Resources on Church History
Resources on Church History
General
Intro
Simonetta Carr. Church History (2022).
S. M. Houghton. Sketches from Church History (1980).
Bruce Shelley. Church History in Plain Language, Fifth Ed.: The Story of the Church for Today's Readers (2021).
Intermediate
Nick Needham, 2000 Year's of Christ's Power, 5 vols. (2023).
Justo Gonzales. The Story of Christianity, 2 vols. (2010).
John McGuckin. The Path of Christianity: The First Thousand Years (2017).
Robert Wilken. The First Thousand Years: A Global History of Christianity (2013); The Spirit of Early Christian Thought: Seeking the Face of God (2005).
Advanced
Philip Schaff. History of the Christian Church, 8 vol. (2001); The Complete Collection of Early Church Fathers. (2014).
Diarmaid MacCulloch. Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years (2011).
Cross & Livingstone. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (2005).
Philip Jenkins. The Lost History of Christianity: The Thousand-Year Golden Age of the Church in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia—and How It Died (2014); The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity (2011); Jesus Wars: How Four Patriarchs, Three Queens, and Two Emperors Decided What Christians Would Believe for the Next 1,500 Years (2008).
Historical Theology
Intermediate
Louis Berkhof. The History of Christian Doctrines (1937).
Bengt Hagglund. History of Theology (2012).
Harold O. J. Brown. Heresies: Heresy and Orthodoxy in the History of the Church (1998).
Gregg Allison. Historical Theology: An Introduction to Christian Doctrine (2011).
Advanced
J. N. D. Kelly. Early Christian Doctrine (1978).
Jaroslav Pelikan. The Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine, 5 vols. (1990).
Christian Hall. Reading Scripture with the Church Fathers (1998); Learning Theology with the Church Fathers (2002); Worshipping with the Church Fathers (2009); Living Wisely with the Church Fathers (2017).
Heiko Oberman. Forerunners of the Reformation: The Shape of Late Medieval Thought (1967); Harvest of Medieval Theology: Gabriel Biel and Late Medieval Nominalism (2000).
Creeds, Confessions & Councils
Intro
Carl Trueman. Crisis of Confidence: Reclaiming the Historic Faith in a Culture Consumed with Individualism and Identity (2024). [superb critique and death blow to the "no creed but the Bible" slogan. This is an updated version of his book The Creedal Imperative]
J. V. Fesko. The Need for Creeds Today: Confessional Faith in a Faithless Age (2020).
Samuel Miller. The Utility and Importance of Creeds and Confessions (1839).
Justin Holcomb. Know the Creeds and Councils (2014).
Ben Myers. The Apostles' Creed: A Guide to the Ancient Catechism (2018).
Intermediate
Donald Fairbairn. The Story of Creeds and Confessions: Tracing the Development of the Christian Faith (2019).
Chad Van Dixxhorn. Creeds, Confessions, and Catechisms: A Reader's Edition (2022); Confessing the Faith: A Reader's Guide to the Westminster Confession of Faith (2014).
J. V. Fesko. The Theology of the Westminster Standards: Historical Context and Theological Insights (2014).
Advanced
Philip Schaff. Creeds of Christendom, 3 vol. (1984).
R. Scott Clark. Recovering the Reformed Confession: Our Theology, Piety, and Practice (2008).
Jaroslav Pelikan. Credo: Historical and Theological Guide to Creeds and Confessions of Faith in the Christian Tradition (2005).
Nicene Creed
Advanced
Lewis Ayres. Nicaea and Its Legacy: An Approach to Fourth-Century Trinitarian Theology (2006). [hands-down the best book on the subject]
Christopher Beeley. The Unity of Christ: Continuity and Conflict in the Patristic Tradition (2012).
Ancient Christian Doctrine Series: Gerald Bray. We Believe in One God (2009); John McGuckin. We Believe in One Lord Jesus Christ (2009); Mark Edwards. We Believe in the Crucified and Risen Lord (2009); Joel Elowsky. We Believe in the Holy Spirit (2009); Angelo Di Berardino. We Believe in One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church (2010).
John Behr, The Nicene Faith: Formation of Christian Theology, 2 vols. (2004).
Matthew Barrett, ed. On Classical Trinitarianism: Retrieving the Nicene Doctrine of the Triune God (2024).
Young & Teal. From Nicaea to Chalcedon: A Guide to the Literature and Its Background (2010).
Khaled Anatolios. Retrieving Nicaea: The Development and Meaning of Trinitarian Doctrine (2011).
V. C. Samuel. The Council of Chalcedon Re-Examined (1977).