2000 Years of Christ's Power, Part 1: The Age of the Early Church Fathers

2,000 Years of Christ's Power #1

by Nick R. Needham

The story of Christ's power over history and the lives of the people of his church is retold in a fascinating way. An excellent introduction to church history.

Genres: Church History, History, Christian, Theology, Christianity, Nonfiction, Religion

Unknown Binding

First published July 1, 1998

About the author

Dr. Nick Needham is senior minister of Inverness Reformed Baptist Church and tutor in church history at Highland Theological College in Dingwall, Scotland.

Dr. Needham is a Londoner by birth and upbringing. He studied theology at New College, Edinburgh University, where he specialized in Church History. He also taught a course at New College on the life and works of the Swiss Reformer Ulrich Zwingli, at the same time completing his PhD thesis on the nineteenth-century Scottish theologian Thomas Erskine of Linlathen. He then taught Systematic Theology at the Scottish Baptist College in Glasgow for several years before spending a semester at the Samuel Bill Theological College, where he taught Church History. After a period as assistant pastor in a church in north London, he moved to the Highland Theological College, Dingwall, where he teaches Church History.

Reviews

[Brance Gillihan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best church history book I’ve read to date. It is scholarly yet accessible. It is engaging and enjoyable reading. The author tells the story of church history in a way that makes you want to stay up late and keep reading. His presentation is clear and helpful, and the format is excellent.

Each chapter tells the story of a period of transition or theological development. Key figures are in bold the first time they get mentioned. At the end of each chapter there is a list of important people, both in the church and the world, from that chapter along with the dates. And then short excerpts from their writings (which were discussed and analyzed in the chapter) are included so the reader can experience the sources first hand.

The footnotes are helpful and there are many useful cross references included right in the text for when you need reminders. The book ends with a glossary, some suggested reading, and an index.

Overall, this will be my starting place when recommending books on church history from now on.

[Brenden Wentworth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phenomenal!
I’d wager there isn’t another church history series out there like this that is both accessible to anyone, as well as still having thorough scholarly depth.

Needham is to be commended for writing a church history series that leaves no stone unturned in it’s analysis and presentation, while also enjoyably reading like a narrative

This series is second to none for those wanting to take the plunge into church history. Four more volumes to go!

[Todd Miles · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my new favorite Church History series - crisp writing, good story-telling, strong feel for what is important and what should be left out, helpful structure from a pedagogical standpoint, and a selection of primary source writings at the end of each chapter.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very readable and engaging.

[Josh G. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent introduction to the early church fathers and the theological debates that ensued in the ancient church. Needham is incredibly readable and clear. At times I wondered if his Reformed Baptist views tilted his evaluation of the evidence, but he helpfully provided extended quotations of primary sources at the end of each chapter — which were truly a delight to read. The excerpt from Gregory the Great’s Pastoral Rule — geeze laweeze. I can’t wait to read the other volumes in the series.

[Kyle Grindberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good, it's going to be my go-to recommended Church history text.

[Andrew Fendrich · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written with an international audience in mind, Needham's survey of church history is clean, accessible, and covers a lot of ground. If the Lord gives me the opportunity to teach church history in Africa, this will be my go-to textbook.

[Riley Carpenter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a wonderful resource!

[Joshua Bethay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly rich in historical and theological detail while remaining readable for someone as young as a high schooler.

In this first volume in the 2,000 Years of Christ’s Power series, Needham deals with the first 7 centuries of church history up to the Third Council of Constantinople.
For these first ~650 years, the church is constantly working to iron out Trinitarian theology and Christology.

From Athanasius and Augustine to Maximus the Confessor, may we stand upon the shoulders of faithful church fathers and imitate their boldness for the Truth even when it costs us our lives.

[Tim Michiemo · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.6 Stars

Nick Needham's "2,000 Years of Christ's Power, Part One" is the first volume in a five-volume series on church history. Needham's first volume in the series covers the periods from the birth of the church (first century) to the Third Council of Constantinople (sixth century). Needham's goal is to present a thorough overview of church history while still being accessible to laymen. He succeeds at this goal, producing a phenomenal work of church history that is compelling, engaging, highly informative, and encouraging.

Needham's greatest strength displayed in this book is his knowledge of church history. To write a short volume on six centuries of history one must know your history well; what parts are important, and what to leave out. Needham can skillfully and briefly hit on the main points of a wide variety of issues in the early church. The simple breadth of history that Needham can communicate in short sections that are compact and understandable is astounding. I was amazed at how Needham was able to take a complicated indecent like the Monophysite controversies of the sixth century and dispel them simply and understandably.

I highly recommend this book; I have almost no critiques for this book since Needham is such a good writer and he has done such an excellent job with this book. If you are looking for a shorter introduction to church history, I would not start here but with Bruce Shelley's "Church History in Plain Language." But if you want to take another step up and understand more of church history I would start with Needham's series. I am excited to start working on the next volume in the series!

