[.ca] A History of Christianity in Asia (ISBN 1570751625)

useful overview:
I have used this text as the base text for an undergraduate course in Christianity East of Jerusalem and found it excellent for the purpose. The material is divided into small enough pieces for the students to handle and there is enough quotation of original sources in translation to give them a feel for some of the variety of Christian life in that broad area and span of time. I recommend it also for individual readers.

Wonderful work on ancient asian missions in 10/40 Window:
A first major work of its kind in shedding light on the often ignored history of early Asian missionaries in Asia. Its focus on the Syrian & Persian missionaries who established bases and churches in the present day 10/40 Window (Middle East, India, & China) is very enlightening.

Long-neglected subject, writes between scholarly and lay:
In the West, the history of Christianity almost never includes the east, and when it does, it stops at the Orthodox church. This book covers the history of the Assyrian church and churches further east. It is fairly readable, and tries to fill in the history of the surrounding regions as well. It changed my perspective of Christianity and gave me a better sense as to what in Christianity is essential. Some problems: some of the footnotes are used for irrelevant tangents, and the scholarly character drops from time to time. Also, the lists of kings and patriarchs should be an appendix, not scattered through the footnotes.

Definitive Overview of the Subject:
I know of no other seurvery of Asian Christianity that matches Moffat's, with regards to scholarship and readability for the general reader. I found this book absolutely unputdownable! I don't know what exactly Moffat's religious persuasion is. This work is as sympathetic to Nestorian Christians as it is to their orthodox (i.e. Catholic and Orthodox) counterparts. I learned a lot from this book. For instance, the Nestorian controversy was more a dispute over terminology than dogma; Christianity was not introduced into China by Portugese Catholics in the 16th century; Armenia's was not the first Christian king; Saint Thomas' mission to India justmay be more than legend; and much, much more. The book is an absolute must-red on the subject. There's a couple of minor errors in it, though. The book states, for example, that the Nestorian Christians in China were not heterodox by Protestant standards except that they apparently prayer for their dead. I think this is a gross oversimplification. If these were anything like they're Western Asian Nestorian brethren, then they also would have had seven sacraments, believed in the Real Pressence of Christ in the Eucharist, the Euccharist's sacrifical aspects, praying to Mary and the saints, veneration of relics, belief in Apostolic succession, etc. The book also states that the Maronites of Lebanon were Oriental Orthodox (i.e. Monophysite), when, in fact, they are one of two Eastern Churches that never broke communion with the Roman Church. Other than these, however, the book was really good. As one reviewer noted either, it would have been more useful for the book to have included the various dynasties and succession of Patriarchs in appendices, rather than scattered through the footnotes. Also, the maps could have been a bit more readable. It was somewhat difficult for a not-geographically-inclined person like myself to find certain cities. Christendom will have much to gain when the "schismatic" Nestorians finally reunify with the Catholic Church. Until then, books like this will aid dialogue, educating believers about this often under-studied denomination of historic Christianity.