What is the best book out there if I wanted to study the early history of the church? I am not a history scholar, so I want something "readable."

Any suggestions?

The bible.

I think he wants a non-fiction book.

My Unger's Bible Commentary has a nice brief overview of early church history, with charts, dates, etc....Good place to start and get an good overview prior to getting more detailed...



[This message has been edited by fahraint (edited 5/1/2006 6:39p).]

[This message has been edited by fahraint (edited 5/1/2006 6:39p).]

Great new Book; well documented entitled: "Where have all the Prophets Gone?" by Scott R. Peterson. It is outstanding!

Well, with all respect, I am after real history - not Mormon nonsense. Geez, can you lay off any thread on this forum?

You might try this one...

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0310205808/sr=8-2/qid=1146538863/ref=pd_bbs_2/102-7571258-5119352?%5Fencoding=UTF8

There was one a few years ago that I read while on a ski trip with a buddy who was in seminary but I can't recall the name of it right now. It was written by a Hispanic who went to Yale. Sad that I remember that but not the title.

Josephus for early Jewish History.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/index=books&field-author=Justo%20L.%20Gonzalez/102-3218180-6424930

I think this is the right author. If it is, I only read Volume 1 listed here but it was fascinating.

Eusiebus, History of the Church.

He was a third century writer whose book has survived in tact.

My spelling of his name may be off.

Anything by:
Bart Ehrman
Karen Armstrong
John Dominic Crossan

Especially,

The Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew by Bart D. Ehrman

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Lost Scriptures : Books that Did Not Make It into the New Testament by Bart D. Ehrman

Fightin TX Aggie, you're not going to get 1 book or source to give you the end-all be-all history. There are a lot of conflicting stories. There are people who twist and suppress evidence to discount the validity of the Church and there are people who twist and suppress evidence to account for the validity of the Church.

The best thing to do is read both, figure where the similarities are and reconcile the differences to yourself.

It seems as though McArthur has given me the anti-Christian authors. I know Crossan, for example, does not believe in the Jesus of the Bible.

So far, authors Mark Noll (Turning Points: Decisive Moments in the History of Christianity)and Justo Gonzalez (The Story of Christianity Vol 1) seem to be the best bets for my introduction to this subject.

No one has mentioned the Da Vinci Code, yet? Just kidding.

I second Eusebius. From what little I have read of his, he is very thorough and his sources are almost impeccable. It's not exactly light reading, though.

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Fightin TX Aggie

It seems as though McArthur has given me the anti-Christian authors. I know Crossan, for example, does not believe in the Jesus of the Bible.

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That's not necessarily true. They are simply not inerrant fundamentalists. They consider themselves historians and scholars uless that's not what you want.

Why can't a good history be written by someone outside of the faith. Should Bernard Lewis not be trusted because he isn't a Muslim?

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The Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew by Bart D. Ehrman

&

Lost Scriptures : Books that Did Not Make It into the New Testament by Bart D. Ehrman

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These are books with a focus and an agenda, and I am not ready for them. I want to first study just overall church history.

I prefer not to leap to the critics first. First, I want a broad review. Make sense?

Founding Of Christendom : History Of Christendom Vol 1 by Warren H. Carroll
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0931888212/qid=1146590573/sr=1-4/ref=sr_1_4/104-6025703-6653548?s=books&v=glance&n=283155

Another thought...I use PC study Bible...it has a wealth of resources including works on church history. I bought it online from discountchristian.com

I love studying Church history...Bracy has some good sources as well on first century history.

Hope your research is productive!

By far the best book on the ancient church is:

The Early Church by Henry Chadwick

And no he is not Mormon, the author is I believe an Oxford Prof.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0140231994/qid=1146637496/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/104-3019281-0151956?s=books&v=glance&n=283155

This book should be required reading for anyone interested in becoming a Catholic Priest or interested in any scholarly research.

Now keep in mind it does have a Catholic spin on things but beyond that it is the best I have read.

Try asking Dr. Bornstein in the history dept. This is his specialty.

a short one:
Church History: An essential Guide by Justo Gonzalez

He has a longer one too.

