Church history

(Redirected from Church historian)

Church history or ecclesiastical history as an academic discipline studies the history of Christianity and the way the Christian Church has developed since its inception.

Henry Melvill Gwatkin defined church history as "the spiritual side of the history of civilized people ever since our Master's coming".[1] A. M. Renwick, however, defines it as an account of the Church's success and failure in carrying out Christ's Great Commission.[2] Renwick suggests a fourfold division of church history into missionary activity, church organization, doctrine and "the effect on human life".

Church history is often, but not always, studied from a Christian perspective. Writers from different Christian traditions will often highlight people and events particularly relevant to their own denominational history. Catholic and Orthodox writers often highlight the achievements of the ecumenical councils, while evangelical historians may focus on the Protestant Reformation and the Great Awakenings.

Notable church historians

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Henry Melvill Gwatkin, Early Church History to A.D. 313, p. 4.
  2. ^ A. M. Renwick and A. M. Harman, The Story of the Church (3rd ed.), p. 8.

Further reading

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Books

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  • Bowden, Henry W. (1971). Church History in the Age of Science: Historiographical Patterns in the United States, 1876–1918. University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 0807811769.
  • Bowden, Henry W. (1991). Church History in an Age of Uncertainty: Historiographical Patterns in the United States, 1906–1990. Southern Illinois University Press. ISBN 978-0809316212.
  • Bradley, James E.; Muller, Richard A. (2016). Church History: An Introduction to Research Methods and Resources (2nd ed.). William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. ISBN 9780802874054.
  • Clark, Elizabeth A. (2011). Founding the Fathers: Early Church History and Protestant Professors in Nineteenth-century America. Divinations: Rereading Late Ancient Religion. University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 978-0-8122-4319-2. JSTOR j.ctt3fhpx3.
  • Daughrity, Dyron B. (2012). Church History: Five Approaches to a Global Discipline. Peter Lang. ISBN 9781433116957.

Anthologies

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Journal articles

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