Outside of base package resources (I have the Scholar's Platinum base package), if I was looking to gather some resources for the study of church history what would be some essentials in your opinion?
Hughes Oliphant Old's "The Reading and Preaching of the Scriptures in the Worship of the Christian Church" is an absolute essential.
What angle?
Bruce Shelley's Church History in Plain Language is a good, accessible read.
The Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation by Venerable Bede is a classic.
There's nothing else I would consider *essential* in church history that Logos offers for sale. But there are some other good ones.
If you don't envision ever upgrading to Portfolio, there are a few good ones that are in that which are not part of Platinum:
The First Advance
The Making of the Modern Church is another good one that's not too expensive (also focuses on England).
The Church Origins Collection is a good deal if you sum up the individual prices of the books in it $179.95 for $884.95 worth of books. One of the books in it (A History of the First Christians) alone is $150, and that's the Amazon hardcover price too, so Logos isn't marking it up. I don't know where they get the total retail price of $569.55 for the collection which the 179.95 price is listed as being 68% off. You'd actually be saving 80% to get the collection as opposed to all the individual books. Some of these are part of portfolio as well, but not all of them.
Outside of base package resources (I have the Scholar's Platinum base package), if I was looking to gather some resources for the study of church history what would be some essentials in your opinion? What angle? Bruce Shelley's Church History in Plain Language is a good, accessible read.
This one is concise, but good. Too bad Logos does not have Justo Gonzalez's "Story of Christianity" two-volume work - they are excellent books!
Too bad Logos does not have Justo Gonzalez's "Story of Christianity" two-volume work - they are excellent books!
They have them, but only in Spanish!
http://www.logos.com/product/1860/historia-del-cristianismo-tomo-1
http://www.logos.com/product/1861/historia-del-cristianismo-tomo-2
However, you shouldn't consider Conzalez' work if you're a young person.......
Like the hippies said, Never trust anyone over 300.
I agree with Allen. This is a good book though somewhat concise in content but thorough at the same time concerning the need to know information. I am using this text for an upcoming 8 week Church History class I'll be teaching this summer.
+1
However, you shouldn't consider Conzalez' work if you're a young person....... Like the hippies said, Never trust anyone over 300.
I thought that was the Persians...sorry, I couldn't help myself....
[:)]
Thanks for the suggestions. Im actually working through The Story of Christianity right now. Thats what sparked me in this direction...however looking at my resources I realized my Church History selection is fairly slim.
The Early Church History Collection has some gems, including A New Eusebius.
The Lion Histories might be interesting. I had to delete my order a while back and never purchased it. I think Rosie may have? It doesn't look very academic, but could have some insightful comments and nice pictures and tables.
The Dictionary of Christianity in America might cover a wealth of information for our more "modern" historical context.
Medieval Histories, I own. Have not read much in them yet.
For a different approach, McKim's Historical Handbook of Major Biblical Interpreters is a nice niche book.
Christianity in the British Isles, is another collection with a more narrow, but expanded focus.
I'd also love Gonzales' set. I have hardcopy. KS Latourette would be another author I'd like. as well as readers by Kerr, and others.
I like the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture series. I just noticed they don't sell it on the Logos website anymore, which is odd. But you can probably still get the CD-ROM set from 3rd-party retailers and add it to your account.
I like the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture series. I just noticed they don't sell it on the Logos website anymore, which is odd.
Very odd. I wonder why. Maybe they're in the midst of renegotiating the contract with the publisher or something. It's a fantastic set. It would be a shame if they'd decided to discontinue it. The Libronix (Logos 3.0) version is still available on CD-ROM directly from the publisher (IVP) and other sites, which you can find if you Google the title.
I like the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture series. I just noticed they don't sell it on the Logos website anymore, which is odd. Very odd. I wonder why. Maybe they're in the midst of renegotiating the contract with the publisher or something. It's a fantastic set. It would be a shame if they'd decided to discontinue it. The Libronix (Logos 3.0) version is still available on CD-ROM directly from the publisher (IVP) and other sites, which you can find if you Google the title.
agreed.
John, getting back to your original question, you may want to consider the Zondervan Church History Collection (7 vols.) on pre-pub (slated for release in May):
I haven't actually read them. Others who have may care to comment on what value they gained from them.
Gregg Allison's Parade of Faith: A Biographical History of the Christian Church is arranged like a sys theol book, tracing the development of each doctrine. (Looks Reformed from his selection of topics.)
That's the title of Ruth Tucker's book which you listed first. I think you meant Historical Theology: An Introduction to Christian Doctrine here.
