A History of Christianity in Wales

(Paperback)

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A survey of Welsh Christianity from its origins in Roman Britain to the present.

Christianity has played an enormous role in the history of Wales and in the defining and shaping of Welsh identity over the past two thousand years. Biblical place names, an urban and rural landscape littered with churches, chapels, crosses, and sacred sites, a bardic and literary tradition deeply imbued with Christian themes in both the Welsh and English languages, and the songs sung by tens of thousands of rugby fans all hint at a Christian presence that was once universal. Yet for many people in contemporary Wales, the story of the development of Christianity in the country remains little known.

Aimed at the general reader, this is the first single-volume history of Welsh Christianity from its origins in Roman Britain to the present. Drawing on the expertise of four leading historians of the Welsh Christian tradition, it offers a succinct, clear, and accessible account of the development of Christianity in Wales in its Catholic, Protestant, and Nonconformist forms and will be the perfect introduction to the subject.

Reviews

"Books have been written on particular denominations before, but there has been nothing as comprehensive and wide-ranging as this volume. It is both scholarly and accessible."--Barry Morgan, Archbishop of Wales 2003-17 "Journal of Anglican History"
"A distinguished team of expert historians has produced an outstanding book that should please those already knowledgeable about the Welsh Christian past but also, with its accessible prose in service to crystal-clear presentation, attract readers new to the subject."--Mark Noll, author of 'The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind'
"In this authoritative and engaging history of Christianity in Wales, two experts explain pre-Reformation developments with full use of archaeological evidence, and two more carry the story from the Reformation down to the present day. This is an illuminating study based on up-to-date scholarship."--David Bebbington, author of 'Evangelicalism in Modern Britain: A History from the 1730s to the 1980s'
"The history of Welsh Christianity and the history of the Welsh language in any recognizable form begin at very much the same point . . . This book will be a work to which the reader can turn to understand both Welsh society and the resources of the Christian tradition across the centuries."--Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury

Author Bio

David Ceri Jones is a reader in early modern history at Aberystwyth University. Barry J. Lewis is a professor at the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies. Madeleine Gray is professor emerita of ecclesiastical history at the University of South Wales. D. Densil Morgan is emeritus professor of theology at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David.