Church History, Volume 1: From Christ to Pre-Reformation
Overview
Church History offers a unique contextual view of how the Christian church spread and developed. It did so not in a vacuum, but in a setting of times, cultures, and events that both influenced and were influenced by the church. Church History looks closely at the integral link between the history of the world and that of the church. Volume one explores the development of the church from the days of Jesus to the years prior to the Reformation.
Filled with maps, charts, and illustrations, it offers overviews of the Roman, Greek, and Jewish worlds; insights into the church’s relationship to the Roman Empire, with glimpses into pagan attitudes toward Christians; the place of art and architecture, literature, and philosophy, both sacred and secular; and much more, spanning the time from the first through the thirteenth centuries.
- Suggestions for further study
- Maps, charts, and illustrations
- Bibliographical references and indexes
Top Highlights
“Paul was spiritually a Jew, legally a Roman, and intellectually a Greek—three trump cards for a missionary in the first century.” (Pages 36–37)
“Broadly speaking, we may identify three groups in the Jerusalem church: the followers of Jesus from his Galilaean ministry, led by Peter and the Twelve; Judaean converts, who came to look for leadership to James, brother of Jesus and also known as ‘James the Just’; and those from the Greek Diaspora and others in Jerusalem sympathetic to them, of whom Stephen became the spokesman.” (Page 34)
“Not until the Council of Nicaea in 325 did creeds expand their function as confessions of faith to become tests of fellowship.” (Page 111)
“The reign of Decius marked the turning point from local, sporadic persecution to an empire-wide assault on Christianity.” (Page 161)
“As Christian theology developed from the affirmations of the gospel and the early moral and doctrinal instruction, Greek philosophy provided the vocabulary, ethical assumptions, thought world, and intellectual options with which Christian thinkers worked.” (Page 29)
- Title: Church History, Volume 1: From Christ to Pre-Reformation
- Author: Everett Ferguson
- Publisher: Zondervan
- Print Publication Date: 2005
- Logos Release Date: 2012
- Pages: 544
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
- Subject: Church history › Textbooks
- ISBNs: 9780310496878, 9780310205807, 031049687X, 0310205808
- Resource ID: LLS:ZPHCHRHISTV01
- Resource Type: text.monograph.church-history
- Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-30T04:33:32Z
Reviews
6 ratings
Dakota Sorenson
9/24/2022
Dale Dowling
5/27/2021
Floyd Johnson
9/16/2015
The two volumes represent nearly 1400 pages of history written primarily as a textbook. Not though they may certainly have some devotional use, they have their primary role in the college or graduate school classroom. These books do not present a gentle introduction to church history, but are designed for the academic environment of a upper division college classroom or seminary. Given that the books are 550 and 850 pages each, it is expected that such a course would be offered over a two semester sequence. A couple of things stood out as I perused the book. The book is a well-documented description of church history – quoting primary sources when needed to help the reader understand the historical events being described. I appreciated the details included – many of which I had not heard before. The other standout feature of these texts is the wide margins they present – perfect for making notes or outlining as they are being read. Some of this space is taken up with quotations and images (all black and white), but there is plenty of space for personal comments as well. Electronic copies each have their own way of saving notes. Forty years ago I was privileged to sit under the teaching of John Woodbridge at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School – it was fun to again, virtually, sit under his tutelage as I made my way through Volume II of these texts. Actually, it was fun to sit under the tutelage of all three authors as I read through these texts. I had two concerns as I prepared this review. As I noted earlier, all images in both volumes were black and white (except for the book covers). Without hard copies, it is difficult to determine whether the PDFs that were provided for review represented the final copy (without color images?) or not. Color images would make the books more inviting to students and other readers. The indexes had not been completed prior to the preparation of the PDFs provided for review. Given the number of pages allocated for the index, this reviewer would expect that they might be thorough; but this cannot be verified with the material provided to me. Though not designed for the general reader, these two volumes would be a welcome addition to the collection of any student of church history – whether in or out of a classroom. It would be a privilege to have these works sitting on the shelf next to those of the church fathers, Luther, Calvin, and Wesley. With a completed index and color images, there would great value in having these two reference books available. ______________ This review is based on free electronic copies provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review. The opinions expressed are my own.
Anthony Sims
7/29/2015
L. Gabriel Narváez
1/27/2015
David
3/30/2014
