Product Guide: Church History

Church history begins with the Bible. Thus most commentaries on the Book of Acts, or perhaps even the Gospels, could be called books on Church History. Likewise, at the other end of the spectrum, is there any reason why the Works of Luther would be considered part of church history, but the works of a modern theologian like J. I. Packer or John MacArthur wouldn’t? This guide sets out to be purposefully selective, highlighting in one place a number of excellent resources for learning how the Church developed over time. This list doesn’t try to be exhaustive, and you’ll also find much writing on the history of theology and biblical interpretation in the various commentaries and theological journals, and many of the resources found in the product guide on the Cultural and Historical Backgrounds of the Bible will also contain useful information on the early Christian centuries.

General Surveys:

• Introduction to the History of Christianity
• History of the Christian Church (Schaff, 8 volumes)
• Church History in Plain Language
• Studies in Early Church History
• The First Advance 
  Surveys the first 500 years of Church History.
• Exploring Church History (Eckman).
• Exploring Church History (Vos).
• On This Day
  Daily devotional filled with stories from Church History.

Church History Dictionaries:

• The Encyclopedia of Christianity: Volumes 1-3
• Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church
• Who’s Who in Christian History
• Dictionary of Women in Church History
• Biographical Dictionary of Evangelicals
• Biographical Entries from the Evangelical Dictionary of Theology
• Biographical Entries from the New 20th Century Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge
• Handbook of Evangelical Theologians
• Dictionary of Christianity in America
• The John Hunt Desk Reference Collection
  Includes two church history resources: The New Encyclopedia of Christian Martyrs and The Christian Book of Records.

Early Church:

• The Apostolic Fathers in Greek and English
• Early Church Fathers (Schaff, 37 volumes of the ancient writings in English translations).
• Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (12 volumes)
  Organizes the writings of the Church Fathers by biblical passage. Could also be listed below under 'History of Interpretation'.
• Patristic Study (Swete - under development).
• The Syriac Church and Fathers (9 volumes, gathering interest on our pre-publication program).
  Includes surveys of the Syriac Church and the writings of Syriac Church Fathers, as well as Burkitt's Early Christianity Outside the Roman Empire.
• Church Origins Collection (10 volumes, under development)
• The Apostles Creed: Its Relation to Primitive Christianity
• Historic Creeds and Confessions 
  Includes both ancient and early modern creeds.
• Confessions of St. Augustine
• Bernard of Clairvaux
  Studies this influential 11th century monk.

• Gnosticism - many early church writings interact with non-orthodox theologies. With the discovery of the Nag Hammadi writings, we can now learn much more about the early opponents to orthodoxy:

  • Gnostic and Apocryphal Studies Collection (10 volumes)
  • Nag Hammadi Library in English

The Reformation and Beyond:

• A Reformation Reader: Primary Texts with Introductions
• Studies in the Reformation (3 volumes)

• Lutheran Studies:

  • Luther’s Works (55 volumes)
  • Martin Luther’s Basic Theological Writings
  • Concordia Electronic Theological Library (38 volumes)

• Calvinist Studies:

  • Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion
  • Calvin's Commentaries and Spurgeon's Sermons

• The Church in Great Britain:

  • Christianity in the British Isles Collection (6 volumes, gathering interest on our pre-publication program)
  • The Anglican Tradition
  • Oxford Movement Historical Theology Collection
  • Westminster Confession of Faith including the Larger and Shorter Catechisms
  • Works of John Knox
  • Works of John Bunyan
• Classic Baptist Books
  Over 100 titles, including many works of history and biography.
• Making of the Modern Church
  19th and 20th century church history.
• Wesleyan-Arminian Collection
  Includes the works of Wesley, Fletcher, Arminius and Beet's Commentaries.
• John Wesley - Adam Clark Collection 
  Includes some Wesleyan material not found in the above, as well as Clark's Commentaries.
• Mr. Moody and the Evangelical Tradition
• American Religious Traditions: The Shaping of Religion in the United States
• The Canvas Cathedral
  Covers a history of evangelism, focusing particularly on the ministry of Billy Graham.

History of Interpretation:

• Historical Interpreters Collection - includes the Historical Handbook of Major Biblical Interpreters and Reading Scripture with the Church Fathers.
• Dictionary of Historical Theology
• History of Interpretation (Farrar)
• Christian Theology Set (2 volumes).
  Includes a survey textbook and a book of selected readings in theology.
• Theology and Doctrine Collection (16 volumes, gathering interest on our pre-publication program)
• Romans through History and Culture Series Collection (4 volumes, gathering interest on our pre-publication program).

History of Worship:

• Complete Library of Christian Worship (8 volumes).
  Contains an impressive survey of the history of Christian worship.
• In the Shadow of the Temple
  Demonstrates ties between early Christian practices and the Jewish Temple.