Christianity, A Brief Insight

A candid and wide-ranging overview of the world's largest religion, Linda Woodhead distinguishes three main types of Christianity—Church, Biblical, and Mystical—examining their struggles with one another and with the wider society. Steering away from an idealistic approach, she considers Christianity's relations with worldly power and its attempts to achieve social, political, economic, and cultural dominance. Woodhead concludes by showing how those who had held the least power in Christianity—women and non-Europeans—have become increasingly central to its unfolding story.

Linda Woodhead is Senior Lecturer in Christian Studies at Lancaster University. Her numerous publications include Religions in the Modern World: Traditions and Transformations, which she co-edited; An Introduction to Christianity; and Reinventing Christianity: Nineteenth Century Contexts.