Best Christian History Books

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What is the best ORTHODOX Christian/Church History Book?

What is the best CATHOLIC Christian/Church History Book?

What is the best PROTESTANT Christian/Church History Book?

I am currently reading Eusebius: The Church History - Translation and commentary by Paul L. Maier right now and find it fascinating to read the the commentary helpful. It is Protestant commentary. Highly recommended to Protestants BTW.

amazon.com/Eusebius-Church-History/dp/082543307X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1267020869&sr=8-1

I have also mostly read:

Concise Church History (Hardcover)
~ John Hunt

amazon.com/Concise-Church-History-John-Hunt/dp/0899576966/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1267021195&sr=1-1

I have also read some CHARISMATIC Christian/History books that I rather enjoyed such as:

2000 Years of Charismatic Christianity (Paperback)
~ Eddie L. Hyatt

amazon.com/Years-Charismatic-Christianity-Eddie-Hyatt/dp/0884198723/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1267020930&sr=8-1

Charismatic Gifts in the Early Church: An Exploration into the Gifts of the Spirit During the First Three Centuries of the Christian Church (Paperback)
~ Ronald A. Kydd

amazon.com/Charismatic-Gifts-Early-Church-Exploration/dp/0913573094/ref=cm_cr-mr-title

The Holiness-Pentecostal Tradition: Charismatic Movements in the Twentieth Century (Paperback)
~ Vinson Synan

amazon.com/Holiness-Pentecostal-Tradition-Charismatic-Movements-Twentieth/dp/0802841031/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1267020930&sr=8-11

Thanks for the help guys!!
 
firstmode said:
What is the best ORTHODOX Christian/Church History Book?

What is the best CATHOLIC Christian/Church History Book?

What is the best PROTESTANT Christian/Church History Book?

I am currently reading Eusebius: The Church History - Translation and commentary by Paul L. Maier right now and find it fascinating to read the the commentary helpful. It is Protestant commentary. Highly recommended to Protestants BTW.

amazon.com/Eusebius-Church-History/dp/082543307X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1267020869&sr=8-1

I have also mostly read:

Concise Church History (Hardcover)
~ John Hunt

amazon.com/Concise-Church-History-John-Hunt/dp/0899576966/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1267021195&sr=1-1

I have also read some CHARISMATIC Christian/History books that I rather enjoyed such as:

2000 Years of Charismatic Christianity (Paperback)
~ Eddie L. Hyatt

amazon.com/Years-Charismatic-Christianity-Eddie-Hyatt/dp/0884198723/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1267020930&sr=8-1

Charismatic Gifts in the Early Church: An Exploration into the Gifts of the Spirit During the First Three Centuries of the Christian Church (Paperback)
~ Ronald A. Kydd

amazon.com/Charismatic-Gifts-Early-Church-Exploration/dp/0913573094/ref=cm_cr-mr-title

The Holiness-Pentecostal Tradition: Charismatic Movements in the Twentieth Century (Paperback)
~ Vinson Synan

amazon.com/Holiness-Pentecostal-Tradition-Charismatic-Movements-Twentieth/dp/0802841031/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1267020930&sr=8-11

Thanks for the help guys!!
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I am in the processes of reading The History of the Church a complete course The Didache Series. It is a history of the Catholic Church and I am finding it fascinating. It is by Very Rev. Peter V. Armenio. It is hard covered and I bought it used from Amazon.
 
I can really only competently speak on Catholic Church History books.

If you’re looking for a short summary: The Compact History of the Catholic Church by Alan Schreck.

If you’re looking for a very readable Church history book with a dose of humor (and some slight irreverence): Triumph: The Power and the Glory of the Catholic Church by H. W. Crocker, III.

If you’re looking for a basic, somewhat more substantial Church history: Church History by Fr. John Laux (although this only goes up through 1940 when it was written).

If you’re looking for a no-holds-barred, super swanky, full color maps and charts type of Church history book: The History of the Catholic Church in the Didache Textbook Series published by Midwest Theological Forum.
 
You must read this one:

A Concise History of the Catholic Church by Thomas Bokenkotter.
 
poetryforjesus said:
You must read this one:

A Concise History of the Catholic Church by Thomas Bokenkotter.
Click to expand...
Just a disclaimer. Bokenkotter’s book, while it certainly has its strengths, also contains a few noticeable biases, particularly when he discusses the Church’s relationship with women.

Not that you can’t get a great deal out of such a book, but I think it’s important to be aware of these things. If you read Bokenkotter and Laux side-by-side, they somewhat balance each other out. 🙂
 
 
I was going to refrain from posting too many titles, but I couldn’t resist adding one more. 🙂

The Spirit of Early Christian Thought by Robert Louis Wilken. It’s not a church history book per se. Rather, Wilken looks at the writings of the early Church Fathers thematically and does an excellent job of putting the reader in their shoes and seeing things from their perspective.
 
