Tools for Church History (2307)

Historiography

• Chapman, Alister, John Coffey, and Brad S Gregory. Seeing Things Their Way: Intellectual History and the Return of Religion. Notre Dame, Ind.: University of Notre Dame Press, 2009. (On DTL.)
  • getting the context right in every sense is key to doing history: the right hermeneutic matters (cf. Quentin Skinner)
    religion and spiritual life were key to many figures in history, and thus needs to be known well in order to understand these figures
• Trueman, Carl R. Histories and Fallacies: Problems Faced in the Writing of History. Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway, 2010. (D13 .T74 2010)
  • fascinating and witty
  • historians should aim reasonably for objectivity, but neutrality is impossible

Research Tools

• Bradley, James E. Church History: An Introduction to Research, Reference Works, and Methods. Grand Rapids, Mich: Eerdmans, 1995. (BR138.B69 C5 1995)
  • key reference text with the right perspective on historiography
  • good bibliography, but getting dated
• Drobner, Hubertus R, and Siegfried S Schatzmann. The Fathers of The Church: a Comprehensive Introduction. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers, 2008. (BR67 .D7613 2007)
  • definitive work that reviews primary and secondary sources for various apostolic fathers, apologists, and church fathers
  • also reviews scholarship on most/all of the key issues in the study of the early church
  • essential reference work that you must consult for any early church figure or document that you are working on
• Various “Dictionaries of National Biography”
  • check the reference sections of larger libraries for these
  • helpful when you come across lesser-known figures
• For additional reference tools, you can visit the Post-Reformation Digital Library online.

Encyclopedias: For Initial Orientation & Reference

• Brill’s New Pauly: Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World, 16 vols. Leiden: Brill, 2002. (REF DE5 .N3513 2002 v.1-16);
• Brill’s New Pauly : Encyclopaedia of the Ancient world : Classical tradition, 5 vols. Leiden: Brill, 2006. REF DE5 .N3514 2006 v.1-5)
• Catholic Encyclopedia, v.1-16. New York: Encyclopedia Press, 1913. (Also available on HathiTrust and on DTL.)
  • there is a newer edition (see below), but the “old” catholic encyclopedia has some more comprehensive articles and connections
• New Catholic Encyclopedia, 17 vols. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1967-1969. (REF BX841 .N44 1967 v.1-17)
  • has more updated discussions regarding scholarly positions
• Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature, 12 vols., ed. John Clintock and James Strong. Harper, 1867-1870. (REF BR95 .M35 1981 v.1-12)
  • some 31000 articles all by conservative Christian scholars
  • dated but sometimes more precise and thorough than later encyclopedia
  • entries reprinted as recently as 1981 by Baker
• Encyclopedia of Christianity, 5 vols., ed. Erwin Fahlbusch et. al., trans. Geoffrey Bromily. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2008. (REF BR95 .E8913 v.1-5)
  • translated from the German, which was published in the 1990s
• Encyclopedia of Early Christianity, ed. Everett Ferguson et al. New York: Garland, 1990. (REF BR162.2 .E53 1990)
• History of the Church, 10 vols., ed. Hubert Jedin. Ken: Burns & Oates, 1965ff. (BR145.2 .J413 v.1-8 – Library does not have all volumes).
• The New Schaff-Hertzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, 13 vols., ed. Samuel Macauley Jackson. New York: Funk and Wagnalls, 1908-1914.
  • available online at PRDL and in the library at REF BR95 .S3 1966 v.1-13
• The Oxford Illustrated History of Christianity, ed. John McManners. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990. (REF BR145.2 .O86 1990)
  • beautiful glossy illustrations and good overview essays

