Imperial Unity and Christian Divisions: The Church AD 450-680

This second volume in THE CHURCH IN HISTORY series describes the expansion of Christianity in the fifth, sixth, and seventh centuries--from Ireland to the Indian Ocean and from Germany to Nubia--and pinpoints the seeds that produced eventual schisms in the Body of Christ, both within the churches of the Middle East and also between eastern and western Christendom.

Taking the Council of Chalcedon (AD 451) as his starting point, the author discusses the period when the Church, with its theology, institutions, liturgy, and social outreach, was merged within the framework of the Roman Empire, with its inherited Roman ideology. By referring to these decisive, formative centuries, the author offers the opportunity for understanding more fully the present divisions that beset Christians and the possibility for realistically and soberly approaching inter- and intra-church divisions and disagreements.