KANSAS CITY, Mo—Midwestern Seminary celebrated the September 1 release of Christian History, Volume 2: From the Reformation to the Present by Thomas S. Kidd, research professor of Church history.
Kidd’s book provides a survey of Church history over the past 500 years, focusing on Christianity’s great tradition and the factors that have led to the Church’s flourishing today in the Global South.
“Dr. Thomas Kidd is a gift to the Church,” said President Jason Allen. “As with his other books, Dr. Kidd proves to be incredibly helpful in whatever he writes on. It is no less true for his new volume on Christian history. If you want to grow in your knowledge of Church history from the Reformation to the present day, look no further than Dr. Kidd’s Christian History, Volume 2.”
Kidd, who serves as the John and Sharon Yeats Endowed Chair of Baptist Studies at Midwestern Seminary, has authored more than 10 books including Who Is an Evangelical?: The History of a Movement in Crisis, Baptists in America: A History, and a two-volume American History. In his writing, Kidd emphasizes the role of religion in the lives of key individuals, events, and movements of United States history.
Christian History, Volume 2 expands on previous approaches to Church history that focus primarily on the development of theological thought in the West, and it illuminates the diverse history of Christianity’s global spread and growth in the modern era.
Kidd shared, “As important as theologians are in Christian history, there is a much larger story of churches, revivals, conversions, and missions that encompasses God’s wonderful work in the world.”
He went on to say, “We know that most of the Christian growth over the past century has not been in North America and Europe, but in the ‘Global South’ of Latin America, Africa, and Asia. My book seeks to account for this geographic breadth and to capture the incredible dynamism of the Church across the world.”
Another unique emphasis of Kidd’s book is its focus on the Church’s historical efforts to uphold the great tradition. In his introduction, Kidd writes that the book “is animated by the conviction that much of church history centers around struggles for churches and Christians to live in accord with the ‘great tradition of the church.’”
Kidd explains the great tradition as “a historic tradition which churches are called to believe and live out,” referencing the words of Jude 3 that speak of “the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.”
Christian History, Volume 2 unfolds this theme over 28 accessible chapters beginning with the Protestant Reformation and concluding with a reflection on challenges facing the Church today. Along the way, the book relates the Church’s expansion from Europe to the Americas in the colonial era, the rise of the modern mission movement and spiritual revivals, and the theological and social issues against which faithful Christians have contended for the faith throughout the past several centuries.
Kidd expressed his desire that the book would encourage readers through examples of past Christians who have shared, defended, and handed down the tradition of biblical Christianity.
“I hope that Christian History will give readers greater appreciation for the ‘cloud of witnesses’ who have preceded us in the faith,” he said. “While we may be sobered by some of the errors, omissions, and sins that Christians have committed in the past, I hope that readers will ultimately be emboldened by the courageous believers who have sacrificed to faithfully serve God in their generation.”
Kidd went on to say, “I am especially grateful to have the chance to introduce missionary and revival movements, including better-known ones such as the First and Second Great Awakenings, and more recent works such as the East African Revival of the 1930s and the incredible flourishing of house churches in China in the 21st century.”
Kidd’s work has been endorsed by numerous scholars in both history and theological studies. Scholars praise the clarity and beauty of Kidd’s writing style and his careful attention to global Christian voices.
Carl Trueman, professor of biblical and religious studies at Grove City College, said, “In recent years, two encouraging trends have emerged in the American evangelical world: a growing interest in the historic, pre-Reformation roots of Christian thought and an increasing awareness of the global church. In this book, eminent historian Thomas Kidd shows how Protestantism respected such roots and spread across the globe.”
John D. Wilsey, associate professor of Church history and philosophy at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, said, “Thomas S. Kidd has delivered a beautifully written and comprehensive narrative to teachers of modern church history to help guide their students.” He added, “As a committed Christian and capital historian, Kidd provides us with the best of the tradition of ‘confessing history.’”
Christian History, Volume 2 is now available for purchase.
