Turning Points Book Review Part II (Chapters 7-13)

Book Review (Chapters 7-13):
Turning Points: Decisive Moments in the History of Christianity

In this paper, I will review Mark Noll’s Turning Points: Decisive Moments in the History of Christianity. I will include a brief biographical sketch of the author and a summary of the content of the last seven chapters of the book. In addition, I will include a statement of the author’s purpose and the extent to which he achieves his purpose and a statement on the uniqueness of the book as well. Finally, I will discuss the effect the book has had on me regarding my thoughts on Christian history.
To begin, I will provide a brief biographical sketch of the author gathered from his interview with Carl Olsen of Ignatius Insight. Olsen reveals that Mark Noll is the McManis Professor of Christian Thought at Wheaton College. He is the co-founder and present director of the Institute for the study of American Evangelicals at Wheaton College. Dr. Noll graduated from Wheaton as an English major and from Vanderbilt with his PhD in the History of Christianity in 1975. After four years of Trinity College (IL), Noll joined the Wheaton College faculty in 1979. He is the author of several other books including America’s God: From Jonathan Edwards to Abraham Lincoln, The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind, A History of Christianity in the United States and Canada, The Rise of Evangelicalism: The Age of Edwards, Whitefield, and the Wesleys and Is The Reformation Over? An Evangelical Assessment of Contemporary Roman Catholicism. [1]
Next, I will summarize the content of the last seven chapters of Turning Points. In Chapter 7, Noll discusses the beginnings of Protestantism and the Diet of Worms in 1521. In this chapter, the author discusses Luther appearing before Charles V. The author reveals that Luther, when asked to recant his writings publicly, refused. Noll goes on to talk about Luther’s life stating that Luther was born in Eisleben in 1483, studied and taught Scripture at the University of Wittenberg, married Katherine von Bora in 1525, translated the Bible in 1534 and died February 1946. The author also mentions the Augsburg Confession in 1530. Noll concludes this chapter with a discussion on Luther’s theology of the cross as a turning point in the history of Christianity. The author states what made it a turning point is “the vision of God that gripped Luther, which he then communicated through sermons, tracts and treatises that made a mark on the history of Christianity. That vision of God, which shattered many of the religious conventions of Luther’s day, first broke through to the depths of his own being and then forced the West as a whole to pay attention.”[2]
In Chapter 8, Noll talks about the new Europe and the English Act of Supremacy of 1534. In this chapter, Noll discusses the King’s Majesty, Henry VIII, recognized as the supreme head of the church and the break from Rome as symbolizing the most important turning point in Christian history. Noll goes on to state this turning point was the rise in Europe of local, particular and national forms of Christianity. Noll says, “They were not promoting toleration or religious pluralism in a modern sense, but they were definitely establishing small-scale alternatives to the universal Catholic Church. This development forever changed the face of Christianity in the West.” Noll discusses other topics in this chapter as well, such as the centrifugal forces in Christendom, the Great Schism and Protestantism. Concerning the centrifugal forces in Christendom, Noll reveals, “Regionalism, nationalism, tumultuous new patterns in economic and social life, as well as broad intellectual upheaval were all well advanced before the appearance of Protestantism.” Finally, Noll states the rise of Protestantism represented continuity with the past as well as discontinuity toward the future and acted as an accelerator for developments that were already well underway by 1517 and Martin Luther’s posting of the Ninety-Five Theses. Concerning the Great Schism, Noll writes that returning the papacy to Rome led to a period of two, and sometimes even three, rival popes. He states that during this time, there were rival colleges of cardinals electing counter popes in Rome, Avignon and occasionally elsewhere. Noll concludes this chapter discussing the rise of Protestantism and naming the earliest leaders, such as Luther, Zwingli, Martin Bucer, Philipp Melanchthon, Peter Martyr and John Knox. Noll goes on to say Protestant churches came to be distinguished from each other and that these churches opened up many and various paths to reform from Erastian conservatives to Anabaptist radicals.[3]
In Chapter 9, Noll discusses the Catholic reform, worldwide outreach and the founding of the Jesuits in 1540. He states that a papal bull on September 27, 1940 formally established the Society of Jesus and the bull outlined the type of society the Jesuits would be. Noll goes on to converse about the Council of Trent, Tridentine Catholicism and beyond Europe. Concerning the Council of Trent and Tridentine Catholicism, Noll states, “So effective were these efforts at Catholic reform that the norms defined at Trent remained overwhelmingly dominant throughout the Catholic Church for nearly four hundred years. Just as important were the systemization of doctrine and the codification of practice that the Council of Trent advanced. The importance of those reforms heightened even more by their impact on the rest of the world.”[4]
In Chapter 10, Noll discusses the conversion of the Wesleys in 1738, pietism and evangelicalism. He states that the adjustments the Wesleys made in Protestantism still influence the shape of Christianity throughout the world where evangelicals have carried the gospel. The author goes on to reveal that John Wesley became the great organizer of itinerant, outdoor evangelism and organized small group cells into bands, societies and circuits and in so doing founded the Methodist church. Noll also states that later, John Wesley would modify Philipp Jakob Spener’s group meetings as the basis for interconnected small groups, which became the spiritual hallmark of Methodism.[5]
