Tag Archives: Philip Jenkins

Controversies about Christ in the early church, part V: The toll of schism and a long-overdue healing


Cover of "Jesus Wars: How Four Patriarchs...

The latest from book-a-year wonder Philip Jenkins

This post follows from “Who do you say that I am: Controversies about Christ in the early church,” , , and

But now we have to descend from the ideal, abstract world of ideas and remember the other result of the Council of Chalcedon: The worst schism the church had ever faced. The reaction was violent. Christian citizens were robbed, there were riots, leaders were deposed, Christians killed each other. The anti-Chalcedon reaction became the religion of Egypt: monophysitism. Later: the Coptic church. In Syria, many Christians became monophysites. The story of all of this is told in a new book by the prolific and clear writer Philip Jenkins, called Jesus Wars. Continue reading

The African apostles: Black evangelists in Africa–Did you know?


From issue #79 of Christian History & Biography, The African Apostles: Black Evangelists in Africa, this is the introductory bit:

The African Apostles: Did You Know?
The rapidity of Africa’s twentieth-century baptism was stunning. There’s no better place to see the future of the global church.
by Chris Armstrong and Collin Hansen

As of 1880, the vast majority of Africa remained mysterious, elusive, and untouched by the West. But by the turn of the century, Britain, France, Germany, Belgium, and Italy had carved up nearly every one of Africa’s 10 million square miles and divided a population of 110 million Africans, many of whom had no idea they were now “ruled” by ambassadors from another continent.

In 1900, there were 8 to 10 million Christians in Africa, which amounted to 8 to 10 percent of the total population. Today, there are 360 million—nearly 50 percent of the continent. Continue reading