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The Penguin History of the Church
The Penguin History of the Church
Oct 11, 2024 9:23 AM

Author:Alec Vidler

The Penguin History of the Church

The French Revolution dealt a fatal blow to the alliance of Church and State. The Christian church had to adapt to great changes - from the social upheavals of the Industrial Revolution to the philosophical speculations of Kant's 'Copernican revolution', to Darwin's evolutionary theories. Some Christians were driven to panic and blind reaction, others were inspired to re-interpret their faith; the results of this conflict within the fabric of the Church are still reverberating today.

In this masterly appraisal of a doubt-ridden and turbulent period in Christianity Alec Vidler concludes with a discussion of the position of the Church in modern times and expertly answers the question: 'Has the Church stood up to the Age of Revolution?'

Reviews

His power came from some great reservoir of spiritual life, else it could not have been so universal and so potent, but the majesty and beauty of the language with which he clothed it were all his own

—— Claude Bragdon

The Dalai Lama is the most influential person in the world

—— Time magazine

He draws crowds that no other spiritual leader or politician could hope to match...he seems to look at life in a different way to everyone else

—— The Times

Extraordinary and compelling

—— Victoria Glendinning , Daily Telegraph

She manages always to keep Pilate living and breathing in the text, and occasionally kicking and screaming

—— Independent on Sunday

A. N. Wilson's admirable and compelling biography should encourage many to revise their view of the Apostle, if only because, despite its sound scholarship, it is destined to reach a wider audience than most learned studies. Wilson shows clearly that without Paul, Christianity would have been impossible for us to seperate the two... One of the great strengths of Wilson's book is that it reveals the extent of our ignorance about the origins of Christianity.

—— Karen Armstrong , The Times

gloriously engaging and readable ... De Hamel wears his erudition lightly, and the reader is taken deeply into the worlds of individuals who lived across almost a thousand years of history

—— Richard Ovenden , Financial Times

The story of the people who created, saved and collected Europe's most sumptuous manuscripts, it's beautifully illustrated, a rich feast of scarlet and gold.

—— Dominic Sandbrook , Sunday Times Books of the Year

an eccentric but charming and instructive book which is oddly difficult to put down

—— Jonathan Sumption , Spectator

Extraordinary... She allows her book to grow and swell, like a symphony, expanding and deepening its themes until the traditional wisdom and life of the mountain envelopes you entirely. Rather like a spell, in fact.

—— Country Life

It soars with the luminous prose and unflinching honesty we have come to expect from this brilliantly gifted writer. Elixir is an extraordinary, profoundly moving book... Her prose is breathtaking, the stories heartbreaking.

—— Feminism and Religion

A joyous celebration of the Pomak community in southern Bulgaria.

—— Spectator, *Books of the Year*
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