Turning Points: Decisive Moments in the History of Christianity by Mark A. Noll (review)

The experience of reading this new edition of Turning Points: Decisive Moments in the History of Christianityis positively delightful. Moving through the volume from turning point to turning point is a joy, as is chronologically following the orderly development of Christianity from the Jewish Christian Church to the Greco-Roman Church, and then to the international Christianity of today.

The third edition of Turning Pointshas a sparkling new cover, the central turning point of the study, depicting Pope Leo iiicrowning Charlemagne at St Peter’s Basilica at Rome in 800. The new edition also adds a revised preface, updated chapter bibliographies, a chapter on the Edinburgh Missionary Conference of 1910, another on Vatican iiand the Lausanne Congress of 1974, and finally a fresh afterword, which includes useful study questions. In addition, Mark A. Noll re-examines the theological progress from Nicaea to Chalcedon in a new chart in chapter 3, which clarifies his presentation of the complex Christian theology of the period. Excellent maps are included such as the Spread of Early Christianity (20–21), the Cities of the Councils (44), and Europe after the Reformation (ca. 1560) (202–203), which relate well to the text. The numerous illustrations are helpful but, as in the earlier edition, are still small and lacking colour.

The story of the Protestant Reformation in chapters 7 and 8 is vividly told, and in the process, Noll presents Martin Luther as following his understanding of the Word of God rather than following the direction of lay and clerical leaders. The leaders asked Luther to reject his published works, which defend freedom of conscience and place the ultimate authority in the Word of God. What Noll relates to the reader is how Luther entered into the subjective world of human experience and personal interpretation of the Scriptures. The strength of Luther’s personality allowed him to step forward where few were willing to go without the structural affirmation of the Church or the state. Luther’s initiative delighted some Christians and frightened others, and in particular it frightened traditional Church people who sought to preserve the objective structures of the Church from collapse.

Noll handles most issues of the Christian Church with sensitivity and fairness. He avoids needless muckraking and keeps the narrative positive and inspiring. Yet there are a few bitter herbs in the mix that lack straightforwardness. The author passes over the lives of Henry viiiand Oliver Cromwell without any mention of the trail of blood that followed the imposition of their will on people of equally good conscience who had the courage to disagree with them. Henry viiiis depicted as nation builder (172), and Oliver Cromwell as a “benevolent dictator” (231). More needs to be written to accurately describe their realistic methods of statecraft.

As did Stephen Neill in A History of Christian Missions(Penguin, 1990), the author gives the internecine Christian struggle in the missions a fair and balanced treatment. He shows more understanding of the religious conflict than the arguments of Diarmaid MacCulloch’s recent A History of Christianity(Allen Lane, 2009). However, on one particular point, Noll confuses the reader about Catholic theology when he states that The Catechism of the Catholic Church(Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2005) is “the official dogma of the church.” The Catholic Catechism is not dogma. Catholic dogma must be drawn directly from the Scriptures and is a carefully defined theological statement. The Catholic Catechism is authentic teaching of the Catholic Church, which may include dogma (296).

Noll identifies thirteen turning points in Christian history, yet Karl Rahner would simplify this conceit by writing that there are only two paradigm shifts in the Christian Church since its founding. The first major shift occurred when the Jewish Christian Church after the fall of Jerusalem became the Greco-Roman Church. The second occurred after Vatican iiwhen...