This is written by a Protestant:
Those Terrible Middle Ages: Debunking the Myths by Regine Pernoud

The rest are from a Catholic perspective:

Christendom excellent series by Dr Warren Carroll

Religion and the Rise of Western Culture and The Making of Europe by Christopher Dawson

How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization by Thomas E. Woods

The Victory Of Reason by Rodney Stark

Christianity and the Roman Empire by Marta Sordi

Already mentioned, but very good and not at all dry and scholarly:
Triumph: The Power and the Glory of the Catholic Church: A 2,000-Year History by H. W. Crocker III
 
firstmode said:
What is the best ORTHODOX Christian/Church History Book?

What is the best CATHOLIC Christian/Church History Book?

What is the best PROTESTANT Christian/Church History Book?
Click to expand...
Instead of breaking this down along denominational lines, I prefer to go by period:

Apostolic Period: The Apostolic Fathers and the New Testament, Clayton N. Jefford
A History of the Church: From Pentecost to Present, James North.

Ante-Nicene Era: On the Incarnation, St. Athanasius.
Eusebius - The Church History: A New Translation with Commentary, Paul L. Maier.

The Ecumenical Councils: Truly Divine & Truly Human: The Story of Christ and the Seven Ecumenical Councils, Stephen Need.

**Medieval Christianity: ** 2000 Years of Christ’s Power - Part 2: The Middle Ages, N. R. Needham.
Greek East and Latin West: The Church AD 681-1071, Andrew Louth
God’s Battalions: The Case for the Crusades, Rodney Stark
Saint Thomas Aquinas and Saint Francis of Assisi, G. K. Chesterton

**The Great Reformation: ** Martin Luther’s 95 Theses, Martin Luther
Institutes of the Christian Religion, 2 Volumes Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion, 2 vols., John Calvin
Schaff’s History of the Christian Church Volume 7 & 8, Philip Schaff

Christianity in America: God’s Generals: The Revivalists, Roberts Liardon
The Works of Jonathan Edwards, 2 Volumes, Jonathan Edwards
How to Pray: The Best of John Wesley on Prayer, John Wesley
 
The series “The Christians: Their First 2000 years” is an interesting, though currently incomplete series trying to cover the entire span of Christian history. Although the project is headed by an Orthodox man, it has people from all different denominations working on it (and even some non-Christians). It’s attempting to take a step back and show what Christianity was - and is - through a purely historical approach rather than through the lens of a particular church organization.

As far as I know it can only be ordered online.
thechristians.ca/home.html
 
Hi Firstmode,

The GREATEST Catholic history book that’ll really knock your socks off is the Christendom series by Warren Carroll. The Cleaving of Christendom covers the Catholic Church and the Reformation in a true depth that’s just astounding. Reading that book really helped bring me back to the Catholic Church. I highly recommend it.
 
For an overview of Church history, there are Lion Handbooks which are pretty good for lay people. I think they’re Protestant in origin, but I also believe they may have contributors from different churches.

Some titles are -

*The History of Christianity.*Getting off topic a bit

The Lion Handbook of the Bible
&

The World’s Religions.
 
For ancient history, John Hagan has written a couple of great books, “Year of the Passover” and “Fires of Rome.” The two books track the Roman occupation of the Jewish lands from Pompey the Great, through to the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. Hagan focuses on Christian history set in that context, and draws some pretty amazing conclusions.
 
firstmode said:
What is the best ORTHODOX Christian/Church History Book?

What is the best CATHOLIC Christian/Church History Book?

What is the best PROTESTANT Christian/Church History Book?

I am currently reading Eusebius: The Church History - Translation and commentary by Paul L. Maier right now and find it fascinating to read the the commentary helpful. It is Protestant commentary. Highly recommended to Protestants BTW.

amazon.com/Eusebius-Church-History/dp/082543307X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1267020869&sr=8-1

I have also mostly read:

Concise Church History (Hardcover)
~ John Hunt

amazon.com/Concise-Church-History-John-Hunt/dp/0899576966/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1267021195&sr=1-1

I have also read some CHARISMATIC Christian/History books that I rather enjoyed such as:

2000 Years of Charismatic Christianity (Paperback)
~ Eddie L. Hyatt

amazon.com/Years-Charismatic-Christianity-Eddie-Hyatt/dp/0884198723/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1267020930&sr=8-1

Charismatic Gifts in the Early Church: An Exploration into the Gifts of the Spirit During the First Three Centuries of the Christian Church (Paperback)
~ Ronald A. Kydd

amazon.com/Charismatic-Gifts-Early-Church-Exploration/dp/0913573094/ref=cm_cr-mr-title

The Holiness-Pentecostal Tradition: Charismatic Movements in the Twentieth Century (Paperback)
~ Vinson Synan

amazon.com/Holiness-Pentecostal-Tradition-Charismatic-Movements-Twentieth/dp/0802841031/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1267020930&sr=8-11

Thanks for the help guys!!
Click to expand...
THIS IS AN AWESOME BIBLIOGRAPHY SITE ON EVERYTHING!!!
moses.creighton.edu/harmless/bibliographies_for_theology/Index.htm
 
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