From: azamora@hexagon.cs.indiana.edu (Tony Zamora)
Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian
Subject: SUMMARY: Books about the history of Christianity
Date: 24 Aug 92 01:09:56 GMT
Reply-To: azamora@cs.indiana.edu
Organization: Computer Science, Indiana University

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
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	Frend, _The Rise of Christianity_.  Covers up to a little past
	Constantine.
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The Pelican History of the Church (paperback) in six volumes is very
good.  It is published by Penguin Books.
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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. 
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You might try reading a translation of the first Christian history,
_Ecclesiastical History_ by Eusebius from the 3rd century.
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"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.
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"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.
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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.
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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.
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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!
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"The historical road of Eastern Orthodoxy" by Alexander Schmemann, published 
by St Vladimir's Seminary Press, New York.
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"Insights for the Age of Aquarius," Gina Cerminara
"Fragments of a Faith Forgotten"  (don't recall author).
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