A Concise Church History

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LawrenceU

LawrenceU

Puritan Board Doctor
I am contemplating doing a study of Church History with the men in my congregation. I have a lot of materials, but I really don't have anything appropriate for a 10 -12 week survey. And, I don't have the time to put anything together in the next few months. I am wanting to to cover the Apostolic period through the English Reformation. Do any of you know of any available? Even a good trade book would help.
 
Although it is a bit dated and it is a translation from Dutch, I still find myself referring regularlly to P.K. Keizer's Church History. It was originally written as a textbook for high schools and colleges. If you want something with more detail, Williston Walker's A History of the Christian Church is good. If you'd just some of the highlights, then Mark Noll's Turning Points is worthwhile.
 
I think this book might be what you are looking for (though it goes beyond Reformation history):

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Sketches-Church-History-Houghton-Murray/dp/0851513174]Sketches from Church History[/ame]
 
Here's a brief treatment of church history. I've not read it, but a friend read it and said he appreciated how it just presented facts. It's in my "to be read" pile.

http://www.geocities.com/lovethe_lord/sm05.htm

-----Added 1/13/2009 at 06:08:24 EST-----

This would be even better. It comes with a curriculum.
Mount Zion Bible Institute Course Descriptions

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Capitol Hill might be of some help too, but I think the MT. Zion route would work best for what you're looking for.
Capitol Hill Baptist Church Church History
 
Sidney Houghton's "Sketches from Church History" (Banner of Truth) is quite a good basic introduction. Each chapter is just 2-3 pages long, easy to read and does not presuppose prior knowledge of the events described. Each chapter describes events that volumes have been written on so obviously there are big gaps but it gives a basic idea of the major events in church history.
 
Hey Joe, does that pdf download have any other hosts? When I looked at it the top third of every page was gone.
 
Mark Noll's Turning Points is an interesting look at definitive moments in church history (e.g., Nicea, Chalcedon, Charlemagne's coronation as HRE, Diet of Worms, etc.), including the events that led up to and followed them. I would disagree with his assessments of the 20th century church, but overall the book is good. There are a total of 14 or 15 (I think) turning points, so if you stop with the English Reformation, that might work for you (one chapter each meeting).
 
greenbaggins said:
B. K. Kuiper's volume is outstanding. It covers the whole of church history in a very reasonable 400 pages.
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I would agree. Our copy (my wife, Scottish Lass, loves it!) was somehow "lost" in our last move and only rediscovered providentially a couple weeks ago when we were looking for the (also lost, but now replaced) TV remote.

Praise God for small blessings. I should have followed the Luke 15 examples and called friends to rejoice -- that which was lost has now been found!
 
Thank you for all the replies. I have several of the volumes mentioned. I'm trying to find a condensed history that I can hand out and go through with the men.
 
Here is a nice link that I recently found.

These are the class outlines and notes from Dr. Harlie Kay Gallatin's "History of Christianity" courses (Ancient, Medieval and Early Modern) at SW Baptist University in Missouri.

Complete with extensive bibliographies.
 
I used Bruce L Shelley's Church History in Plain Language for a class I taught. They liked it alot.
 
I'm partial to Shelley as well.

If you want something more overtly Reformed, check out the lecture notes (PDF format!) that accompany Dr. David Calhoun's two church history courses available for free from Covenant Seminary (Early and Medieval History - http://www.worldwide-classroom.com/courses/info/ch310/; Reformation to the Present day - Worldwide Classroom: Reformation and Modern Church History). I listened to the MP3s on my way to and from work and found them a GREAT introduction or review. The transcripts and the study guides are a wonderful resource. And, thanks to the good people at Covenant . . . ALL of them are FREE!!!

(BTW - While reading the Institutes in this special 500th anniversary year, I'm currently working through Dr. Calhoun's 26 lectures on Calvin's Institutes. He is quite good and easy to follow.)

Chris, you beat me to it. We were evidently thinking the same thing at the same time!
 
DMcFadden said:
I'm partial to Shelley as well.

If you want something more overtly Reformed, check out the lecture notes (PDF format!) that accompany Dr. David Calhoun's two church history courses available for free from Covenant Seminary (Early and Medieval History - http://www.worldwide-classroom.com/courses/info/ch310/; Reformation to the Present day - Worldwide Classroom: Reformation and Modern Church History). I listened to the MP3s on my way to and from work and found them a GREAT introduction or review. The transcripts and the study guides are a wonderful resource. And, thanks to the good people at Covenant . . . ALL of them are FREE!!!

(BTW - While reading the Institutes in this special 500th anniversary year, I'm currently working through Dr. Calhoun's 26 lectures on Calvin's Institutes. He is quite good and easy to follow.)

Chris, you beat me to it. We were evidently thinking the same thing at the same time!
Click to expand...

I think we're reading each other's minds. I'm doing the same thing with Calhoun on Calvin. I'm using his material in my Wednesday night class as we go through the Institutes each week.

NOW STOP READING MY MIND!!!!!!!
 
JohnGill said:
DMcFadden said:
I'm partial to Shelley as well.

If you want something more overtly Reformed, check out the lecture notes (PDF format!) that accompany Dr. David Calhoun's two church history courses available for free from Covenant Seminary (Early and Medieval History - http://www.worldwide-classroom.com/courses/info/ch310/; Reformation to the Present day - Worldwide Classroom: Reformation and Modern Church History). I listened to the MP3s on my way to and from work and found them a GREAT introduction or review. The transcripts and the study guides are a wonderful resource. And, thanks to the good people at Covenant . . . ALL of them are FREE!!!

(BTW - While reading the Institutes in this special 500th anniversary year, I'm currently working through Dr. Calhoun's 26 lectures on Calvin's Institutes. He is quite good and easy to follow.)

Chris, you beat me to it. We were evidently thinking the same thing at the same time!
Click to expand...

I think we're reading each other's minds. I'm doing the same thing with Calhoun on Calvin. I'm using his material in my Wednesday night class as we go through the Institutes each week.

NOW STOP READING MY MIND!!!!!!!
Click to expand...

:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

There is NOTHING like free in "free resources." Covenant Seminary and RTS are to be commended for putting so much of their core curriculum on the Web. In the case of Covenant, I really appreciate the lecture notes and study guides in addition to the MP3s.
 
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