History of Christianity

[JM]

Any book recommendations on the subject of the history of Christianity? I'm about to re-read the following;

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The first time I went through I was distracted and skimmed the chapters without much thought so I thought I should re-read it. Any others to add to my list?

Thank you.

jm

 

[JM]

I've read a bunch of from volume one of Shuckford's 'Sacred and Profane History of the World Connected' but can't stand reading from my computer and gave up. If it can be had in epub I'd take another run at this one as well.

 

[Rhamiel]

a neat book is The Golden Legend or Legenda Aurea is a book that can help you get in the mind of medieval christians
not a good book for history
but an amazing book if you want to learn about medieval christianity

 

[oworm]

Both these are required for my seminary studies. I think they are used in a couple of Reformed Seminaries

 

[WisdomTree]

You can also read my presentation if you're interested: Brief History of Christianity: Division of the Church

 

[GrinningDwarf]

Any others to add to my list?

Thank you.

jm

This is a great set that covers from the time of Christ up through the Swiss Reformation. I read them all the time, and CBD always has a great price on them. The 8-volume set normally goes for $300, but it's on sale for $50.

Christianbook.com: History of the Christian Church, 8 Volumes: Philip Schaff: 9781565631960

 

[JM]

...now I know why I skimmed the work, Diarmaid MacCulloch is clearly an unbeliever and writes like one. Did I forget to mention he is gay?

 

[WisdomTree]

My presentation is probably so much better

 

[JM]

My presentation is probably so much better

I'll check it out, thanks.

 

[WisdomTree]

I'll check it out, thanks.

Thank you for considering it.

 

[bsd058]

Both these are required for my seminary studies. I think they are used in a couple of Reformed Seminaries

I enjoyed this one personally! Some others can be kind of monotone and boring. Gonzales knows how to write history so that it is interesting.

 

[HiredGoon]

The two volumes by Ivor J. Davidson from the defunct "Baker History of the Church" series are my favorite intro to the first 600 years. "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. Another volume from the series "Reform and Conflict: From the Medieval World to the Wars of Religion, AD 1350-1648" by Rudolph W. Heinze is a good basic overview of the Reformation, as is Timothy George's "Reading Scripture with the Reformers."

 

[JM]

Its all coming back to me, why I skimmed 'The First Three Thousand Years.' The writer has a chip on his shoulder when it comes to Christianity and he can help himself from declaring it. In the intro he tells the reader that Premil was the universal opinion of the early church, ok fine, heard that before and its very debatable...but he goes on to say this position was abandoned because Christians were losing hope. He draws conclusions and presents them as facts.

 

[All Souls]

L. Abramowski Formula and Context
B. Altaner Patrology
L. Ayers (ed.) Christian Origins
J. Behr The Way to Nicaea
A. Di Berardino & B. Studer (ed.) History of Theology: The Patristic Period
J. Bingham (ed.) The Routledge Companion to Early Christian Thought
P.R.L. Brown The Body and Society
H. von Campenhausen The Fathers of the Greek Church
" " The Fathers of the Latin Church
F.L. Cross The Early Christian Fathers
J. Daniélou A History of Early Christian Doctrine before the Council of Nicaea (3 vols)
H. Drobner The Fathers of the Church
S.G. Hall Doctrine and Practice in the Early Church
R.P.C. Hanson Studies in Christian Antiquity
A. von Harnack A History of Dogma (often in 7 volumes)
D. Hunter and S. Ashbrook Harvey (eds) The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Studies
J.N.D. Kelly Early Christian Doctrine (4th. ed.)
" " Early Christian Creeds (2nd ed.)
J. Pelikan The Christian Tradition I The Emergence of the Catholic Tradition (100-600)
G.L. Prestige Fathers and Heretics
J. Quasten Patrology (4 vols)
W.G. Rusch The Later Latin Fathers
G.C. Stead Substance and Illusion in the Christian Fathers
B. Studer Trinity and Incarnation
H.E.W. Turner The Pattern of Christian Truth
M. Wiles & M. Santer (eds.) Documents in Early Christian Thought
M. F. Wiles The Making of Christian Doctrine
M. F. Wiles The Christian Fathers
M. F. Wiles Working Papers in Christian Doctrine
R.D. Williams (ed.) The Making of Orthodoxy
F. M. Young From Nicaea to Chalcedon

 

[JM]

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Ok, read it, made notes and now I'm digesting the information. MacCulloch writes like an unbeliever but considering what I've read from other authors in the past, MacCulloch is pretty solid on the facts. It is clear MacCulloch views Christianity as a historical movement tied to the State in most cases and this encourages him to point out the many flaws of 'Christians.' He does a great job handling Eastern Orthodoxy and the Iconoclast Controversy by clearly demonstrating it was largely a political controversy between superstitious idolatrous Christians and superstitious iconoclast elites.

I would recommend it.

jm