Peril and Peace: Chronicles of the Ancient Church

History Lives #1

by Brandon Withrow, Brandon Withrow

Let history come to life—just the way it should! Read the stories behind the first six hundred years of the church and discover the roots of Christianity. From the apostle Paul to Benedict you can discover how the early church still influences today.

Live with these people in their hostile and difficult world. Be encouraged as different countries, cultures and times merge together to form the Christian church. Learn from their mistakes and errors and learn from their amazing strengths and gifts.

Extra features throughout this book look deeper into issues such as persecution, worship, creeds and councils, and the formation of the Bible.

This is the first in a series intended to cover the history of the Christian church through its people. They are written with 9-14 year olds in mind but the modern, relaxed and enthusiastic style is infectious!

Genres: History, Church History, Christian, Biography, Nonfiction, Middle Grade, Childrens

207 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Maxime N. Georgel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Une histoire de l’Eglise exacte bien que romancée pour les jeunes. Premier de 5 volumes. « Les Fondateurs » en français.

Vraiment magnifique. Hâte de lire les suivants et de les faire lire à mon fils.

[Maribeth Barber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Somehow in my early education I missed a lot of church history. Perhaps it was because of a skewed (and distinctly conservative-American-Protestant) view of Christianity’s history, a view that could be easily summed up thusly: “Everything pre-Reformation was BAD.”

Perhaps that’s a bit simplistic, but I do know that a heavy emphasis on Reformation history (history that IS important!) often pushes everything pre-Martin Luther to the wayside. This book, by contrast, offers an excellent overview on the first five hundred years of the Christian church. The authors don’t try to gloss over growing problems/schisms/theological errors within the Church, but they do show with great love and fairness how God prepared the Church Fathers for so many of the trials and debates that Christianity would face for centuries to come. The book begins with Paul, then introduces other giants of the Faith such as Polycarp, Justin Martyr, Origen, the Cappadocian Fathers, Ambrose, Augustine, Jerome, Patrick, and Benedict. But what sets this book apart is that these histories are also presented as STORIES. Each character is vibrant, flawed, unique, and sympathetic. They are HUMAN, an important quality when you’re dealing with people who lived so very long ago.

A few of the chapters felt a bit rushed, but overall the book was so helpful and inspiring to me that I’m giving it a full five stars. Can’t wait to read the sequel, “Monks and Mystics”!

[Hannah D. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Church History... I will admit, when I started this book I thought that it would be sort-of-Boring. But I was so wrong. Each 'chapter' is a different preacher, or church father. As you learn about people from 3 BC through 550 AD, you see how luck we are to live in an area that doesn't persecute (at least not harshly) Christians. I really liked this book because it showed how some Emperors were mean (so mean) and how as Christians, the preachers didn't leave or hide but instead faced the punishment for believing in the One True God. This book teaches one main lesson: no matter the punishment (someone making fun of you) as Christians we need to stand strong in what we believe.
I WOULD RECOMMEND THIS BOOK TO EVERYONE!!!

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though I grew up in the church, I know pretty much nothing about church history. But lately I’ve really been wanting to learn more about it. The kids and I read a few chapters from this book as part of school, and I decided to read the whole thing for myself. It’s written in a narrative form and the stories of these early church leaders are very engaging. You get a real sense of what it was like to live during that time period and face these challenges and danger. It was also inspiring how some of them gave up their lives to stand up for the truth. This is a good introduction to some of the early church leaders and the early church at that time. I’m looking forward to learning more on this topic.

[Josiah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a awesome book that teaches Church History in a fun, action-packed way!

[Cheryl Linebarger · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book, and the series that follows, many years ago before using it in our homeschool. Thought I’d read them again, it’s been so long I’d forgotten them. These books are written at about a grade 6-7 level, with short chapters, and they’re written as historical fiction. I enjoyed reading about the founders of the ancient church and plan to sprinkle the rest of the series into my reading queue in the coming months.

[Bekah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Plodded through this one in our morning read aloud rotation with the kids. A really great introduction to church history, enough to whet their appetites and allow us to get a glimpse of where we come from. There were a handful of times I cocked my head and wondered aloud, "is this really how this person was? Or how they spoke to people?" But I choose to not throw the baby out with the bath water. We will continue through the series, because I do think overall it is a great contribution to our homeschool.

[Stephanie Sheaffer · Rating 2 out of 5]

There aren't many children's books about leaders of the ancient church so I find it necessary to give some stars for research and originality - and for the inspiring bravery/sacrifice displayed by early Christians.

