of manifestations taken by Christianity during the twentieth century as well as the challenges Christians have faced. There are inevitably points where the treatment seems superficial. Stanley’s (thrice-repeated) insistence that… Click to show full abstract
of manifestations taken by Christianity during the twentieth century as well as the challenges Christians have faced. There are inevitably points where the treatment seems superficial. Stanley’s (thrice-repeated) insistence that the ecumenical movement and the World Council of Churches arose from the Edinburgh Missionary Conference in 1910 makes no mention of the key 1937 conferences of Life and Work and of Faith and Order that took place in Oxford and Edinburgh. Strangely, he omits any mention of the Church of England’s debates around the ordination of women in the early 1970s. Ignaz von Döllinger is mentioned as the founder of a movement of ‘Reform Catholicism’ rather than of the Old Catholic movement, so Döllinger appears to be Roman Catholic. However, these are minor details. Stanley’s intention throughout is to highlight the benefits of offering a ‘transnational perspective’. In this he is entirely successful. The decision to draw case studies from different periods of the twentieth century also highlights how similar questions may emerge in quite different chronological contexts, although at times it does make it hard to develop a chronological sense. What emerges from this book is a deep sense of the vibrant presence of different forms of Christianity across many parts of the world, and of the continuing ability of Christians and churches to adapt to new and very various contexts.
               
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