Introduction : The idea of turning points and reasons for studying the history of Christianity -- The church pushed out on its own : the fall of Jerusalem (70) -- Realities of empire : the Council of Nicaea (325) -- Doctrine, politics, and life in the word : the Council of Chalcedon (451) -- The monastic rescue of the church : Benedict's rule (530) -- The culmination of Christendom : the coronation of Charlemagne (800) -- Division between East and West : the Great Schism (1054) -- The beginnings of Protestantism : the Diet of Worms (1521) -- A new Europe : the English Act of Supremacy (1534) -- Catholic reform and worldwide outreach : the founding of the Jesuits (1540) -- The new piety : the conversion of the Wesleys (1738) -- Discontents of the modern West : the French Revolution (1789) -- A faith for all the world : the Edinburgh Missionary Conference (1910) -- Further turning points of the twentieth century.