Asking what it has meant over the centuries to participate in the religion of the word made flesh, this history of Christian thought traces Christian ideas, conversations, experiences and practices through to the dawn of modernity at the end of the 18th century.

This outstanding textbook offers an original history of Christian thought, asking what it has meant over the centuries to participate in the religion of the Word made flesh.

Traces Christian ideas, conversations, experiences and practices from the first century through to the dawn of modernity at the end of the eighteenth century.
Presents an inclusive history, considering the critical roles of women and religious 'others'- dissenting Christians, Jews and Muslims - in shaping Christian thought.
Sets Christian ideas in the context of conversations, controversies and concrete circumstances.
Demonstrates the importance of liturgical and devotional exercises to the practice of Christianity.
Treats words, images, music and architecture all as primary evidence of Christian traditions.
Is accompanied by a CD Rom containing hundreds of visuals to support the theories and examples discussed throughout the volume.

Contents
Preface
Acknowledgments
Prelude: Flesh and Word

1. The Christian Movement in the Second and Third Centuries
2. Inclusions and Exclusions: The Fourth Century
3. Fleshing Out the Word: Medieval Christianity East and West
4. The Voice of the Pages: Incarnation and Hierarchy in the Medieval West
   Interlude
5. Death and the Body in the Fourteenth-Century West
6. The Suffering Body of Christ: The Fifteenth Century
7. Re-forming the Body of Christ: The Sixteenth Century, Part I
8. Reforming the Body of Christ: The Sixteenth Century, Part 2
9. Rationalism and Religious Passion: The Seventeenth Century
10. Keeping Body and Soul Together: Eighteenth-Century Christianity
    Postlude: The Word Made Flesh
    Bibliography
    Index