Church History Surveys

• Chadwick, Henry. The Early Church. London: Penguin, 1990. (BR165.C52 E2 1967)
  • numerous reprintings; the work is getting old but still good
• Ferguson, Everett. Church History, vol. 1: From Christ to the Pre-Reformation; The Rise and Growth of the Church in Its Cultural, Intellectual, and Political Context. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005. (BR145.3 .C58 v.1)
  • excellent resource from the standpoint of good coverage of history
  • also pedagogically aware, with charts, photos, and illustrations, as well as wide margins for notes
  • Ferguson includes normative evaluations from time to time, from an orthodox Protestant standpoint, but his telling of the history is fairly objective
  • coming from a baptistic perspective, Ferguson’s history of baptism omits any serious discussion of infant baptism in the first four centuries. See Joachim Jeremias, Infant Baptism in the First Four Centuries, trans. David Cairns (London: SCM, 1960) for this topic.
• González, Justo L. Story of Christianity. 2 vols. New York: HarperCollins, 2010. (Available on DTL.)
  • a simpler survey of Christianity; includes illustrations
• Herring, George. Introduction to the History of Christianity. Washington Square, N.Y.: New York University Press, 2006. (BR145.3 .H37 2006)
  • a great read, focused on the interaction between Christianity and the secular world, focusing on three key chronological periods
  • great annotated bibliographies for suggested further reading at the end of each chapter
• Hillerbrand, Hans Joachim. A New History of Christianity. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2012. (BR145.3 .H55 2011)
• McKechnie, Paul. The First Christian Centuries: Perspectives on the Early Church. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 2001. (BR162.3 .M39 F5 2001)
  • not a textbook but is a quite fine review of the period
  • good source on persecution, noting also Caesar’s palace as an “enclave” where Christians served already from Paul’s time
• Walker, Williston. A History of the Christian Church. 4th ed. New York: Scribner, 1985. (BR145 .W34 1985)
  • quite comprehensive but dry in prose and dated in scholarship
• Wilken, Robert Louis. The First Thousand Years: a Global History of Christianity. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2012. (On DTL.)
• ———. The Spirit of Early Christian Thought: Seeking the Face of God. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003. (Availableo on DTL.)
  • Wilken’s works are fascinating and well written; however, he clearly approaches his subject from a Roman Catholic standpoint and makes assumptions in favour of this position.

Grasping the Current State of the Question

• Ginther, James R. The Westminster Handbook to Medieval Theology. Loiusville: John Knox Press, 2009.
• The Cambridge History of Christianity, vol. 1: Origins to Constantine. Margaret M. Mitchell and Frances M. Young, eds. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006. (BR165 .O66 2006)
• The Cambridge History of Christianity, vol. 2: Constantine to c. 600. Augustine Casiday and Frederick W. Norris, eds. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007. (BR200 .C66 2007)
• The Cambridge History of Christianity, vol. 3: Early Medieval Christianities, c. 600-c. 1100. Thomas F. X. Noble and Julia M. H. Smith, eds. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008. (BR252 .E27 2008)
• The Cambridge History of Christianity, vol. 4: Christianity in Western Europe, c. 1100-c. 1500. Miri Rubin and Walter Simons, eds. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009. (BR252 .C475 2009)
• The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, ed. F. L. Cross and Elizabeth A. Livingstone. London: Oxford University Press, 1974. (REF BR95 .O9 1974)
• The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Studies. Susan Ashbrook Harvey and David G Hunter, eds. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008. (BR121.3 .O99 2008)
• The New Westminster Dictionary of Church History, rev. ed. Robert Benedetto and James O. Duke, eds. Louisville: John Knox Press, 2008. (REF BR95 .W496 2008)
  • all of the above contain numerous essays by top scholars in the field, establishing the state of the question as it is presently; thus these essays are must-reads for the serious scholar who wants to write an up-to-date paper that has the potential of advancing the field of study
  • only the work by Ginther is a single author production; all the others are multi-author works
  • the Cambridge approach to history generally – and political history in particular – follows that of Quentin Skinner (contextual approach) and thus ought to be fairly objective.

Selected Primary Sources

• Bettenson, Henry and Chris Maunder, eds. Documents of the Christian Church. 3rd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press 1999. (BR141 .D63 1999)
  • very fine selection of original sources
• Eusebius. Eusebius’ Ecclesiastical History: Complete and Unabridged. Translated by C. F. Cruse. New updated ed. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers, 2001. Available on DTL.
  • Eusebius is our source for much of early church history and his work is available in a number of editions and printings;
• Foxe, John, Foxe’s Book of Martyrs: Select Narratives. John N. King, ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009. (BR160 .F62 2009)
  • Foxe’s Book of Martyrs is available in multiple editions and printings.
• Holmes, Michael W. The Apostolic Fathers: Greek texts and English translations. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Academic, 2007. (BR60 .A62 L5 1999)
  • a good, modern translation
• Library of Christian Classics, 26 vols. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1953 (REF BT1095 .L5 v.1-26)
• Ante-Nicene Fathers: The Writings of the Fathers Down to A. D. 325, 10 vols. (ANF) Peabody: Hendrickson, 1994 (REF BR60 .S3 1994 v.1-10)
• A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church (NPNF), 27 vols. Philip Schaff, ed. Peabody: Hendrickson, 1994 (REF BR60 .S4 1994 v.1-14 and REF BR60 .S42 1994 v.1-14)
  • the ANF and NPNF series are all available free online at CCEL
  • the library’s copies are reprints of the 19th century editions
• Shelton, Jo-Ann. As the Romans Did: a Sourcebook in Roman Social History. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998. (HN10.R7 S45 1987)
• Post-Reformation Digital Library – Related websites
  • PRDL offers a multitude of resources for the serious historian, including links to Migne’s Patrologia, etc.

