From azamora@hexagon.cs.indiana.edu Sat Aug 22 13:56:32 1992 Received: from news.cs.indiana.edu by aramis.rutgers.edu (5.59/SMI4.0/RU1.4/3.08) id AA22568; Sat, 22 Aug 92 13:56:32 EDT Message-Id: <9208221756.AA22568@aramis.rutgers.edu> Received: by news.cs.indiana.edu (5.65c/9.4jsm) id AA13404; Sat, 22 Aug 1992 12:56:30 -0500 Received: from hexagon.cs.indiana.edu by news.cs.indiana.edu (5.65c/9.4jsm) id AA13181; Sat, 22 Aug 1992 12:56:08 -0500 Received: by hexagon.cs.indiana.edu (NeXT-1.0 (From Sendmail 5.52)/9.4jsm) id AA28345; Sat, 22 Aug 92 12:56:06 EST Date: Sat, 22 Aug 92 12:56:06 EST From: azamora@hexagon.cs.indiana.edu (Tony Zamora) Subject: SUMMARY: Books about the history of Christianity Reply-To: azamora@cs.indiana.edu Organization: Computer Science, Indiana University To: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu A week ago I asked for recommendations for books about the history of Christianity. Here is a summary of the responses I got. Thanks to everyone who responded. Tony ----- Frend, _The Rise of Christianity_. Covers up to a little past Constantine. ----- The Pelican History of the Church (paperback) in six volumes is very good. It is published by Penguin Books. ----- In my opinion, one of the best and most comprehensive books on church history is "Miller's Church History" by Andrew Miller written in 1880. It is published by the Bible Truth Publishers in Addison, Illinois. It is a comprehensive in that it starts from the time of the apostles ministry on the day of Pentecost and is current up to the year 1880. Miller attempts to give an overview of the move of Christianity across the various parts of the world. Another all-time classic is "Fox's Book of Martyrs" by Robert Fox. The first edition was written around 1600. ----- You might try reading a translation of the first Christian history, _Ecclesiastical History_ by Eusebius from the 3rd century. ----- "Christianity" by Roland H. Bainton is supposed to be very good. I just bought it, but haven't read it yet so can't give a personal recommendation. There is also an Oxford Illustrated History of Christianity out. I just ordered it, so again can't tell you if it's any good. ----- "The Pilgrim Church" by E.W. Broadbent or Broadstreet is historically excellent. It is somewhat dry in places but overall very inspiring as it traces the church from the New Testament times up through part of the 20th century. It traces that part of the church outside the Roman Catholic church. ----- Personally I would recommend reading the writings of the early Church Fathers, and summaries of early ecumenical councils. These would most likely be unbiased. The only problem is that when reading the writings of church fathers directly, you must wade through a lot of information that you probably don't need just to get a little of what you want. But patristic writings (as they are called) are the only accurate way to determine what exactly the early church believed. I might recommend writings like _The_Martyrdom_of_Polycarp_, _The_Martyrdom_of_Perpetua_and_Felicitas_, _First_Apology_ and _Dialogue_With_Trypho_ by St. Justin Marytr (circa 150 A.D.), _Against_Heresies_ by St. Irenaeus of Lyons (circa 250 A.D.), the letters of St. Ignatius of Antioch (110 A.D.), the letter of St. Clement of Rome to the Romans (I think it's the Romans), circa 90 A.D., the _Didache_ or _Teaching_of_the_Twelve_ Apostles_[To_The_Heathen_] (mid first-century), _Apostolic_Constitutions_ by St. Hippolytus (mid 3rd century) and, generally, anything from that period by respect Christians such as Tertullian, Origen, Athenagoras, St. Ignatius, St. Irenaeus, St. Cyprian, St. Cyril, St. Justin Marytr, St. Hippolytus, and many more. _Early_Church_Fathers_ by Cyril Richardson is a good start, it contains the full text of some of these writings, including the letters of St. Ignatius, the Didache, and selections from St. Justin Marytr and St. Irenaeus. _Faith_of _the_Early_Fathers by Jurgens is a three-volume set of selected patristic quots indexed by doctrine. I might also recommend a book called _The_Early_Liturgy_ by Jungmann, which explains how worship developed in the early church from the first century on. It is very complete and informative; it actually goes up to quite a late period. ----- The Interpreter's One Volume Commentary on the Bible has a good chapter on the history of the church. It is concise, and relatively free from denominational biases. You can probably find this in the reference section of a good library, if your church doesn't have a copy. The commentary is a big, expensive book that you may not want to buy just for that chapter. ----- 1. Justo L. Gonzalez, "The Story of Christianity", Harper and Row, 1984. This is in two volumes with paper cover. It's a brief but comprehensive history (early church to present day). A seminary where I will be taking a course in the fall suggested reading this as preparation. I just finished volume I. It's quite easy reading, which is perhaps welcome in an introductory work, however that's also the source of my main objection to the work: I find Gonzalez' writing a bit too colloquial and would prefer something more scholarly. 2. The Oxford Illustrated History of Christianity, Oxford University Press. (Sorry, don't remember the editor's name or publication date, but it's within the last couple of years). This is a single large volume. I purchased a paper-bound copy at the Univ. bookstore here for $35 (Cdn). It has chapters by a variety of authors (mostly British profs, some American too I think) and beautiful illustrations as befits the title (reproductions of Christian art throughout the ages). A very handsome book, a bit more condensed than Gonzalez. I haven't read too much of it yet, but my husband reports that quality of the chapters seems to vary, doubtless due to the varied authorship. 3. Jaroslav Pelikan, 5-volume set. (Sorry, other info not on hand). This is allegedly a fine work by a prominent scholar. Longer and more comprehensive than Gonzalez. Written in more "academic" style which sounds attractive to me but might not be a recommendation to everyone! ----- "The historical road of Eastern Orthodoxy" by Alexander Schmemann, published by St Vladimir's Seminary Press, New York. ----- "Insights for the Age of Aquarius," Gina Cerminara "Fragments of a Faith Forgotten" (don't recall author). -----