In Chapter 11, the author converses about discontents of the modern west, the French Revolution in 1789, the demise of Christendom and the Christian response to the modern age. Noll reveals that the French Revolution had a program of dechristianization, where the leaders tried to throw off what they felt was the dead hand of the church. He states, “A general effort was made to extirpate France’s age-old connection with the Roman Catholic Church.” Noll also states that Owen Chadwick wrote of the secularization that ensued, which Noll remarks can be described as the end of Christendom.” Noll then converses about the Christian response to this new modern age. He says believers faced issues of preservation, advancement, they focused on how to keep the ancient faith alive and how, despite obstacles, they could spread the gospel.[6]
In Chapter 12, Noll speaks on a faith for the world, the Edinburgh Missionary Conference in 1910, a revival of mission activity and the meaning of mission for the history of Christianity. He states that the Edinburgh Missionary Conference led to the establishment of the International Missionary Conference, the Universal Christian Conference on Life and Work and the World Conference on Faith and Order, the latter two organizations eventually merged in 1948 to create the World Council of Churches. Noll states, “The missionary conference in Edinburgh was, therefore, the beginning of the twentieth-century ecumenical movement.” Noll concludes this chapter remarking on the meaning of mission for the history of Christianity as “symbolizing a dawning of consciousness concerning the worldwide extension of faith.”[7]
Finally, in Chapter 13, Noll reveals further turning points of the 20th century. He states that the rise and spread of Pentecostalism, the Second Vatican Council of the Roman Catholic Church, the emergence of women into greater visibility, the massive production of new Bible translations as an aspect of the globalization of Christianity and the survival of Christianity under Communist regimes all had great significance. Noll comments on Pentecostalism as sparking a longing for revival and sanctification. In addition, Noll states the Second Vatican Council ushered in a period of unusual movement and contention for the Catholic Church. Moreover, Noll says public awareness of women’s importance for ordinary Christian activities was a turning point and provided a fuller picture of women’s work and an expanded gender perspective. Still yet, Noll remarks on Wycliffe Bible Translators standing symbolically for one of the greatest Christian events of the age and finally, the turning point under Communist regimes being that Christianity survived.[8]
In this section, I will provide a statement of the author’s purpose and discuss the extent to which he achieves his purpose. To begin, Noll states in the introduction of his book that he wrote the book for lay people and introductory students rather than for scholars. He says that he wrote it with specifically Protestant evangelical Christian presuppositions but that he intends the book to be as fair and as nonpartisan as presuppositions allow. Still yet, Noll reveals that he wrote this book with an intent to “present Christianity as a worldwide religion rather than a faith for just Europeans and North Americans.” Finally, Noll states that if the book inspires others to think about why some turning points are not as important as other turning points, he will consider it a successful book.[9]
In my opinion, Noll achieves his purposes splendidly. The book easy to read and to understand for lay people and beginning students. In addition, Noll points out his biases to the reader when and where they occur so as a reader, I know what views are his versus the unbiased historical perspective. Moreover, I think he presents Christianity as a worldwide religion quite well with the topics he chose to discuss. The reader can follow history from Jerusalem, Turkey, Rome and North Africa to Germany, France, Switzerland and Ireland. As a reader, I definitely take away from the book that Christianity is a global religion. Finally, I did give thought to the topics he chose as to why they are important. I also considered what other topics he may have chosen to discuss and did not. Reading the introduction, I understand that he chose the important turning points he did because he states he knew something about them from his own teaching and reading.
Next, I will provide a brief statement on the uniqueness of the book. In my opinion, it is a unique book and for reasons stated by Noll himself. One, in studying just a few striking incidents Noll brings some order to a complicated subject. Two, he highlights specific moments of the actual history of the church often obscured. Three, Noll provides an opportunity to interpret why certain incidents may have marked an important fork in the road of Christian history.[10] In addition, this book “provides repeated, concrete demonstrations concerning the irreducibly historical character of the Christian faith,” “provides perspective on the interpretation of Scripture,” “is useful as a laboratory for examining Christian interactions with surrounding culture and “shouts out loud that God sustains the church despite the church’s own frequent efforts to betray its Savior and its own high calling.”[11]
In conclusion, my thoughts on the book are that Noll is an excellent writer and the book well written. Noll is concise yet thorough and easily paints a picture for the reader as if they were there. I think it is a great introductory book for lay people and students of Christian history. I enjoyed the turning points he chose to discuss in this book as well as the hymns, prayers and side notes he included at the beginning, end and throughout each chapter. In addition, the book has had an affect on my thoughts concerning Christian history. After reading this book, I find that Christian history is interesting, important to learn from and it is inspiring. I can see God working throughout the turning points discussed in this book and they are glimpses of him not found anywhere else. Finally, I have a new appreciation of Christian doctrine from reading about the origins of doctrines and how Christians arrived at the conclusions we have to this day.

Bibliography

Noll, Mark A. Turning Points: Decisive Moments in the History of Christianity. 2nd Ed.
Baker Academic. Grand Rapids, MI. 1997.

Olsen, Carl E. Has The Reformation Ended? An Interview with Dr. Mark Noll.
http://www.ignatiusinsight.com/features2005/marknoll intvw sept05.asp.
Sept 05.

[1] Olsen, Carl E., Has The Reformation Ended? An Interview with Dr. Mark Noll, http://www.ignatiusinsight.com/features2005/marknoll intvw sept05.asp , p. 1.
[2] Noll, Mark, Turning Points: Decisive Moments in the History of Christianity, p. 151-174.
[3] Noll, p. 175-196.
[4] Noll, p.197-220.
[5] Noll, p.221-244.
[6] Noll, p.245-268.
[7] Noll, p.269-294.
[8] Noll, p.295-316.
[9] Noll, p.13.
[10] Noll, p.12.
[11] Noll, p.15-18.