We used this book in a church class, and I found it as many others did - clear, concise, and easy to read. It provided me with more depth and background to parts of church history that I had already known, and, especially related to modern church history, defined terms in a clear way that helped me see which church groups believe what.

One thing that I especially liked about the book was the study guide and lesson plan that were laid out in the back, making this an even more accessible resource for groups or classes. Another thing I really appreciated was the author’s occasional editorial encouragements. After describing a stretch of particularly disheartening stories of brutality and unchristian behaviors, the author would add in a comment of how there was always one or two (or more) believers truly committed to following God, no matter the popular behavior or risks to themselves. This helped to put matters in perspective, to see how, similar to the prophets in ancient Israel, God never lost control of any situation or was without people, no matter how small their numbers, who were truly his.

The one drawback I would state is that I did happen to find one factual error related to a piece of historical information. The error had no effect on the event described in the book, but it did make me wonder if there weren’t more in there that I didn’t notice.

That being said, I am seriously considering using this as a high school history text for my homeschooled kids when they reach that level. ( )

This beautiful full-color book highlights the major personalities in Christian development over the last 2,000 years … from A.D. 64 to 2009.

It’s a short book, so I confess I felt a little frustrated at the lack of depth. The book takes on a little too big a topic for 188 pages of text, and religion is a topic where oversimplifying by bouncing along the surface can distort as much as elucidate. Therefore, to get the full benefit of the book, treat it like an instruction course and take advantage of the internet research suggestions peppered throughout the text. But for my money (for a lot more money, I’m sure) I’d love to have 600 pages between the covers of this one.

One other minor frustration: Jones is a Southern Baptist whose subtle preaching permeates the book. For example, Deism is at least twice referred to as a false doctrine. This is probably just a personal issue, but I find it easier to trust a scholar who does a better job of hiding his own religious bias.

With my complaints out of the way, let me say that I thoroughly enjoyed reading the text! It’s a fun read, full of tidbits from history and helpful explanations of Christian terms. Every Christian should know at least the basics of Church history, and I definitely recommend this book as an entertaining stepping stone to whet your appetite for further in-depth reading. ( )

This is a great book for giving you a (very) simple overview of church history. My only complaint would be that it's too brief and skips over a lot of stuff, but I guess I can't complain since that's exactly why I bought it. I like to get the big picture first, which then gives me a good framework for diving into more of the details. Along with giving the main events and their significance, another great feature is that it gives little interesting side notes on particular people or ideas. ( )