The Church in Ancient Society: From Galilee to Gregory the Great

Oxford History of the Christian Church

by Henry Chadwick

This book provides a full and enjoyable narrative history of the first six centuries of the Christian Church, examining how Christianity changed Ancient Greek and Roman society. Following a chronological approach, Henry Chadwick's clear exposition of important texts and theological debates in their historical context is unrivalled in detail.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Religion, Church History, Christian, Christianity

741 pages, Paperback

First published December 13, 2001

About the author

Henry Chadwick was a British academic, theologian and Church of England priest. A former dean of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford – and as such, head of Christ Church, Oxford – he also served as master of Peterhouse, Cambridge.
A leading historian of the early church, Chadwick was appointed Regius Professor at both the universities of Oxford and Cambridge. He was a noted supporter of improved relations with the Catholic Church, and a leading member of the Anglican–Roman Catholic International Commission. An accomplished musician, having studied music to degree level, he took a leading part in the revision and updating of hymnals widely used within Anglicanism, chairing the board of the publisher Hymns Ancient & Modern Ltd. for 20 years.

Reviews

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe I need a shelf for "Big Disappointments" like this one. The best thing about The Church in Ancient Society is its scope. Writing a history of the first centuries of the Church is no mean achievement. You don't fill over five hundred centuries with facts and data points if you don't know what you're doing. It's clear Henry Chadwick really engaged with his source material, too. So, what's wrong with this book? Basically, it's not a failure, it only fell far short of its potential, which is even more frustrating.

Chadwicks book will give you a rough idea about everything, but it won't equip you with good enough information or interpretations to form a qualified opinion on anything in particular. After seven hundred pages, I felt like I needed to read one other history book per chapter to really know what happened. History doesn't have to be this way. Ten Caesars had half the page count and also covered some hundreds of years, and it was both captivating and ridiculously informative. Granted, Barry Strauss is a master of his craft, he's the best writer, from a didactic and stylistic perspective, of all the historians I know, but Chadwick falls short of more modest standards, too. For example, he falls short of the famous historian that wrote the introduction to Origen: An Exhortation to Martyrdom, Prayer and Selected Works, a certain Henry Chadwick.

The quality of the chapters differs widely. The Alexandrian School, the Circumcellions and the Pelagians receive a fair and balanced treatment, but I was disappointed with the chapters on the Arian Controversy, in particular on St. Athanasius, who is painted as a vile person. In general, following Chadwick when he speaks of Councils and ecclesiastical politics is hard. It's a challenging matter to begin with, I know that, but I do believe it can be made more exciting than your local council meeting. It doesn't help that Chadwick hardly ever gives an overview or a summary of the proceedings, but recounts the facts in a strictly chronological manner.

The most puzzling and possibly also the worst aspect of this book is that it's strangely devoid of miracles. It's like it's presenting a sanitized version of Church History, one acceptable to the Humean Secular Inquisition. There are three problems with that: One, Humes metaphysical and epistemic assumptions are not worth the paper they're printed on; two, you cannot understand the Church if you sweep all miraculous occurences under the rug; three, it's boring.

[Bernard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chadwick has a particularly Anglican talent for fair-mindedness and for writing good prose. This work of Church history is an interesting (and occasionally exciting) read - thorough and even-handed.