Christian History Made Easy Participant Guide

by Timothy Paul Jones, Rose Publishing

In this 12-session DVD-based study, Dr. Timothy Paul Jones takes you through the most important events in Christian history from the time of the apostles to today. He brings to life the fascinating people and events that shaped our world. This isn't dry names and dates. It's full of dramatic stories told with a touch of humor. This series, based on Dr. Jones's popular award-winning book Christian History Made Easy, ties in spiritual lessons believers can glean by looking at the past, and shows how God was still working in his church despite all the ups and downs.

Genres: Nonfiction

128 pages, Paperback

First published July 22, 2008

About the author

Timothy Paul Jones is an American evangelical scholar known for his work in apologetics and family ministry. He serves as the C. Edwin Gheens Professor of Christian Family Ministry at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Jones has authored influential texts defending the historical reliability of the New Testament and has promoted a model of “family-equipping ministry,” which balances family discipleship with age-specific church programs. His apologetics have evolved from evidential to presuppositional approaches, emphasizing the role of the church’s moral witness and care for the marginalized. He has been recognized for books such as Misquoting Truth, How We Got the Bible, and In Church as It Is in Heaven, the latter promoting multiethnic church communities. Jones is a member of the Evangelical Theological Society and has been praised as a leading voice in engaging both secular critics and intra-faith debates. He and his wife Rayann have four adopted children.

Reviews

[Dean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. I use this for my Historical Theology so that the students have a skeleton to follow with the different theological thoughts. It is fun to read and presented nicely. One criticism is that making everyone happy some of the facts get a little thin. But I still like it. Nice work.

[Caitie Sweet · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was the perfect bite-sized overview of Christian history, with approachable and sometimes humorous writing to boot.

[Cindi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kept it interesting!

[Alicia · Rating 5 out of 5]

excellent video program with a helpful study guide that lets you follow along & take notes during the videos.

[David Gorgone · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am not normally into history because they either lack narrative flow or they overflow with information leaving me confused. This book isn't the deepest or the most exhaustive. That is a major plus in my mind. Instead he opts for brief overviews discussing the major players, movements and ideas and their significance. Beginning with the post apostolic fathers through the emergent movement Timothy does a great job with this book. Unlike most Christian "history" books that look at things with rose colored glasses. He has no problem showing the bad as well as the good. He is honest about how we should look at our past. We have a lot to learn and Christians have to read this book. It is a great introduction and you'll see how things that happened centuries ago still impact the church today.

[Stacia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book and very accessible to the lay person. He has fun and interesting stories of significant people who make up church history. I love history and thoroughly enjoyed this book, however even my friends who don't like history were surprised by how much they liked this book. The ONLY thing that I didn't like, in the end, is that he overlaps time periods. Two chapters may overlap a big chunk of time but he's focusing on one particular theme or location and then goes back and covers a different theme or location. I am a very linear person, so this caused me some confusion. In the end, however, it's still worth 5 stars. I learned a ton and relearned a lot too!

[Mary Havens · Rating 4 out of 5]

So our Bible study teacher told us, repeatedly, that this book is an overview and definitely does not delve into the myriad of details and history. But for me, it was enough and it gave me a good concept of the volatility of human nature and their power struggle between themselves and God. Also gave some really important context for famous places/people/events that I knew about but did not know the rhyme or reason behind. And yes, there were lots of horrible deaths.