A History of Christianity

Blurb

A History of Christianity is a study of the Christian religion written by British journalist, historian, and author Paul Johnson. The book was published in 1976 and aims to be a factual comprehensive history of the Christian religion. Johnson, a Roman Catholic, takes the view that "During these two millennia Christianity has, perhaps, proved more influential in shaping human destiny than any other institutional philosophy, but there are now signs that its period of predominance is drawing to a close, thereby inviting a retrospect and a balance sheet.". He argues for the need to focus on an unbiased factual history: "Christianity is essentially a historical religion. It bases its claims on the historical facts it asserts. If they are demolished it is nothing." "A Christian with faith has nothing to fear from the facts."
As a factual history, the book is not an apologetic defense of the religion. Rather, in the Epilogue, it describes its subject as a matrix for "a constant process of struggle and rebirth — a succession of crises, often accompanied by horror, bloodshed, bigotry and unreason but [with] evidence too of growth, vitality and increased understanding."