The Word Made Flesh: A History of Christian Thought

This outstanding textbook offers an original history of Christianthought, asking what it has meant over the centuries to participatein the religion of the Word made flesh. The volume: traces Christian ideas, conversations, experiences andpractices from the first century through to the dawn of modernityat the end of the eighteenth century presents an inclusive history, considering the critical rolesof women and religious others dissentingChristians, Jews, and Muslims in shaping Christianthought demonstrates the importance of liturgical and devotionalexercises to developing Christian practice treats words, images, music and architecture all as primaryevidence in reconstructing past experiences of Christianity. The accompanying CD Rom contains over one hundred and fiftyvisuals to support the theories and examples discussed throughoutthe volume and detailed information concerning the musicalselections is given at the appropriate locations to facilitatetheir classroom use. This superb resource will be essential for allthose wanting an inclusive, accessible, and stimulatingintroduction to the history of Christianity.

List of Illustrations.

List of Maps.

Acknowledgments.

Preface.

Acknowledgments.

Prelude: Flesh and Word.

1. The Christian Movement in the Second and Third Centuries.

2. Inclusions and Exclusions: The Fourth Century.

3. Fleshing Out the Word: Medieval Christianity East andWest.

4. The Voice of the Pages: Incarnation and Hierarchy in theMedieval West.

Interlude.

5. Death and the Body in the Fourteenth–Century West.

6. The Suffering Body of Christ: The Fifteenth Century.

7. Re–forming the Body of Christ: The Sixteenth Century, PartI.

8. Reforming the Body of Christ: The Sixteenth Century, Part2.

9. Rationalism and Religious Passion: The SeventeenthCentury.

10. Keeping Body and Soul Together: Eighteenth–CenturyChristianity.

Postlude: The Word Made Flesh.

Bibliography.

Index

Margaret R. Miles is Emeritus Professor of HistoricalTheology at the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley. As BusseyProfessor of Theology, she taught the history of Christian thoughtfor 20 years at Harvard University Divinity School. Her previousbooks include Plotinus on Body and Beauty (Blackwell, 1999), Reading for Life (1996), Seeing and Believing (1996), Desire and Delight (1993), Practicing Christianity (1988),and Carnal Knowing (1988).

"Margaret Miles′, The Word Made Flesh, is a monumental work,the fruit of decades of her teaching and scholarship. Theparticular contributions of this volume are recognition of theimportance of art, architecture and music and the integration ofnew scholarship on women in Christian intellectual history. Thiswork will become indispensable for introductory courses on westernChristian thought from Justin Martyr to Kant."
Rosemary Radford Ruether, Graduate Theological Union<!––end––>

"To the student of Christianity, Miles offers something trulyrare – a history text that is hard to put down."
Kathleen Sands, University of Massachusetts

"Margaret Miles gives us a picture of the whole thinking,breathing, gendered ecclesial body. The history of Christianthought and the social and cultural history of Christians cannot,after Miles, be readily chronicled apart from one another. Attemptsto do so will likely be found wanting in comparison with thismonumental work."
William McDonald, Tennessee Wesleyan College

Miles insistence on exploring the history ofChristian thought beyond texts and quotations makes the bookinvaluable; she may well have established the new paradigm forteaching, requiring one to not only read through Christian thought,but to listen and to see the development of Christian thought aswell.
Reviews in Religion and Theology

"Miles succeeds on every level and the books should be usedwidely in introductory courses."
Reviews in Religion and Theology