The Christian Church in the Cold War

Description

From the end of the Second World War until the rise of Gorbachev, the churches in the two halves of a divided Europe might have been living in different worlds. . . .
 
Almost all had to adapt to declining congregations, new concerns about women’s role in religion, and changing attitudes to abortion, contraception, and divorce. Yet the Eastern churches, undermined by state control, savage ideological attacks, show trials, and sometimes physical violence, still managed to support resistance movements, for example, the Polish priests who supported Solidarity. In the West, by contrast, tradition—the great monastic orders, the language of the liturgy, pilgrimages to saints’ shrines—was weakened by the fierce winds of secularization; only the charismatic movement proved astonishingly successful. All this is surveyed in the concluding volume of the Penguin History of the Church. The series starts with the first Disciples; it ends in the late twentieth century—with Christians struggling to face up to fresh global challenges and opportunities.
 
“The editor of the series, Owen Chadwick, the distinguished Cambridge historian, did well to reserve this volume for himself, lending to it the wisdom of his years and an aura of academic detachment. . . . Consistently, he brings to light material which well-informed readers will have missed.”—Michael Novak, The Times
 
“Dr. Chadwick’s concise narrative ought to enlarge the knowledge and sympathy of many.”—David L. Edwards, Church Times
 
“Chadwick in his usual engaging style combines fast-moving narrative with dazzling portraits”—Peter Hebblethwaite, The Time Literary SupplementThe Christian Church in the Cold WarPART ONE: EASTERN EUROPE

1. The Beginnings of the Cold War
The Russian Conquests.
Reconstruction.
The Morality of Tyrannicide.
The Federal Republic of Germany.
Christianity and the Holocaust.
Pope Pius XII and Communism.

2. The Attack Upon Christianity in Eastern Europe
The Secular Rites.
Monks and Nuns
The State Control of the Churches.
The Christian Cooperators.

3. Violence
Albania.
The “Destruction” of the Uniats.

4. Show Trials
Tiso in Slovakia.
Stepinac in Yugoslavia.
Mindszenty in Hungary.

5. The Effects of the Marxist Attack
Acts of Aggression.
Opinion Polls.
Christianity and the History of the Nations.
Division in the East European Churches.
Orthodox Church Leaders in Eastern Europe.
Catholic Church Leaders in Eastern Europe.

PART TWO: WESTERN EUROPE6. The West and Marxism
The Second Vatican Council and the Cold War.
Religious Liberty.
The Council and Communism.

7. The Way of Worship
The Language of the Liturgy.
New Forms of Prayer.

8. Charisma
The Charismatics.
Pilgrimages.
Saints.

9. The Ministry
Married Priests?
The Ordination of Women.
Retirement for Age.

10. Monks and Nuns
The Historic Orders.
Mount Athos.
Other Greek Monasteries and Nunneries.
Protestant Monks and Nuns.
Taizé.

11. Ethics
Divorce.
Contraception.
Abortion.
Torture.

12. Church and State in Western Europe
Constitutions.
Taxes.
The Head of the State.
Movements to Separate Church and State.
Spain.
Greece.
Germany.
Switzerland.

13. Perestroika
The Election of Pope John Paul I in 1978.
The Election of Pope John Paul II in 1978.
Gorbachev.

Suggestions for Further Reading
Index

Reverend Owen Chadwick (1916-2015) was one of the foremost historians of church history. Reverend Chadwick’s many notable publications include The Victorian Church, Victorian Miniature, and The Secularisation of the European Mind in the 19th Century. He was a Regius Professor of Modern History at Cambridge University, where he was also Vice-Chancellor. He was an ordained Anglican priest and academic whose writing on Christianity was known for being both scholarly and entertaining.US

Additional information