For the last six years, I’ve been taking our College and Young Professionals through a study of church history. No, church history isn’t the only subject we’ve studied over the past half-decade. Rather, I’ve periodically interspersed twelve- to twenty-four-week series on church history throughout our normal treks through biblical books and theology.
Over the last few years of studying and teaching church history, I’ve concluded that it is an exceptionally unwieldy topic. Shaping two thousand years of God’s work among his people into an understandable structure for those who are generally unfamiliar with the material is a challenging and, at times, overwhelming task.
But through the process, I’ve learned how to better study church history, and it’s these insights that I want to pass on to you so that you might profitably pursue this important topic. I’ve written elsewhere about the benefits of studying church history. In this article, I will focus on how to do it, especially if you are a beginner.
Create a Simple Outline
First, create an outline that divides the last two thousand years into manageable sections. Here’s a standard way to designate the eras of church history.
The Early Church (AD 32-90)
The Post-Apostolic Church (96-325)
The Church of the Roman Empire (325-590)
The Medieval Church (591-1450)
The Reformation Church (1451-1648)
The Post-Reformation Church and the Enlightenment (1648-1789)
The Church in the Modern Age (1790-1955)
The Church in the Post-Modern Age (1955-Present)
By simply designating specific eras of church history, you’ve taken a significant step toward bringing order and organization to all that data that comprises massive topic. I would encourage you to keep this outline in a Word or Pages document so you can easily add to it as you study.
Start With Short, Easy Books
Next, begin to fill in your outline with the help of short books that give you a broad overview of the major events and people in church history. If you are new to the study of church history and are trying to get a grasp on the last two millennia, I would not recommend that you delve directly into works dedicated to a small section of church history or books that provide significant detail about a particular person or event. Instead, begin with books and resources that provide a broad overview of church history.
Of course, reading a biography (e.g., John Calvin) or a detailed account of a significant event in church history (e.g., The Great Awakening) will be edifying and profitable. My point is not to discourage you from reading such works. Rather, if your goal is to gain some purchase on the massive edifice that is church history, you have to take a step back and first trace your route. Short, one-volume surveys geared toward a lay audience (even children and young adults) are best, as they will help you develop your outline with the most important events and people over the last two thousand years of church history.
Under this heading, I would recommend Christian History Made Easy by Timothy Paul Jones, Church History by Simonetta Carr, Zondervan Essential Companion to Church History by Stephen Backhouse, Church History for Everyone by Kevin Deyoung, Sketches from Church History by S.M. Houghton, and Church History 101 by Sinclair Ferguson, Joel Beeke, and Michael Haykin.
As you learn from these volumes, start adding to your outline. For example, your heading for the post-apostolic church might start to look like this:
Move on to Surveys
From here, you can begin to add more detail to your outline while guarding against the tendency to lose the forest for the trees by examining more substantive, survey-like resources. Under this heading, I would recommend Christian History (vol. 1), by Steven McKinion and Benjamin Quinn, Christian History (vol. 2) by Thomas Kidd, The Story of Christianity by Justo L. Gonzolaz, Church History (vol. 1) by Everett Ferguson, Church History (vol. 2) by John Woodbridge and Frank James, Church History in Plain Language by Bruce Shelley, Christianity Through the Centuries by Earle Cairns. If you want to delve into a multi-book set, I can’t recommend Nick Needham’s 2000 Years of Christ’s Power enough. Needham is fair, discerning, and focused on making church history an edifying endeavor. He also includes plenty of primary source material throughout the series so you can see for yourself what others have written in the past.
As you work through these books, open your Word document and continue to add to your outline. This practice will help you organize what you are learning and promote clarity in your own mind about significant people, movements, and events.
After Surveys, Select Specific Eras and People to Study
Having developed a robust outline of the entire scope of church history, you can now pursue greater depth of study in particular areas where you have interest or where you sense some deficiency. If you want to go deeper into understanding a few important church fathers, Rediscovering the Church Fathers by Michael Haykin will be a blessing. If you want to learn about the men whom God used to spiritually revive England over three centuries ago, J. C. Ryle’s Christian Leaders of the Eighteenth Century is a wonderful read. If you would like to understand the state of the present-day evangelical church, Evangelicalism Divided Iain Murray is a must. Desire a better understanding of the Puritans? Worldly Saints by Leland Ryken or Meet the Puritans by Joel Beeke are excellent choices.
Use Scripture and Sound Theology to Direct Your Study
Finally, do not neglect to use Scripture and sound theology to discern between the good, the bad, and the ugly in church history. We are not to read church history without discernment or as a mere collection of interesting facts. If we approach the study of church history this way, we will find that there is an endless amount of information with which we could consume ourselves and we will likely become confused.
Also, it is vital to remember that church history is a mix of truth and error, righteousness and sin, good and evil. While we want to read with humility, allowing for theological clarity to develop over time (e.g., the church’s articulation of the Trinity), and remembering that we are sinners and that even born-again believers can commit terrible sin (e.g., Luther’s words and attitude toward the Jews in his latter years), we cannot assume that everyone who has claimed the name of Christ over the last 2000 years deserves equal attention and respect. In this way, I believe it is most profitable in the study of church history to “follow the truth.”
Specifically, pay attention to the creeds and confessions of the church. This practice will help you discern which people and movements are worth your time as you trace true doctrine through church history. For help here, I recommend Creeds, Confessions, and Catechisms: A Reader’s Edition by Chad Van Dixhoorn, We Believe: Creeds, Catechisms, and Confessions of Faith by Ligonier Ministries, and Baptist Confessions of Faith, Second Revised Edition, by William L. Lumpkin and Bill J. Leonard. Making use of excellent historical theologies like Our Legacy by John Hannah, The History of Christian Doctrine by Louis Berkof, and Historical Theology by Gregg Allison will also be of benefit.
Remember Christ’s Promise to Build His Church
Above all, study church history with an eye on Christ’s promise to build his church (Matt 16:18). Church history is the story of Christ’s saving work among his people, so our study of it should be nothing less than an edifying adventure. Seeing how Christ has saved sinners, built churches, and used flawed men and women to carry out his Great Commission is a powerful antidote to discouragement, pride, and spiritual apathy. We will be cheered by Christ’s faithfulness to build and uphold his church, humbled by the courage and holiness of past saints, and reinvigorated by their examples to love Christ and his church all the more.