Hey Dan, have you heard anything about McKim's recent Dictionary of Major Biblical Interpreters essentially being an update to the book you recommended. I've got the one I linked but not the one you recommended, in Logos.
For a different approach, McKim's Historical Handbook of Major Biblical Interpreters is a nice niche book. Hey Dan, have you heard anything about McKim's recent Dictionary of Major Biblical Interpreters essentially being an update to the book you recommended. I've got the one I linked but not the one you recommended, in Logos.
I've got them both. Yes, the Dictionary is a major new edition of the Handbook. The Historical Handbook was published in 1998. It is organized by era. Here's the Table of Contents:
PrefaceHow to Use this HandbookAbbreviationsContributorsPart 1: Biblical Interpretation in the Early ChurchAthanasiusAugustine of HippoChrysostom, JohnClement of AlexandriaIrenaeusJeromeJustin MartyrOrigenTertullianTheodore of MopsuestiaTheodoret of CyrusPart 2: Biblical Interpretation in the Middle AgesAquinas, ThomasBernard of ClairvauxDenys the CarthusianGerson, JeanHugh and Andrew of St. VictorHugh of St. CherNicholas of LyraPart 3: Biblical Interpretation in the 16th & 17th CenturiesBeza, TheodoreBucer, MartinBullinger, HeinrichCalvin, JohnCoverdale, MilesErasmus, DesideriusFlacius Illyricus, MatthiasHenry, MatthewHooker, RichardLefèvre d'Étaples, JacquesLightfoot, JohnLuther, MartinMarpeck, PilgramMelanchthon, PhilippPerkins, WilliamTyndale, WilliamVermigli, Peter MartyrZanchi, JeromeZwingli, UlrichPart 4: Biblical Interpretation in the 18th & 19th CenturiesBarnes, AlbertBaur, F. C.Bengel, J. A.Briggs, Charles AugustusDe Wette, Wilhelm Martin LeberechtDriver, Samuel RollesEdwards, JonathanEichhorn, J. G.Ernesti, Johann AugustGriesbach, Johann JakobHodge, CharlesKierkegaard, Søren AabeLightfoot, J. B.Meyer, Heinrich August WilhelmMichaelis, Johann DavidReimarus, Hermann SamuelSchleiermacher, Friedrich Daniel ErnstSemler, Johann SalomoSmith, William RobertsonStrauss, David FriedrichStuart, MosesTholuck, Friedrich August GottreuVon Hofmann, Johann Christian KonradWellhausen, JuliusWesley, JohnWestcott, B. F., and F. J. A. HortWrede, WilliamZahn, TheodorePart 5: Biblical Interpretation in Europe in the 20th CenturyBarr, JamesBarrett, C. K.Barth, KarlBornkamm, GüntherBruce, F. F.Bultmann, RudolfCaird, G. B.Conzelmann, Hans GeorgCullmann, OscarDavies, W. D.Dodd, C. H.Eichrodt, WaltherGunkel, HermannHarnack, Adolf vonJeremias, JoachimKäsemann, ErnstMowinckel, SigmundNoth, MartinRobinson, Henry WheelerSchlatter,AdolfSchweitzer, AlbertVon Rad, GerhardWeiss,JohannesWestermann, ClausPart 6: Biblical Interpretation in North America in the 20th CenturyAlbright, William FoxwellBrown, Raymond E.Brueggemann, WalterChilds, BrevardGoodspeed, Edgar JohnsonLadd, George EldonMachen,J. GreshamMuilenburg, JamesPerrin, NormanSchüssler Fiorenza, ElisabethScofield,C. I.Trible, PhyllisWright, George ErnestIndex of PersonsIndex of SubjectsIndex of Essays & Articles
The Dictionary was published in 2007. It has introductory sections on each of the eras, but the bulk of it is organized alphabetically, and it contains entries for more people than the Handbook. It has a "Preface to the Second Edition" which includes this explanation of the differences:
"It is a pleasure to present a new and expanded edition of the Historical Handbook of Major Biblical Interpreters (1998) as the Dictionary of Major Biblical Interpreters. This new work features fresh contributions from more than one hundred scholars. These contributions have been added to the entries in the former book to form a dictionary with more than two hundred entries on major biblical interpreters plus interpretive essays on biblical interpretation in the major periods of the Christian church.
"The new edition has given an opportunity to provide a more wide-ranging resource for the study of the history of biblical interpretation through the work of important scholars from all periods. Once again, the list of those to be included in such a volume has been my decision, in consultation with others. Even in this expanded edition, there are names that could have or 'should have' been included but are missing. Treatment of these figures will have to await yet another book!
