The Lost History of Christianity: The
Thousand-Year Golden Age of the
Church in the Middle East, Africa,
and Asia--and How It Died by Philip
Jenkins
Finally - A Book On Our Forgotten/Neglected Brothers/Sisters Of The Christian East
In this groundbreaking book, renowned religion scholar Philip Jenkins
offers a lost history, revealing that, for centuries, Christianitys center was
actually in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa, with significant communities
extending as far as China. The Lost History of Christianity unveils a vast
and forgotten network of the worlds largest and most influential Christian
churches that existed to the east of the Roman Empire. These churches
and their leaders ruled the Middle East for centuries and became the chief
administrators and academics in the new Muslim empire. The author

recounts the shocking history of how these churches—those that had the
closest link to Jesus and the early church—died.
Jenkins takes a stand against current scholars who assert that variant,
alternative Christianities disappeared in the fourth and fifth centuries on the
heels of a newly formed hierarchy under Constantine, intent on crushing
unorthodox views. In reality, Jenkins says, the largest churches in the
world were the ?heretics? who lost the orthodoxy battles. These so-called
heretics were in fact the most influential Christian groups throughout Asia,
and their influence lasted an additional one thousand years beyond their
supposed demise.
Jenkins offers a new lens through which to view our world today,
including the current conflicts in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa. Without
this lost history, we lack an important element for understanding our
collective religious past. By understanding the forgotten catastrophe that
befell Christianity, we can appreciate the surprising new births that are
occurring in our own time, once again making Christianity a true world
religion.
Personal Review: The Lost History of Christianity: The
Thousand-Year Golden Age of the Church in the Middle East,
Africa, and Asia--and How It Died by Philip Jenkins
Much of the true history of Christianity was lost to those in the west. The
typical Christian history book usually only discusses the growth of the faith
in the west.
But what happened in the east? We can find small groups which testify to
the their heritage, such as the Ethiopian and Indian churches. Jenkins asks
the obvious, based upon the old legend: Did an apostle visit India soon
after the crucifixion? The evidence is fragmentary, but fascinating.
Indian Christianity is only one of the many Christian churches Jenkins
investigates. Jenkins points our that "Nestorian missionaries influenced
the religious practices of the Buddhist religion then developing in Tibet" (p
92). In fact, Nestorian Christianity was once a vast church, one that rivaled
in numbers the church of the west. It spread across the Middle East,
along the Silk Road, right into China.
How could it vanish almost as if it had never existed?
All of north Africa was also once Christian, an area solidly Muslim today.
One Catholic pope came from the north African church. "In its day, the
African church had been one of the wonders of the Christian world...Africa
was the home of such great early leaders as Tertullian, Cyprian, and
Augustine. By the late fifth century North Africa had five or six hundreds
bishoprics, while monasteries were a familiar part of the local social

landscape" (p 228). This church, too, would vanish, almost as though it
had never existed.
A fascinating history, one with many valuable nuggets of information.
'Martyr in Tibet' and 'Christians in China AD 600 to 2000' would also be of
interest to anyone researching this area. Also, for some time I have been
searching for a book on the influence of Christianity on Buddhist, Indian,
and other eastern religions. If anyone knows of such a book, please leave
me the information in the Comments section. Thanks!
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