Many Christians are poorly versed in Bible content and in
theology, and last week I gave some suggestions for changing that. But compared
with their knowledge of church history, those same Christians are virtual
scholars in Bible and theology. For many, it seems that the history of Christianity
began with their birth, or perhaps their rebirth. There is little to no sense
of where they currently live in relation to the broader scope of the entire
history of the church. Yet there is a vast library of accessible books that can
correct that problem. For the person looking to begin an exploration of church
history, I would recommend the following books.
First is S. M. Houghton’s Sketches from Church History.
This is not a continuous history, but rather, as the title suggests, glimpses
into episodes and persons from the past. About a quarter of the book is devoted
to the first 1,400 years of church history, with the remainder focusing on the Reformation
and, after the Reformation, focusing on the Protestant Church, especially in
the West. While the selection of material doesn’t give the reader much on the
Eastern Church or on the development of Roman Catholicism after the Reformation,
it is a good introduction for a modern American evangelical. It has plenty of
illustrations, which is also helpful.
Second would be Bruce Shelley’s Church History in Plain
Language. This book is now in its fourth edition. It is also light on the
Eastern church but gives more information on Roman Catholic developments in the
post-Reformation period. It is divided into forty-eight chapters, most of them
in the ten to fifteen-page range. Thus, over the course of about a month and a
half, at the rate of one chapter a day, the reader can get a decent
introduction to the history of the church.
A third recommendation is Church History: The Basics
from Concordia Publishing House. I am less familiar with this work, but it
appears to be a good alternative to Shelley. It is an abbreviated form of the
book The Church from Age to Age: A History from Galilee to Global
Christianity, also from Concordia. This is a substantial church history in
one volume. One advantage of it is that it includes readings from primary sources
in each of the ages. A similar work would be Justo Gonzales’s The Story of
Christianity, a popular choice for use in seminary church history survey
courses
A little more advanced treatment can be found in the Pelican
History of the Church series. This is a seven-volume collection consisting of
the following: Henry Chadwick, The Early Church; R. W. Southern, Western
Society and the Church in the Middle Ages; Owen Chadwick, The
Reformation; Gerald R. Cragg, The Church and the Age of Reason,
1648-1789; Alec R. Vidler, The Church in an Age of Revolution;
Stephen Neill, A History of Christian Missions; and (a relatively new
addition to the series) Owen Chadwick, The Christian Church in the Cold War.
As indicated, this is more demanding reading, but it gives a more thorough
treatment of many of the doctrinal disputes that characterize the history of
the church.
Finally, I would recommend Paul Johnson’s A History of
Christianity. Johnson is not a church historian, but this is a readable
account. I found it to be thoroughly enjoyable. From Kirkus Review: “Though the narrative is fast-paced and the style
vigorously economic, the account brims with telling details and reasoned
judgments and never seems superficial, Johnson eschews all special theological
pleading and abides by professional canons of evidence and objectivity. Drawing
on a wealth of primary and secondary sources, he maintains a healthy balance
between the internal and external dimensions of Christianity's development;
events and ideas mesh into a coherent story.”
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