Selected Augustine Resources

• Augustine. The Confessions, trans. Maria Boulding. Hyde Park, N.Y.: New City Press, 1997. (Available on DTL.)
• Augustine. The Augustine Catechism: The Enchiridion on Faith, Hope, and Charity, trans. Boniface Ramsey. Hyde Park, N.Y.: New City Press, 2008.
• Augustine. On Genesis: a Refutation of the Manichees, Unfinished Literal Commentary on Genesis, the Literal Meaning of Genesis, trans. Edmund Hill. Hyde Park, N.Y.: New City Press, 2002.
• Augustine: The City of God Against the Pagans, trans. R. W. Dyson. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998. (BR65 .A64 E5 1998)
  • the above works are all in Augustine Series from New City Press and are newer, readable translations, accepted within academia as accurate and up-to-date
  • other works of Augustine can also be found in this series
  • for more works of Augustine, see the volumes of the Post-Nicene Fathers, ed. Philip Schaff.
• Brown, Peter. Augustine of Hippo: a Biography. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000. (BR1720.A9 B7 2000)
  • the definitive biography
• Fitzgerald, Allan, and John C Cavadini. Augustine through the Ages: An Encyclopedia. Grand Rapids, Mich.: William B. Eerdmans, 2009. (REF B655 .Z69 A84 1999)
  • the definitive encyclopedia covering all things Augustine

The Medieval Theologians

• Evans, G. R. ed. The Medieval Theologians: An Introduction to Theology in the Medieval Period. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 2001. (BR253 .M38 2001)
  • up-to-date essays by top scholars in the field
  • the standard text to check first to find out what recent scholars have been studying and concluding on many key figures and some select topics in medieval theological history
• Leinsle, Ulrich G. Introduction to Scholastic Theology, trans. Michael J. Miller. Washington: Catholic University of America Press, 2010. (B839 .L4513 2010)
  • scholastic theology was extremely intricate and thus this “introduction” might be a bit intimidating to the beginner but it’s really a fabulous work that brings together information one could otherwise obtain only by years of gleaning
• Lynch, Joseph. The Medieval Church: A Brief History. 2nd ed. London: Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group, 2014. (Available on DTL.)
  • a helpful update on Volz with significantly more detail
  • meant for beginners and restricted to English sources mostly
    Oberman, Heiko A. The Dawn of the Reformation: Essays in Late Medieval and Early Reformation Thought. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1992.
• Oberman, Heiko A. Forerunners of the Reformation: The Shape of Late Medieval Thought. Lutterworth Press, 2002. (BR251.O23 F6 1966)
• Oberman, Heiko A. The Harvest of Medieval Theology: Gabriel Biel and Late Medieval Nominalism. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2001. (BT26 .O2)
  • Oberman stands at the head of a sea-change in historical study of the Reformation – a turning towards a more contextual and objective reading of church history
• Southern. R. W. The Making of the Middle Ages. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1992. (CB351 .S6 1992)
  • older source that does require some knowledge of the period in order to benefit from the book
  • there are various reprints available
• Volz, Carl. The Medieval Church: From the Dawn of the Middle Ages to the Eve of the Reformation. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1997 (Available on DTL)
  • dated but helpful as a sketch
  • are various reprints available

Journals in the CRTS Library Most Likely to Serve Church History Topics

• Calvin Theological Journal
  
  • lots of good quality articles in church history, also in recent Reformed church history
• Church History
  • hit and miss; some articles written from rather odd perspectives, historically speaking, because they study history for topics that were barely under discussion at all in the period
• The Confessional Presbyterian
  • includes history articles as well as new primary source translations
• Mid-America Journal of Theology
  • lots of good quality history articles, usually on the Reformation or Post-Reformation periods
• Puritan Reformed Journal
  • published by the Puritan Reformed Seminary in Grand Rapids
  • some back issues can be downloaded free of charge as a pdf from the journal’s website
  • accessible via ATLASerials (full-text) and in print in the library
• La Revue Réformée
  • includes some articles on the French Reformation
• Sixteenth Century Journal
  • excellent source for book reviews
  • many articles, however, written from rather odd perspectives, historically speaking, because they study history for topics that were barely under discussion at all in the period
  • Library has print volumes 15 (1984) – 55 (2024)
• Westminster Theological Journal
  • many fine articles on church history over the years;
  • accessible via ATLASerials (full-text) and in print in the library