TWELVE CHURCHES

A dozen disparate churches that exemplify the story of the Christian faith.

Anglican priest Butler-Gallie explores Christianity through an examination of 12 churches. The churches that Butler-Gallie has chosen to highlight span the globe, but more importantly exemplify various aspects of Christian life and culture through time. This is no tour guide’s introduction to famous buildings; instead, the author utilizes these churches as stepping stones from which to pursue stories and uncover truisms about the Christian faith. Each church is selected for specific reasons, as entrées into deeper discussions. For instance, Canterbury Cathedral in England, site of the brutal murder of Thomas Becket in 1170, leads the author into a discussion of the role of violence throughout Christian history. The Templo de Las Américas, in the Dominican Republic, site of the first simple church erected by Christopher Columbus and his settlers in 1494, serves as a focal point for discussing the spread of Christianity to the Western Hemisphere and the cultural clashes that came with it. Butler-Gallie’s thought-provoking work takes the reader to both famous and little-known churches in places as diverse as Ethiopia, Greece, and Japan. “These churches,” the author notes, meaning all the churches these 12 represent, “are where the intimate and the universal meet.” Indeed, Butler-Gallie’s approach delves into the personal stories of individual believers, many of them ordinary Christians, while also looking for the essence of what Christianity is from the perspective of a believer and a historian. The attempt, though sometimes winding and drawn out, leads the reader along a thoughtful, humane, and open-minded journey across time and place to discover the Christian faith at its best, worst, and most mundane. It’s a trip worth taking.

Fresh and accessible approach to church history.