its historical consequences. It is so deep that we cannot see any solution to it in the present period and under existing historical circumstances. But at least it is possible for us to take the first step by attempting to overcome the enormous gap in mutual understanding which has hitherto rendered any intellectual contact or collaboration impossible.”

Ecumenism progressed significantly after Dawson penned those words, especially following the Second Vatican Council, but the problem of Christian disunity persists. This is a fitting subject for Christopher Dawson, whose genius was to present the broad sweep of history with verve, clarity, insight and authority. Only a deep appreciation of how the present Christian divisions arose, Dawson argues in The Dividing of Christendom, will permit an authentic return to full Christian unity.

Genres: History, Religion, Nonfiction, Catholic, Christian

260 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1965

About the author

Christopher Henry Dawson (12 October 1889, Hay Castle – 25 May 1970, Budleigh Salterton) was a British independent scholar, who wrote many books on cultural history and Christendom. Christopher H. Dawson has been called "the greatest English-speaking Catholic historian of the twentieth century".

Reviews

[K.D. Absolutely · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative read. I decided to buy and read this book because I am currently attending an Apologetics seminar and in one of the lectures, I got intrigued when the speaker mentioned that Protestants were originally Catholics and that there are now many types of Protestants. So, when I read the blurb of this book, I bought and read this right away.

But it took me a long time to finish this because it was hard to understand. It is written quite simply but the theological and philosophical terms got in the way. Also, I did not have any solid knowledge about the phases of that division of Catholic and Protestants. I am a Medical Techologist now working as Information Technology manager so I did not study the history of Christianity or Catholicism in college including those hours I spent listening to our religion teachers who focus more on comparative religion, scriptures and application to daily life of some well-loved biblical passages.

This book, The Dividing of the Christendom is actually the second book in the series by Dawson. This tackles more of the actual division of Catholics and Protestants because of the writings of Erasmus and then later Martin Luther. The book does not discuss about the life story of these people who questioned the authority of the pope among other things but that part was supplanted by the lectures of the speakers in the Apologetics seminar that I have been attending since September and will run up to 2nd week of December.

The Renaissance. The Revolution. The Restoration. The Reformation. The Crusades. The Council of Trent and the Rise of the Jesuits. The Age of Louis XIV and the Formation of Classical French Culture. The Wesleyan Movement in America. The Age of Enlightenment.

Those are some of the chapter titles that trace the history of the divide and its aftermath. If you are interested to study church history this book is for you.

[David Phelps · Rating 5 out of 5]

Insightful and helpful.

[Ronald Dom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sensacional!
Pra quem curte história da igreja, Dawson faz um apanhando dos principais acontecimentos desde as influências sobre a reforma protestante desde o seu impacto na vida da igreja atual.

[Abigail Frances Houlihan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Grr had to read for school

[Joel Zartman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dawson: not modest about his convictions, careful, great at synthesizing, loaded with insights. Never a dull paragraph.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easily digestible introduction to the subject matter!