Best Book on early Christian History?

[OrsonOrson]

I've been paging through Henry Chadwick's The Early Church. It's a little dense. I'd like something more accessible.

What are your favorite books on early Christian History?

 

[rivertree]

I don't have a book for you, but I will watch for ideas concerning books on Christian history, particularly early Christian history, and if I see a work of interest, I will try to post something. I hope to hear from others here on this thread you have made, because though there is a lot of material on the subject, I really want to read the most well-researched and least unbiased information. The people here seem wise and thoughtful and I value their opinions.

 

[St_Worm2]

I've been paging through Henry Chadwick's The Early Church. It's a little dense. I'd like something more accessible.

What are your favorite books on early Christian History?

Available in an 8 volume hardback set, in Logos software (best for study to be sure), or free online ... click here: History of the Christian Church by Philip Schaff.

This history runs from the 1st Century to just after the Reformation. It is a very good read throughout.

--David

 

[rivertree]

I bookmarked the History of the Christian Church by Philip Schaff, thank you! This looks like a really good source to be aware of. It gives a lot of references, always awesome. Love to follow the golden thread of references and see where it leads me. It's pretty wordy, I don't know if I would have the discipline to read all of it- manybe if it were on my Kindle I could get through more of it. Right away I noticed it had a somewhat dogmatic statement to the effect that the church of the apostolic period had no contact with the Essenes, which may or may not be true. Maybe that has something to do with when it was written. Anyway, I am glad to add this online work to my very sparse sources.

I have an old book in my library, A History of the Early Church by Hans Lietzmann, 1961. It looks like an engaging read, I've just referred to it occasionally.

I would think, with all the new extra Biblical writings that have been discovered, that one of the most important things to look for would be a more current church history. There could be problems with a modern book, if the writer has some kind of postmodern agenda and is not unbiased. Ok, so call me paranoid, I guess. However, what writer of history, modern or not, is totally unbiased?

My favorite books on Early Church history tend to be books of ancient writings that shed light on the activities of the church. I really apprecite the URL that I learned about here in this forum that someone so kindly posted- sorry I can't repost the URL, I'm too new, but the title of the site is New Advent>The Fathers of the Church.

 

[E.C.]

"The Orthodox Church" by Timothy Ware.

 

[1watchman]

There is much history of the Church God established, and numerous books by Bible teachers from circa 1800 AD at Bible Truth Publishers (www.bibletruthpublishers.com).

 

[bach90]

Why read about it from someone who was there?

http://www.amazon.com/Eusebius-The-Church-History/dp/0825433282

I mean Eusebius, not Dr. Maier.

 

[blah1234]

Try this one:

The New Testament : A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings

Bart D. Ehrman


NB: I think the book was originally written by him before he started putting a very atheist slant on things.

 

[HiredGoon]

Two volumes: The Birth of the Church: From Jesus to Constantine, AD 30-312 and A Public Faith: From Constantine to the Medieval World, AD 312-600 by Ivor J. Davidson.

 

[samaus12345]

#1 The bible

Newtons writings possibly.

Newton's Religious Writings | Newton Project

Some of them are in latin?

 

[bach90]

#1 The bible

Newtons writings possibly.

Newton's Religious Writings | Newton Project

Some of them are in latin?

Sure, read Church history from someone with no theological training that denied the Trinity.

 

[samaus12345]

???"The Christian religion was the same with the Iewish till the Calling of Cornelius & the Gentiles with this only addition that Iesus who was crucified under Pontius Pilate was the Prophet predicted by Moses & the Christ or Messiah predicted by Daniel, & that he rose from the dead & ascended into heaven & is to return & judge & rule the quick & dead, & that we are to testify our becoming his disciples by baptism & to give him honour & glory on account of his death, & to commemorate it often & direct our prayers to God in his name, & upon repentance to hope for remission of sins by his merits."

 

[samaus12345]

His stuff is A grade this is just my opinion but his mind is clear and focused i find his stuff fascinating

 

[Lladro]

Sure, read Church history from someone with no theological training that denied the Trinity.

It just depend whether you want a biased or an unbiased opinion, I never trust a historian who has an Axe to grind.
History is always made by the victors and the leaders of the day, a good historian always gives both sides.

 

[GreekOrthodox]

If you really want to dig, there is Yaroslav Pelikan, a former Lutheran and then Russian Orthodox. He was a professor at Yale University for years. He has a detailed five volume set on Christian history. Amazon.com: Jaroslav Pelikan: Books, Biography, Blog, Audiobooks, Kindle

 

[samaus12345]

James Ussher, Usshers Annals of the world.

http://ia600301.us.archive.org/30/items/AnnalsOfTheWorld/Annals.pdf

 

[Andres88]

I'm reading a two volumes book (in Spanish) called "Historia del Cristianismo" ("History of Christianity") by Justo L. González.

 

[ebedmelech]

History is normally dry reading unless you really like history.

I have "Christianity Through The Centuries" by Earle E. Cairns.

It's great reference too.

This is a link the updated version: Browse Inside Christianity Through the Centuries: A History of the Christian Church by Earle E. Cairns

 

[Anoetos]

It's odd you would say Chadwick is inaccessible. He's exactly who I was going to recommend. I found him to be engaging, thorough and a fine writer.

 

[pathfinder777]

I've been paging through Henry Chadwick's The Early Church. It's a little dense. I'd like something more accessible.

What are your favorite books on early Christian History?

Robert L. Wilken, The Spirit of Early Christian Thought: Seeking the Face of God (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003).

In Christ