[Zachary Horn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the beginning of what feels like it will be an incredible achievement (assuming Needham builds upon this excellent first volume). Remarkable for its readability and comprehensiveness, this is undoubtedly one of the best treatments of the history of the early church I have read. In a time where we are shockingly ignorant of church history (and therefore, susceptible to repeating the errors of the past), this is a vital work that deserves to be widely read and enjoyed. One of my favorite parts is Needham's inclusion of select writings at the end of each chapter from the patristic/key figures under discussion. Captivating, moving, inspiring. Looking eagerly forward to the next.

[Heather Tully · Rating 4 out of 5]

read with my high schoolers for 2024-2025 edu year.

I especially like that each chapter ends with original writings of people mentioned. some times it’s a bit dull but it is solid & lays a good foundation of the early church.

[Peter Krol · Rating 5 out of 5]

So informative, so fun. Couldn't put it down, and can't wait for the next volume.

2025 update: Still informative. Still fun. This time I had even greater appreciation for the excerpts from original sources at the end of each chapter.

[Micah Natal · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my second time reading this book! It is a book I plan to continue to go back to. If you think Church History is “boring” you need to buy this book. It is stimulating, inspiring and well researched. I am excited to read the rest of the volumes in this series.

[David Couch · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great survey of church history!

I particularly like the fact he gives extracts from primary sources at the end of each chapter.

[Drew Norwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was great as an introductory work. Needham simplifies and abbreviates really well. It never gets deep enough to satisfy your interest in the people and events, but it is not intended too.

[Brent Pinkall · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best church history book I've read so far. Better than Shelley's Church History in Plain Language. Needham writes clearly and articulately. He foresees questions the reader might have and addresses them at appropriate places. He frequently reviews material he has covered previously, which I found helpful, as I find it difficult to remember what the various controversies were about or what beliefs the various factions held. At the end of each chapter he lists a number of notable people who lived during that period and, more helpfully, presents excerpts from the writings of the people he talked about. Needham mentions at the beginning that this book stems from a series of classes he had to give to ministers in Africa. When looking for church history books to assign, he found that those which had the simplest English were the least thorough, whereas those that were most thorough were written in cumbersome prose. He wrote this book to try to present church history in a way that is both thorough and accessible, and he has done a great job. I look forward to reading the other parts in the series.

[Nick Ferretti · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great introduction to Church History. Needham is an engaging writer. His style of focusing on significant figures in history, rather than telling a single, long story, is unique and exciting. This was more enthralling than most of the fiction books I've read. I couldn't put it down when I started. My wife would get upset because I would read this over The Meaning of Marriage.

[Jesse Sauer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Listened to audiobook— good format and summary at end of each chapter. Justo Gonzalez’s series is also a good overview of church history and similar, but Needham writes in a more personal way and includes excerpts from various writings.

[Micah Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think he delivers on his promise: a church history that is accessible to those without a church history background. Lay people would be well served by this and given a good introduction to the church fathers.

The audiobook narrator is a disaster. Mispronunciations abound and some words are just misread (e.g. immorality, when the book says immortality).

[Christopher Commander · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply brilliant. So easily accessible, well written and enjoyable. Needham guides the reader through some of the most complex events of the early church masterfully.

Constant helpful reminders of which group is which, insightful footnotes, source content at the end of each chapter and a clear way of writing make this book an easy recommend to anyone with even a slight interest in church history.

[Cody Jenison · Rating 5 out of 5]

So good! Well written, engaging, to the point and yet informative in so many ways.

[Christian Barrett · Rating 5 out of 5]

I previously had to read Justo Gonzalez’s works on Christian history for a class, but I chose to begin reading Nick Needham’s work for pleasure. I purchased these after the 2018 Together for the Gospel conference and have been itching to get to them ever since. Gonzalez’s works are fantastic and they have an academic level in the text that Needham does not present, but that does not mean Needham’s are unscholarly. The book is full of footnotes and each chapters ends with several primary sources available for readers to ponder. With all of that being said I think that 2000 Years of Christ’s Power may be my recommended church history read. Neeham is a fantastic story teller and the way that he presents the story of Christianity sucks the reader in. It is as if you are reading a novel. I was truly able to get lost in the worlds of 1st century Rome and of 5th century Ireland. I would recommend this volume to any Christian or non-Christian wanting time understand not just church history better, but history of the world better. Needham does not disappoint as he shows how significant these first 600 years of the Christian Church are for the whole world.

[Kayden Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay. Took some time to gather the thoughts. Still don’t think I’ll be able to explain everything I’m thinking but that’s okay.

