Churches, Revolutions, and Empires

When I received Churches, Revolutions, and Empires 1789-1914 by Ian Shaw from Cross Focused Reviews I was excited.   Being a lover of history and recently interested in the roots of our Christian Faith, I eagerly dove in.  Shaw did not disappoint.  This book was chocked full of wonderful facts and background of this crucial part of our Church’s history.  I can’t wait to go back through and re-read and pick up tidbits I missed.  One of my favorite quotes in the book was: “The rich Puritan heritage of the New England colonies was rooted in the piety of the early British and European Protestant settlers, and included a deep-set fear of return to the religious oppression from which the founding fathers had escaped".  I think that this statement really emphasizes the importance of our religious foundation in America. It also makes me wonder if having a little of that fear isn't beneficial to protecting our religious freedom.

David Livingstone

  I was also especially interested in the section on missions and how each branch of the church handled missions and how that either furthered the Gospel or hindered their efforts.  It was neat to learn more about individuals that I had always heard about but not taken the time to look deeper at.  The one that especially caught my eye was David Livingstone since Bubby had taken a liking to his story when we came across a little blurb about him on a school worksheet.  This man sacrificed comforts, his family, and pretty much everything, all for the love of God and sharing that with the people of Africa. 

  This book did an excellent job of weaving the story of Christianity during this time period.  Mr. Shaw showed how crucial an era this was all over the world and how people from different walks of life all strived to spread the gospel despite conflicts and barriers they encountered.  Thanks to Cross Focused Reviews for providing me with a copy of this to review! :)