A History of Christianity

by Kenneth Scott Latourette

A history of the growth and development of Christianity, from the ministry of Christ to the mid-20th century, from a conservative Protestant perspective. The geographical scope of the work is global, and it gives attention to the history of Christian theology as well as other aspects. Latourette was Titus Street Prof. of Ecclesiastical History at Yale.

Genres: History, Church History, Religion, Christian, Theology

1516 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1953

About the author

Kenneth Scott Latourette (August 6, 1884 – December 26, 1968) was an American historian of China, Japan, and world Christianity. His formative experiences as Christian missionary and educator in early 20th century China shaped his life's work. Although he did not learn the Chinese language, he became known for his magisterial scholarly surveys of the history of world Christianity, the history of China, and of American relations with East Asia.

Latourette was born in Oregon City, Oregon, the son of DeWitt Clinton Latourette and Ella (Scott) Latourette. His mother and father both attended Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon, where they graduated in 1878. DeWitt Clinton Latourette was a lawyer in Oregon City. The Latourette family migrated to Oregon in the 1860s; the family's origins are from France where they fled religious persecution as Huguenots and migrated to Staten Island, New York in the 1600s.

In 1904, Latourette was awarded a Bachelor of Science degree from Linfield College in Oregon. He continued his education in New Haven, Connecticut at Yale, earning a BA in 1906, an MA in 1907 and PhD in 1909.

Latourette served as president of the American Historical Association, the Association for Asian Studies, the American Baptist Convention, the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society and the Japan International Christian University Foundation.

He was a leader in the ecumenical movement, and he held leadership positions in the American Baptist Missionary Union, the International Board of the Y.M.C.A., the United Board for Christian Colleges in China and the World Council of Churches.

Throughout his life he remained active in the Yale-in-China Association.

At the Yale Divinity School, the "Latourette Initiative" is a proactive program to preserve and provide access to the documentation of world Christianity. It provides funding for the microfilming of published and archival resources documenting the history of Christian missions and Christian life.

Reviews

[Werner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Note, Nov. 20, 2017: In view of its quality as well-written history, its educational value in general and to me personally, and the importance (in my estimation) of the subject matter, on reflection I've concluded that this book deserves a full five stars.

The present is impossible to understand without knowing the past --understanding how we got where we are today, and why. That's why the widespread historical amnesia of modern times is so harmful, both in society and the church. (In the latter, people typically imagine that their particular denomination is a direct continuation of the New Testament church, with its beliefs and practices essentially unchanged --and that no other denomination plays any meaningful part in church history.) As an overview of the story of Christianity, as solid and detailed as a one-volume work allows, this is probably the best basic introduction to the facts and framework of the real history -- and the best antidote to historical amnesia-- ever written. It would provide anyone interested in the subject (and all believers certainly ought to be!) with an indispensable foundation of historical knowledge to build on.

Latourette avoids uncritical triumphalism, taking as his overarching concept the Apostle Paul's observation that "we have this treasure in earthen vessels," so that the power at work in it may be seen to be God's, not ours. The author casts a clear light of history on both the earthen quality of the vessels and the reality of the power.

[Jeremy Canipe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good, though remarkably long. I learned a good deal and was pleasantly surprised by the breath of coverage of the church outside of Europe and the Americas.

[J. Ewbank · Rating 4 out of 5]

Latourette has done a marvelous job of writing Christian history. This book is a classic and very long - over 1400 pages - and is shorter than many others of his. It is well written and worth the read.

J. Robert Ewbank author "John Wesley, Natural Man, and the 'Isms'"