For a while, I’ve had kind of a anxious enrollment towards church history. I’ve seen or I guess rather have been interested in that. There was 2000 years essentially a church history that I had not yet even began to try and understand, and it was quite scary, because Catholic and orthodox camps Tend to embrace church history with much more open arms than the protestant tradition I grew up in. Even so it seems that common rhetoric in influential arguments today, frown down upon the protestants as if that if we only understood church history, we would be Catholic. Even so I couldn’t ignore my curiosity on church history any longer. My expectation is I would come out remaining protestant but having a higher reverence for the Catholic and orthodox tradition. This is mostly true, except I would say, surprisingly; I came away gaining a ton of respect for protestant expression, and slightly more for the catholic orthodox tradition. It’s interesting to learn that a lot of Catholic dogmas did not originate as early back as as some of the popular arguments, i see online would lead me to believe. The papacy, as it is today, immaculate conception, veneration, penance, all seem to come much later thanks it was interesting for me to learn that the Catholic Church itself wasn’t in or knives until the spread of Gnosticism.

That leads me to the most interesting part of this book. It is true the history repeats itself I think by learning about so much their church history I can now see some of the consequence is still active today as well as some of the same arguments same problems reoccurring. For instance, one that really has been sitting with me a ton is just sad spread of Gnosticism. In the Internet age much like the early church; and I mean EARLY church, authority was very much decentralized. And with decentralized authority. There’s a correlation with the spread of heresy and/or just bad theology, and I think that’s maybe why and Jenn Z we are seeing a turn towards the Catholic and orthodox Church. Not so much. Or reverence for those churches within themselves. But maybe more so as a response to the bad theology, running rampant on social media in a time where everyone has a platform to speak.

Technically, this book is great. I understand still at church is not a easy subject to grasp, yet even as a layman author did a great job for someone like me to be able to understand, every time he speaks i. insider language he breaks it down for everyone. The book also reads kind of like a drama. I mean these early church fathers are mostly drama mamas/divas ( I say jokingly.)

Some of my fav people/things to learn about

Athanasius
Clement of Alexandria/Prepatory Grace
Ambrose of Milan
Justin Martyr
Pseudo-Dionysus (seems to kind of lay the groundwork for AW Tozer)
Iona/Celtic church as a whole. Cool to see how poetic they were with the faith
Arian Controversy
Gregory the Great
Origen was kind of funny (this guy is now condemned rip)
Early Church Service Structure
Theodora
Christological controversy

I say this all with a grain of salt because this is new to me

But very interesting, easy to read, engaging


10/10 would read again in 5-10 years

[Nathan Hunter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nick Needham's first volume in 2000 years of Christ's power is one of a kind. It narrates through history with the tone of a fictional novel but with the historical facts of a scholarly work. While written for layman, it is by no means weak in content or intent.

This volume begins with a historical background of early and first century Rome and ends with the monotheletism controversy of the sixth century. Needham provides descriptions of the background and events of the first six ecumenical councils as well as descriptions and exurts from multiple church fathers. His narration of John Chrysostom's life as the bishop of Rome, Maximus the Confessor, Emperor Justinian, and the evangelism of the nations are highlights of this excellent work.

While this series is certainly ideal for Christians unaware of specifics in Church History, it would be profitable to read a primor first such as Tony Lane's Intro to Christian History and Thought or Shelley's Church History in Plain Language.

[Matt Pitts · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a marvelous book. Needham is able to capture in simple yet compelling prose an era of giants and subtle distinctions. All the major figures and controversies are here as well as many minor ones that may be new even to the seasoned student of church history. Each chapter concludes with a list of major figures and a selection of lengthy quotations from significant thinkers covered in that chapter. There is more here than the average church member might want to read, but there is nothing here too complex or complicated for him. This is church history for all comers. Oh, and I enjoyed it so much I’ve already started the second one.

[Stephen Drew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Without doubt this is an excellent church history. It is so excellent that even though I took two church history courses in seminary I still learned much that was new to me from this volume. It is very well organized and the inclusion of excerpts of primary sources is gold. However, as good as the content is it’s also very dense. In the introduction the author says he wanted to write for pastors and laymen to learn church history, but the reality is it will be more academic than most will enjoy.

[Vincent Lemieux · Rating 5 out of 5]

I understand why Carl R. Trueman always recommend this series when asked about the to go introduction to church history.

Easy to read, nothing important and significant is left out. I would also recommend this to any pastors to help them understand the great controversies that shaped our doctrines’ understanding.

A rich plus is that at the end of each chapters, Nick Needham included some portions of the writings of the important figures he mentioned in the chapter.

Well done.

[Josiah Cook · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned so much about early church history in this book. This is one I will read again and will consistently come back to as a reference. One thing that really stands out is that Needham’s treatment of especially the doctrinal development of the church reveals the foolish critique of Protestantism that says that the church all believed exactly the same thing until 1054 and up through the Reformation. Catholicity is something that developed over centuries through much debate.

[Taylor Bredenhof · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great history of the early church. Strong grasp of the theological development which is the main focus. Lacking in specifics on the daily life and logistics of church life and missional activity, but to be expected with a general history.

What makes it stand apart is that he includes a sampling of primary source material at the end of each chapter which allow the people and situations speak for themselves.