The Shape of Christian History - by Scott W Sunquist (Paperback)

About the Book

How should thoughtful Christians--especially historians and missiologists--make sense of global Christianity as an unfolding historical movement? Highlighting both the continuity and the diversity within the Christian movement over the centuries, this comprehensive resource from Scott Sunquist offers a framework for how to read and write church history.

Book Synopsis

While understanding history has always been an essential task for God's people, rapid changes within the past two generations of Christianity have challenged many of our assumptions and methods for studying the past. How should thoughtful Christians--and especially historians and missiologists--make sense of global Christianity as an unfolding historical movement?

Scott Sunquist invites readers to join him for a capstone course in historical thinking from a master teacher. Highlighting both the continuity and the diversity within the Christian movement over the centuries, he identifies three key concepts for framing church history: time, cross, and glory. These themes shed light to help us discern how the Jesus movement developed from the first century to the present, through an explosion of contextual expressions. Tracing these concepts through the centuries, we learn from the stories of Christians reflecting the glories of God's kingdom--and from their failures.

Filled with historical case studies and stories from Sunquist's teaching around the world, The Shape of Christian History offers a framework for how to read and write church history. Even more, it demonstrates how the study of history illuminates God's mission in the world and sharpens our understanding of how to participate in that mission faithfully.

Review Quotes

"The Shape of Christian History should be every Christian's companion when learning or teaching about the history of our rapidly growing global church in all its breadth and complexity. Scott Sunquist's extended essay on Christian historiography helps us to remember that meaningful history is the 'retelling of a story of the past with purpose and passion.' He assists us in our careful and thoughtful reading and writing about God's transformative work through the body of Christ over time--especially in light of the dramatic changes in Christian demographics over the past few decades. Such a valuable guidebook can only emanate from a lifetime of research and scholarship, and such is absolutely the case with Sunquist's important and engaging work."

About the Author

Scott W. Sunquist (PhD, Princeton Theological Seminary) is president of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Previously, he was a professor and dean of the School of Intercultural Studies at Fuller Theological Seminary, taught missiology and Christian history at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, and lectured at Trinity Theological College in Singapore. Sunquist is the author of Explorations in Asian Christianity, Understanding Christian Mission, and The Unexpected Christian Century, and a coauthor of A History of the World Christian Movement.