Text extracted from opening pages of book: VOLUME TWO REVISED EDITION Chapters in Church History POWEL MILLS DAWLEY With the assistance of the Authors’ Committee of the Department of Christian Education of The Protestant Episcopal Church NEW YORK COPYRIGHT 1950; AND ig6l BY THE SEABURY PRESS, INCORPORATED 1963 BY THE SEABURY PRESS, INCORPORATED First Edition Revised Edition 1963 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOG NtJMBER: 63-16290 PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA BY THE COLONIAL PRESS INC., CLINTON, MASS. Foreword TH . HIS is the second volume in THE CHURCH’S TEACHING series. It takes up the story where The Holy Scriptures ended, and traces in broad strokes the major movements in the history of the Church down to its new ecumenical concern. It makes no attempt to be a detailed history book as its name Chapters in Church History im plies. Such books are already available and, for the most part, remain unread by lay people. This series is not written for clergy and scholars. It is written for the aver age intelligent, educated layman. It goes without saying that it is not a Church School text, although parents and teachers will find it a valuable resource. If the reader has not already read volume one, The Holy Scriptures, we strongly urge him to do so before beginning this book. No attempt is made to retrace that ground or to cover subjects which will appear in later books on Faith and Worship. Here is the story of Anglicanism and our own tradition set over against the broad sweep of Christian history. It will help the reader to see the Body of Christ more clearly. JOHN HEUSS VESPER O. WARD Preface to the Revised Edition TH . HIS revision has been undertaken to cor rect and amplify somepoints at which the text of the first edition, published more than twelve years ago, has been rendered inadequate, particularly in sections dealing with aspects of recent Church history. Furthermore, the bibli ography of books for reference and further reading has been completely revised, incorporating a large selection of excellent books that have appeared in the last decade. Ex cept in a few instances, little change has been made in the main body of the text, POWEL MILLS DAWLEY Preface to the First Edition TH . HE immediate challenge presented to the Church in each generation is to bring the redemptive power of the Christian Gospel into the historical situa tions in which men live. The ultimate task of the Church is to effect that redemption in terms of men’s highest membership, their common life in Jesus Christ. For the Christian, this task is illuminated by the record of man’s life through the ages. He finds a meaningful pattern in history, its lines etched in the everlasting vitality of the community of God’s people. Church history, then, is the story of God’s redemptive activity among men through a fellowship that is no less than the Body of the Living Christ. The experience of the Church in any generation transcends time to speak to men in all generations. The task of the Church historian is not that of record ing every event in the history of Christianity. Rather it is to describe those events and movements that are of per manent significance, endeavoring to indicate their mean ing. An important historical discipline, therefore, is that of selection. Readers will find some familiar episodes of history omitted from these chapters. 1 If this volume is to x The Books for reference, pages 259-268, cover in detailed fashion the various periods in the history of the Church. fulfill its purpose, our chief concern will be to explore the meaning of important events and movements of thought, suggesting their relevance to the task that con fronts the Christian community today. While this book, like the first volume of the series, The Holy Scriptures, has a single author, yet in its pub lished form it represents the work of many hands. The chapters have been scrutinized and discussed at length by the members of the Authors* Committee, as well a