J.N.D. Kelly Early Christian Doctrines

Quite readable and a good account of the early struggles to maintain Christian belief in the various churches.

The early (pre-constantine) Popes were a hoot!

muster ag- Please elaborate.

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Fightin TX Aggie


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The Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew by Bart D. Ehrman

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Lost Scriptures : Books that Did Not Make It into the New Testament by Bart D. Ehrman
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These are books with a focus and an agenda, and I am not ready for them. I want to first study just overall church history.

I prefer not to leap to the critics first. First, I want a broad review. Make sense?

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I'm not sure what you mean by this. I'm not trying to be critical of you, but if you want something that is strictly from a pro-orthodox standpoint, you don't think it has an agenda? I would prefer something a little more objective. Don't assume because the sources I mentioned are not pro-orthodox that they are somehow anti-christianity.

FTA,

Check out Jaroslav Pelikan, JND Kelly, and/or Henry Chadwicks works on early Christianity. They are fairly standard works on the subject. You can search amazon.com for all of their works.

Most modern Authors on the subject quote from Henry Chadwick's books.

http://www.davidmacd.com/catholic/timeline_of_catholic_church.htm

jk - You will indeed be waiting a VERY long time for muster to elaborate on anything.....He is only here for short barbs and comic relief...

I really don’t have a recommendation because I have not found one that really has “wowed” me as of yet, and I have read Gonzales’ books. I think Gonzales does a good job of detailing information, but the books IMO are like reading a high school history book – lots of facts, but kind of dry. I want to say I have a book by Chadwick, but I need really go home and see what is on the shelves.

I personally think Ms. Karen Armstrong is a fantastic writer, but she has her knocks by some people. I don’t think she has any books written specifically about the early days of the Christian church, though she does have at least one book that compares the early faiths together. I am getting a feeling you want something specifically about the church and she may not be the author to go to.

Though Mr. Jaroslav Pelikan is a subject matter expert on church history, I would recommend you look through his book before you buy it. That is if the book is not wrapped in cellophane. IMO, he is not an easy read.

If you live in Fort Worth, I recommend a Saturday morning to walk around the bookstore at Southwest Baptist Theological Seminary to find a book about history. In the front area of the store, they have a history and philosophical section that is outstanding – you will just need to wade through the books to see if you can find anything that will appeal to you. I also recommend walking in the back area where they hold that semester’s books for the theology classes. This is where I had found Justo Gonzales’ books a few years ago. There may be a class being taught this semester about the early church and the professor has recommended/required the students to purchase certain books; you may be able to find something you want to buy.

If you have the time and inclination, I would also recommend reading the early letters of the early church and some biographies of the people who developed and directed the Christian movement. I have only high regards of a book being sold (link below), where I had bought it when it was offered in two separate books, about the early church writings. I personally think it will give you a window to the time that historians today cannot really explain without writing a large book.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0140444750/qid=1146837045/sr=1-3/ref=sr_1_3/103-5323451-8455855?s=books&v=glance&n=283155

EDIT - I am currently reading "The Christians as the Romans Saw Them" by Robert Wilken. I am about one-third of the way through the book, and so far it is a well done book. But the premise of the book is to use the writings of non-believers to show an image of the church not really seen these days.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0300098391/sr=8-1/qid=1146838004/ref=sr_1_1/103-5323451-8455855?%5Fencoding=UTF8

[This message has been edited by Ft Worth Ag (edited 5/5/2006 9:12a).]

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Though Mr. Jaroslav Pelikan is a subject matter expert on church history, I would recommend you look through his book before you buy it. That is if the book is not wrapped in cellophane. IMO, he is not an easy read.

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I agree, but I think the footnotes (more like 'sidenotes') are very helpful though for me when I read the first two volumes from his 5 volume set on the history of the Christian tradition.

I think between Kelly, Jaroslav and Chadwick I'd categorize them like this:

Jaroslav: Drier pose than is probably needed, technical, informative, but hard to read at some points.

Chadwick: informative, but not very technical. Easy read.

Kelly: Well written and technical. I found this one to be a mostly an easy read as well, I really enjoyed it.


So, I think I like JND Kelly's the best, because I think it was well written, and was also technical at the same time.