"From the end of the Second World War until the rise of Gorbachev the division of Europe was the central fact in world politics - for individuals, nations and the different Christian Churches. Amid the ferocious polemics of the Cold War era neutrality was impossible." "The pressures of modernity led to the Second Vatican Council and affected Churches on both sides of the Iron Curtain. Almost all had to adapt to declining congregations, concerns about human rights and women's role in religion, and new attitudes to abortion, contraception and divorce. Yet day-to-day problems in the East and West were utterly different." "In Eastern Europe, the Churches were victims of state control, savage ideological attacks, show trials and occasional physical violence. Critics dwelt on their sometimes inglorious record of compromise and collaboration under fascist regimes, despite the crucial role of the religious resistance in fighting Nazism. Later Church leaders - Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox - often continued to tread a delicate path, but Polish priests helped to oversee the birth of Solidarity, and oppressed nations drew hope from the symbols and ceremonies of their Christian past. Successive Popes, meanwhile, were torn between hatred for Marxism's militant atheism and a pragmatic desire not to endanger the Catholics of Eastern Europe." "The post-war West, by contrast, has seen different countries adapting their own complex arrangements about relations between Church and State. Traditional practices in the great monastic orders, the language of the liturgy and pilgrimages to saints' shrines came under fresh scrutiny, although the charismatic movement proved astonishingly successful. Yet how deeply have the churches come to terms with the fierce winds of modernity? Where religion is tolerated, and even encouraged, do people truly believe what East Europeans know from bitter experience - that 'the religious conscience is an ultimate safeguard of human freedom'?" "Owen Chadwick is General Editor of Penguin's scholarly and comprehensive series The History of the Church and contributed an earlier book, The Reformation. The series starts with the first Disciples. This volume concludes in the late twentieth century - as the Churches struggle to face new global challenges and opportunities."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

First published in the 19th century, Philip Schaff's History of the Christian Church remains a seminal work of religious scholarship. Charting the development of Christianity from its earliest days up to the Reformation, Schaff provides readers with a comprehensive and insightful account of the religion's evolution over the centuries. An essential addition to any theological library. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

As a Cosmologist, Theologian, and having been trained as a Christian Minister, Sumner Davis is uniquely qualified to bring into focus the long and often bloody oppression that the Church has exerted on science and free thought. During the journey you will take with the author, beginning around 400 B.C. and ending in our modern day, you will encounter numerous examples of dogmatic suppression of the sciences, especially those concerning space and our planet. What had science revealed that was so threatening to the Church? Why were those who had made great discoveries forced to recant them on pain of death? Perhaps most importantly, why was humanity forced to wait nearly 1,200 years for 16th and 17th century society to "re-discover" these great achievements? From the Aegean Sea communities to the civil rights movement, this book captures all the intricacies of the past 3,000 years! Foreword by Dorion Sagan.