Tuesday Tome - What Good Has Christianity Ever Done?

My current teaching series at Valley Christian Church is called World Changer: The Difference Jesus Makes. My intention for the series is threefold: to expose some of the positive ways the world has be changed by followers of Jesus, to consider how following Jesus can change people today, and to challenge those who follow Jesus to join him in making a positive difference in our world today.

What Has Christianity Ever Done for Us?, by Jonathan Hill, is one of the resource books I'm drawing upon for this series. The book is not currently in print, but used copies can be found without much trouble.

Other books you might find interesting on this subject are: Jesus through the Centuries: His Place in the History of Culture (Pelikan), The Rise of Christianity (Stark), The Victory of Reason (Stark), How Christianity Changed the World (Schmidt), and Who Is this Man? (Ortberg).

More about What Has Christianity Ever Done for Us?

From Amazon
What has Christianity ever done for us? What value is there in seeking to preserve its influence today? In this book, Jonathan Hill answers these questions with some questions of his own. For instance, why do we seal wine bottles with cork? Where did musical notation come from? How did universities get their start? And why was the world's first fully literate society not in Europe, Asia or North America?

As Hill tells the story of the centuries-long entanglement between Christianity and Western culture, he shows the profound influence that Christianity has had--from what we drink to how we speak, from how we write to how we mark the seasons. Employing a rich, narrative style packed with events and people and illustrated throughout in full color, he describes the place of Christianity both in history and in the present day.

What Has Christianity Ever Done for Us? is an enlightening and often humorous tour of culture and thought, the arts, the landscape, education, society, spirituality and ethics, and social justice. Here is a rich, entertaining and informative read.

From the Publisher
Describes the influence of Christianity on Western culture Shows the value of preserving the influence of Christianity today A rich narrative packed with people and events Illustrated throughout in full color Covers the arts, education, landscape, spirituality, ethics, social justice and more

From the Author
IVP: Why did you decide to write What Has Christianity Ever Done for Us?

Jonathan Hill: We hear a great deal today about the harm that organized religion has done over the centuries. Incidents such as the witch trials, the condemnation of Galileo or the Crusades are mentioned as if that were enough to damn all Christians by association. . .So I thought it would be worthwhile redressing the balance a little by looking at . . . [how] the Christians got things right--and in many cases we're still benefiting today.

IVP: What do you think is the general perception of Christianity today?

Hill: I think that varies very much depending on where you are and who you ask. I do think that one problem with popular conceptions of Christianity is that they often don't take into account its history. . .So another aim of this book has been to look at some little-known aspects of Christian history, and tell some interesting stories that many readers might not have heard before.