World Christianity: An Introduction, by Dale Irvin is an attention-grabbing comprehensive explanation of the history of Christianity and the intricate problems it now faces. This piece dissects the multi-faceted background of Christianity and how its growth has led to controversial issues and multiple internal chasms. Dale Irvin, the president and also professor of world Christianity at the New York Theological Seminary, has devoted lots of time into truly understanding the roots of Christianity and how it operates today. Irvin’s writing promotes the expansion of learning about what world Christianity is. This essay is a detailed and well written description of the definition of world Christianity and how its background has formed it to be what it is today. In the beginning of this essay, Irvin describes what he thinks is the purpose of the study of world Christianity, and the three key elements that support it. He says that the study of world Christianity is “an emerging field that investigates and seeks to understand Christian communities, faith, and practice as …show more content…
The first of these turning points mentioned takes place in the fourth century. During this time, Christianity was successful in converting the imperial roman household to Christianity allowing Christianity to become a major political power assisting in the spread of the religion. Another turning point, in the seventh century, wasn’t as prosperous. During this time Islam started to become a major player all around which resulted in a majority Muslim rule. This became a major roadblock in the spread of Christianity but provided one essential benefit, motivation. As we move further down the timeline into the twelfth century, Christianity has become primarily a European religion. This set the stage for the next era of Christianity, the modern