Overall, however, the writing quality is very tedious and the books lacks continuity. I probably would not have slogged my way through the text had this book not been on the assignment list for my 3rd grader.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great book. I love the idea of this series. It is a good way to teach the history of the church. It blends history with fictional writing well. The only issue I have is that it can be a little dense at times. I will definitely be checking out the other books.

[Sarah Norton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Peril and Peace was written for youth ages 9-14 but I found it very interesting and helpful. This book is written in story format, there are some chapters that simply explain topics like What was the Ancient Church? and How Did We Get the Bible? but the majority of the book are chapters talking about a specific person. Men like Polycarp, Constantine, Jerome, and Augustine.

The chapters are short, only 10 pages each and give highlights of these men's lives and what they are most famous for. It was helpful for me to already have a bit of knowledge about the early church, these men and ancient history but someone without that basic framework would still be able to follow the stories and be encouraged. This is the first book in the series and I believe there are 3 books total.

The best feature of this book was seeing how God preserved His church and the Bible through the rise and fall of the Holy Roman Empire and all the wicked men and women that came to power. How God preserved the truths of the Gospel through ordinary men and women who were faithful and willing to risk it all.

[Shaun Marksbury · Rating 5 out of 5]

I originally bought these for the kids on a recommendation, but I'm finally getting a chance to read them. I was initially afraid that 1) one would need some outside knowledge of church history to be able to keep up with the book and 2) the somewhat fictionalized accounts would be make the books less historical and favor drama. Well, I'm just through the first one, and I'm satisfied with the presentation. The telling is compelling, and the biographical snippets help the reader glimpse each person in their respective eras. I do think this would pair well with a course on church history to help solidify the context, but I think adults would benefit just as much from it. I recommend this for all ages.

[Ema · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent and engaging biographies of the early church fathers not with a saintly aura only, but with flaws when known (Jerome's crankiness made him my boys' favorite), and the addition of historical tidbits: Arianism, Councils, how the OT and NT came to be as the 39+27 books we have today, etc. My kids in the 6-10 y old range absolutely loved it, church history became one of their favorite subjects. I'll purchase the rest of the books and read it in tandem with world history. Highly recommend.

[Melanie Tillman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm reading through this series with my kids for our morning devotional. These are fantastic stories about believers in the early church. It is encouraging to know that there is truly nothing new - believers have always been counter cultural. The stories of these saints have inspired me and my children and sparked great conversations around the breakfast table.

[Corinne Hagan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great readable insight into the reality of life in the early church- the pressures they faced politically external to the church and from false teaching and just usual sin inside the church! Some ways reassuring that nothing much has changed- God is still faithful and he still uses messy people to spread the wonderful good news of Jesus against whatever odds!

[Joy E. Rancatore · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book offers an excellent introduction to church history for children. The stories engage younger readers while offering plenty of depth for their parents as well. I highly recommend this book and series for Christian families to use together.

[John Jelinek · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've never heard these stories before!

I can't believe I've been a Christian for 14 years and have never been exposed to the stories in this book. It's simply amazing how God has used the saints throughout the first 500 years after Jesus' death and resurrection.

[M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent reading for the specified age range, but even for adults that have little or no history knowledge of the church. Great as a homeschooling tool for Unit studies not just for reading.

[Luke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely love this book! Some chapters made me cry. But I felt like I was right there living through all this with them.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has helped me understand what 1st century Christians. This book has short storys about famous Christians that were influenced by Christianity. including Constantine, Polycarp, and Patrick.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written narratives of many of the early saints and the fascinating and terrifying times they lived in.

[Carrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

We read this as part of our history studies for homeschool. It was a great intro to the early church.

[Teague Meyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this alongside a christian history textbook helped the history come alive for my 13 and 15 year olds.

[Vianny D'Souza · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not too different from the first one in the series. Light, informative and convicting! Recommended read!

[Kyndra Lemke · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very captivating set of stories on the ancient church.

[Jrranderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good content, but the writing was sometimes distractingly clunky. I read this to the kids, who found it reasonably engaging.

[Stephen Drew]

Recommend by Carole

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series does a great job of helping students experience a first-hand look at some of the trials, difficulties, and blessings of first century Christians. Written in narrative form.

[Brittany · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very engaging short stories about the early church, even for adults. It doesn’t sugarcoat the descriptions of persecution, so best for older elementary or as a read aloud with younger elementary.

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great series. My boys love learning history through good story telling.

[Sean Harding · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating retelling of Churchl history putting the stories in ways that younger readers can understand and get the big picture ideas. A great start to the series.