A Peoples History of Christianity: The
Other Side of the Story by Diana
Butler Bass
Well-Researched And Well-Written Guide To Christian History
For too long, the history of Christianity has been told as the triumph of
orthodox doctrine imposed through power and hierarchy. In A Peoples
History of Christianity, historian and religion expert Diana Butler Bass
reveals an alternate history that includes a deep social ethic and far-
reaching inclusivity: the other side of the story is not a modern
phenomenon, but has always been practiced within the church. Butler
Bass persuasively argues that corrective—even subversive—beliefs and
practices have always been hallmarks of Christianity and are necessary to
nourish communities of faith.
In the same spirit as Howard Zinns groundbreaking work The Peoples
History of the United States, Butler Basss A Peoples History of Christianity

brings to life the movements, personalities, and spiritual disciplines that
have always informed and ignited Christian worship and social activism.
A Peoples History of Christianity authenticates the vital, emerging
Christian movements of our time, providing the historical evidence that
celebrates these movements as thoroughly Christian and faithful to the
mission and message of Jesus.
Personal Review: A Peoples History of Christianity: The Other
Side of the Story by Diana Butler Bass
This latest book by Diana Butler Bass continues a string of Spirit filled
books that help challenge modern Christians to return to the Way taught by
Christ and followed by Christians of earlier time periods. I was excited to
read this book because Butler Bass's two previous books, "The Practicing
Congregation" and "Christianity for the Rest of Us" were extremely useful
in my own church as we attempted to develop first a Single Adult ministry
and then Young Adult ministry that focused on growing and nuturing
disciples of Jesus Christ through encouraging them to take up traditional
spiritual disciplines utilized by Christian Spirituality from the earliest
centuries of the Church but that have been seemingly lost over the last 300
years.
This book does not disappoint. If you have never read about Christian
history or if you engage it as a hobby, such as I do, Diana Butler Bass
takes you on an exciting tour of Christian history while continuing to
emphasize the spiritual practices and disciplines utilized by followers of the
Way at the various time periods. Additionally, Butler Bass also paints an
enlightening picture of the ethical lens employed in the various epochs of
Christian history through which Christians in their historical context viewed
their interaction with their neighbor as they also sought to engage and
deepen their relationships with God. Interestingly, as I start seminary this
Fall her book is on the required reading list for my first semester of church
history!
Using the tools of spiritual disciplines and ethical frameworks, Butler Bass
in a most easy to read way successfully unpacks five historical periods,
each full of unique challenges and obstacles, in which individual followers
pursued an ever deepening relationship with the Divine. While unpacking
these eras, she highlights the lessons which Christians today can learn
and apply from many different Christian pioneers. Some of the individuals
she highlights may be familiar to most church goers, such as Augustine,
St. Benedict of Nursia, St. Fracis of Assi, or Hildegard of Bingen. Others
are less familiar but shine Light into the problems faced by current
followers of Christ, such as St. Martin-of-the-Field and Abelard and
Heloise. She also redeems some of the figures in Christian history that I
had a rather negative view of, such as Irenaeus of Lyons. ("The glory of
God is a human being fully alive.") As she moves into the more

complicated and fractured world from the Reformation until Contemporary
times, Butler Bass does a remarkable job holding together and highlighting
the ever growing tension between faith and reason, practice and
relationship that faces the currently splintered Church, in which each
denomination or sect holds its proprietary view of Christianity as
sacrosanct while hurling hate-filled bombs of judgment at their brothers
and sisters within Christianity that do not agree with their narrow point of
view on issues of theology, worship, and/or practice. However, given the
thesis she presents and the limits of time, Butler Bass is not able to
address all issues arising in Christianity in the 20th Century. Personally, I
did not think this a weakeness of the book but a strength as it allowed her
to focus on her thesis of exploring the evolution of spiritual disciplines and
Christian ethics through the Modern and Contemporary periods.
If you want a book that does not challenge you to think more broadly about
what it means to be a modern Christian; if you do not want to confront how
the example of Jesus or his Great Commission can be lived out in today's
multi-cultural, multi-polar world with various voices of propaganda trying to
speak as the voice of God by learning from the examples of those who
came before--with some of whom you may not agree --then this book is not
for you. You would be more comfortable with a book that merely pats you
on the head and holds out some hope that the Rapture is near. However if
you take seriously Jesus' command following the story of the Good
Samaritan to "go and do likewise" and what that means or how that might
look in an evolving Church in an rapidly changing time, then you will be
glad you invested the time to read this book! I look forward to reading
more from this great thinker and challenger of the Church as she continues
to remind us to be intentional in our journey to strive to have the same
mind in us that was in Christ.
Grace and peace in the Risen Lord,
Chris Reed
Beaumont, Texas
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