Exploring Church History

by Howard F. Vos

Enjoy a comprehensive but concise tour of the events and personalities that have marked the growth of the Christian church over the last 2,000 years. Renowned evangelical scholar Howard F. Vos summarizes the most up-to-date information and statistics available on worldwide Christianity. Includes index, bibliography, endnotes, and maps.

Genres: Church History, History, Christian, Christianity

256 pages, Paperback

First published March 8, 1996

About the author

HOWARD F. VOS ( B.A., Wheaton College; M.A. and Ph.D., Northwestern University; Th.M. and Th.D., Dallas Theological Seminary) is Professor Emeritus of History and Archaeology at The King's College, Tuxedo, New York, and Adjunct Professor at the King's campus in the Empire State Building, New York. He is the author of twenty-five books including Beginnings in Bible Geography, Can I Trust The Bible, Genesis and Galatians in the Everyman's Bible Commentary Series, and co-author of the Wycliffe Encyclopedia. He writes from his vast knowledge of Bible geography, archeology and church history for Christians seeking to increase their understanding of Scripture. Additionally, he has traveled extensively in the Bible lands and excavated many sites in Israel. Dr. Vos resides in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Reviews

[Nathan Swedberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three big conclusions of mine from this book:
-the breadth of what God has done and is doing around the world
-the brief but helpful chapter on the Biblical canon
-the reality that the American Revolutionary War (and our alliance with France on some level) had implications for the narratives that made their way into higher education institutes

[Vanda Dien · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great summary on Church History and brief introductory to early church fathers. It's an easy reading and very helpful to those who would like to know Christian Church History in a glance, especially if you dont have time to do deeper research.

This book is quite handy, content-wise. Physically it isnt handy at all...250ies pages with large fonts.

First time reading it, made me want to do some deeper research into Christian history and church fathers...so it's like an appetizer that make you crave or errr...drool in anticipation of the main course...

i love food so that's the analogy!

[Royce]

It's a good overall view, and it's a quick 1-2 night read. However, the author betrays an intolerance for views different from his own, and it is written from a subtly (and sometimes not subtly) evangelical point of view.

[Luke Newby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written as a general overview, comprehensive yet never elabotritive.

“It is not the purpose of this brief survey to discuss in detail any one movement or individual. Certainly it is not the goal to provide a history of Christian doctrine.”
p. 127

Helpful for a big picture on how the church and religion have evolved - pun intended. After reading, I’m increasingly hopeful for the future of the Christian faith.

[Beverly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This overview of Christian church history covers events from the first century through the middle 1990s, when the book was published. The end notes include many sources for those who want to dig deeper into any aspect of the history. The book is very readable and includes relevant maps of the spread of Christianity.

[Brett · Rating 3 out of 5]

In terms of history of the church this book is set up in a simple, easy to read format. But I feel like the opinions would creep in sometimes, so watch out for that.