Finding Pieces Of The Puzzle [Hardcover]

Description: Climate change. Radical politics. National debt. Globalization. What do Christians have to say to the big questions we all face? Whatever they try to say, they will be seriously handicapped if they do not know their own story. Finding Pieces of the Puzzle will fill the knowledge gap. It breaks away from the usual manner in which history is written. Here is a sweeping overview of the story of Christianity that takes the reader to parts of the world seldom visited, that watches as the message of Christ encounters cultures as different as ninth century Persia and sixteenth century Kongo. The story is carried from the first to the twenty-first century by a series of mini-biographies--a young woman facing martyrdom, a boy from a little French town who becomes Pope and launches an army, an African-American who uses a successful international trade network to combat slavery. The glory, the confusion, the shame, the holiness of Christianity are all here. As the pieces are slipped into place, the puzzle begins to make sense. Watching Christians of the past face their challenges helps us understand who modern Christians really are. Endorsements: Ronald Kydd's book reminds us that the present can only be understood based on knowledge of the past. Highlighting Christianity's early incredible achievements in Northern Africa and Asia, Kidd reveals how it successfully reached peoples of very different cultures more than 1,500 years ago. Christianity is not a European but rather a global undertaking. Kydd's book encourages Christians worldwide to be proud about their identity and history, while acknowledging historical mistakes and to further carry the Christian flame. -Christoph Baumer President Society for the Exploration of EurAsia. In this wonderfully engaging retelling of the Christian story, Kydd takes a fresh approach by exploring parts of the story less familiar. He fills an important gap by including stories from non-Western parts of the world, bringing l#,