"The same general criteria for inclusion have been used here as in the Historical Handbook of Major Biblical Interpreters, as explained in the preface to that work. Nearly all the new entries are for figures who have died, leaving still the task of a book on contemporary biblical interpreters that can function the same way as this volume but focus on those who have made most recent contributions to biblical interpretation.
"Once again, as well, and in the total scope of this new dictionary, there is a lack of sufficient entries on women biblical interpreters and on those from outside the predominant areas of Western Europe and the United States. A wider volume, still, needs to turn attention to these interpreters."
Here is the TOC for the Dictionary:
the preface is a good place to check for these things! Thanks Rosie
Harnack's History of Dogma is generally useful ... but it's pining away in prepub for reasons I don't understand.
Watson and Hauser's A History of Biblical Interpretation is essential even though it's not in Logos.
McGinn's The Presence of God fills in the remaining holes for Western Christianity Okay it's also missing from Logos. The MFL's in church history are extensive.[:(]
Indeed, Rosie. Thanks.
I am looking forward to reading Ruth Tucker when these come out next month.
I'm in the middle of reading her From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya in hardback right now, as it turns out! Started reading it before this collection showed up in pre-pub. It's a great book!
Harnack's History of Dogma is generally useful ... but it's pining away in prepub for reasons I don't understand. Watson and Hauser's A History of Biblical Interpretation is essential even though it's not in Logos. McGinn's The Presence of God fills in the remaining holes for Western Christianity Okay it's also missing from Logos. The MFL's in church history are extensive.
McGinn's The Presence of God fills in the remaining holes for Western Christianity Okay it's also missing from Logos. The MFL's in church history are extensive.
Well - Not in Logos, but since you mentioned Harnack, how about Pelikan? Not an intro text, but certainly a classic, especially vol 2 on the Eastern church.
Did you miss that it went over the top about 8 hours before you wrote this? Closing next Friday: http://www.logos.com/product/8524/adolf-von-harnack-collection.
Sorry, yeah! and I own it. [:)] Kinda confused, I guess, like "Judean Popular People's Front" and the "The Popular Front of Judea" sects, etc., from the Life of Brian.
I am looking forward to reading Ruth Tucker when these come out next month. I'm in the middle of reading her From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya in hardback right now, as it turns out! Started reading it before this collection showed up in pre-pub. It's a great book!
Well, this book is now out in Logos. If the first 50 pages are anything to go by, this is a great read!
What do you all think of Schaaf's History of The Christian Church? I'm considering this one for the main church history book that I'll read. I don't necessarily need a modern one. Does anyone have one that's better than this, or have any reason why I should read another in stead of this one?
Just finished Walker (History of the Christian Church) which was basically a yawner. Hopefully your choice is better.
church history for dummy like me .. (the caricatures are amazing!, puns intended)
Armchair Theologians Series
I'll mention this one only because I didn't see it listed by others. It is a one volume work.
History of the Catholic Church: From the Apostolic Age to the Third Millennium
Schaff is long: 8 volumes in print of 800 pages each. If you're up for it, do it. But if you haven't read any church history before, I'd recommend a shorter overview (like Bruce Shelley's Church History in Plain Language).
Bruce Shelly's Church History in Plain Language
Of course, we're talking about 'Leaders of the Church History' and their theories. Actual church (people) history is almost never discussed outside of archaeology (eg Ramsay) and of course the NT.
This is admittedly a danger. And when you are dealing with cultures before mass literacy, getting to the popular level is difficult. But Jaroslav Pelikan's 5 volume work attempts to do this, as do some other more recent works. Of course, none of their attempts is beyond criticism...
SDG
Ken McGuire
THANK YOU KEN!! (upper-case not meaning anger of course)
https://www.logos.com/product/36278/select-works-of-jaroslav-pelikan
I couldn't find a Logos 5-vol work but this one is unbelievable. I've been spending quite a bit of time on historical religious music (music; not lyrics). Both volumes look REALLY interesting!
OT: The difference of 'leaders' vs 'everyone else' is a source of humor in classes on the Old Testament kings with our pastor. Each time the Israel/Judah king gets wound up on the wrong side of the tracks 'there goes Israel'. It's almost Monty Pithon-ish. But at least the name of the book group is 'kings'.
Thanks everyone! I think I'll start with Schaff. I'm ok with a long read. My plan is to read his history and then whenever I read about someone interesting, to read one of their most signifigant works, and when I'm finished, start on the history again. I plan on it taking a long long time!
