Frank A. JamesRessenyes

This is a mammoth book: 2 authors, 22 Chapters covering 8 centuries, 16 pages of contents, 4 maps, 103 black and white illustrations in 843 pages. It covers the period from the “Babylonian Captivity of the Church" in 1309 to January 2012 when Boko Haram, a violent Islamic terrorist group, committed 54 murders.

The book has a number of goals: to provide an academically responsible engagement with the facts of history; to provide a global perspective; to be contemporary and relevant to the church today; not to avoid controversial issues, but not make final judgments; and to evaluate actions according to the cultural norms of the times but mindful that Christians affirm doctrinal and ethical standards that are culturally transcendent; and finally to be respectful of all Christian traditions.

Far too often history has been written by white men about other (usually dead) white men. How then does this book fare? It is written by two white men, but women do get a share - albeit a small one - of mentions. So, for example in the first chapter we have mentions of Birgitta of Sweden, Catherine of Sienna.The book aims to be global and it does avoid being too Euro and American-centric.

Inevitably, there is more focus on Protestantism than Roman Catholicism and on Europe and North America than Africa or Asia. But that is perhaps more a statement about the nature of history and the available documents rather than the book; until the nineteenth recently most Protestants lived in Europe, in 1900 81% of Christians were white - it is estimated that by 2015 this will be 30% - and in 1900 70% of all Christians lived in Europe and by 2025 this will be 20%. This global shift from Europe to North America and now to the Global South is certainly reflected in the later chapters of the book.

Why don’t Christians study more history? One problem has been a lack of good introductory resources. Woodbridge and James have addressed the that problem, they have produced a good overview of the story of history. However, as John Fea in his Why Study History? points out “Historians are not mere storytellers. Not only do they have the responsibility of making sure that they get the story right; they are also charged with the task of analyzing and interpreting the past.” Woodbridge and James are great story tellers, but at times I was wanting a little more analysis and interpretation.

Having said that though there is a brief helpful analysis of Calvin. The accusations that Calvin’s emphasis on predestination led to a lack of evangelism and missionary emphasis are examined and found wanting. They point out that “Contemporary scholars generally agree that predestination was not the wellspring of Calvin’s theology.” And they provide evidence of church growth that supports Phillip Hughes assertion that “Calvin’s Geneva was nothing less than “a school of missions … and a dynamic centre of missionary concern and activity.” (Churchman 78(4))

This is a great resource for those who want to know more about Church history. It provides enough detail in its overview to be also satisfying to undergraduates. At the end of each chapter is a “For further study” section which highlights several key books which will be helpful to those who want to take church history further.

I've known the basics of this part of church history, but never the in-depth details. It's fascinating to learn about, and the book is a well-organized, well-written tool to learn from.

Received for review

This is a mammoth book: 2 authors, 22 Chapters covering 8 centuries, 16 pages of contents, 4 maps, 103 black and white illustrations in 843 pages. It covers the period from the “Babylonian Captivity of the Church" in 1309 to January 2012 when Boko Haram, a violent Islamic terrorist group, committed 54 murders.

The book has a number of goals: to provide an academically responsible engagement with the facts of history; to provide a global perspective; to be contemporary and relevant to the church today; not to avoid controversial issues, but not make final judgments; and to evaluate actions according to the cultural norms of the times but mindful that Christians affirm doctrinal and ethical standards that are culturally transcendent; and finally to be respectful of all Christian traditions.

Far too often history has been written by white men about other (usually dead) white men. How then does this book fare? It is written by two white men, but women do get a share - albeit a small one - of mentions. So, for example in the first chapter we have mentions of Birgitta of Sweden, Catherine of Sienna.The book aims to be global and it does avoid being too Euro and American-centric.

Inevitably, there is more focus on Protestantism than Roman Catholicism and on Europe and North America than Africa or Asia. But that is perhaps more a statement about the nature of history and the available documents rather than the book; until the nineteenth recently most Protestants lived in Europe, in 1900 81% of Christians were white - it is estimated that by 2015 this will be 30% - and in 1900 70% of all Christians lived in Europe and by 2025 this will be 20%. This global shift from Europe to North America and now to the Global South is certainly reflected in the later chapters of the book.

Why don’t Christians study more history? One problem has been a lack of good introductory resources. Woodbridge and James have addressed the that problem, they have produced a good overview of the story of history. However, as John Fea in his Why Study History? points out “Historians are not mere storytellers. Not only do they have the responsibility of making sure that they get the story right; they are also charged with the task of analyzing and interpreting the past.” Woodbridge and James are great story tellers, but at times I was wanting a little more analysis and interpretation.

Having said that though there is a brief helpful analysis of Calvin. The accusations that Calvin’s emphasis on predestination led to a lack of evangelism and missionary emphasis are examined and found wanting. They point out that “Contemporary scholars generally agree that predestination was not the wellspring of Calvin’s theology.” And they provide evidence of church growth that supports Phillip Hughes assertion that “Calvin’s Geneva was nothing less than “a school of missions … and a dynamic centre of missionary concern and activity.” (Churchman 78(4))

This is a great resource for those who want to know more about Church history. It provides enough detail in its overview to be also satisfying to undergraduates. At the end of each chapter is a “For further study” section which highlights several key books which will be helpful to those who want to take church history further.

Much like the first volume this volume is a very good history textbook covering the reformation to contemporary times. While still primarily a history book rather than a theological history, there is more discussion of theological differences by necessity of the period under consideration.

Again the chapters are set up in outline form with sources for further study at the end of each chapter. This volume presents a balanced history with very few blatant signs of partisanship. That alone is a great feat since this volume covers our current times. Also for that reason some readers/students may feel their particular denomination should have received more coverage.

Reviewed from an ARC made available by the publisher via NetGalley.

Zondervan has released a two volume set of textbooks covering church history. They come in at around 1300 pages total and they look to be a great resource for students of all sorts.

These books are formatted beautifully. Zondervan did a real service by allowing plenty of room in the margins to let the reader make notes and doodles…assuming it is used in a lecture format. They also provided some great charts that summarize neatly large portions of important information.

There are no discussion or review questions included at the ends of the chapters. That may be a negative to some but I had nop problem with it. I do not usually utilize them, but always feel a bit burdened with them sitting there…like I am doing a disservice to the book by not answering the question in 1000 words, double spaced in Times New Romans 12 point.

The books have in the back a wonderful, I repeat wonderful, timeline that shows in parallel columns political rulers, writers/thinkers, events and bishops. It allows the student to see events and people in perspective and is just plain old interesting.

Is the content of the book accurate? I can only assume so based on the reputation of Zondervan but I could offer no insight of my own into that question. That is simply beyond my knowledge. What I do know is that both of these books are approachable, informative, and entertaining and I would love to have these be a text in a Christian history course.

I received review copies to look at and provide an honest review.