Church History 101: The Highlights of Twenty Centuries

by Sinclair B. Ferguson, Joel R. Beeke, Michael A.G. Haykin

Church history is important because it shows us how God’s faithful dealings with His people in the Bible continue in the ongoing life and work of Christ in our world. If you have ever wished for a short book highlighting church history’s most important events that will enlighten your mind and peak your interest, this is the one you’ve been waiting for. Three prolific church historians collaborate their efforts in Church History 101 to present you with a quick read of church history’s high points.

Table of
Preface
First Apostolic Foundations
Second The Church of Martyrs and Confessors
Third Persecution and Heresy; Origen and Tertullian
Fourth The Beginnings of the Christian Empire
Fifth The City of God and the City of Man
Sixth Justinian, Benedict, and the Conversion of the Scots
Seventh Gregory the Great and the Rise of Islam
Eighth The Iconoclastic Controversy
Ninth Struggle for Power in the Church; Ratramnus and Gottschalk
Tenth “The Dark Ages”
Eleventh The Great Schism; Anselm of Canterbury
Twelfth The Crusades, Abelard, Lombard, and the Waldenses
Thirteenth Francis of Assisi and Thomas Aquinas
Fourteenth The Church’s Babylonian Captivity and John Wycliffe
Fifteenth The Renaissance, Huss, Savonarola, and Groote
Sixteenth Luther, Calvin, and the Reformation
Seventeenth Reforming the Church in England
Eighteenth The Great Awakening
Nineteenth Beginnings of Modern Theology and Kingdom Builders
Twentieth The Age of Paradoxes


Sinclair B. Ferguson is a teaching fellow of Ligonier Ministries.

Joel R. Beeke is president of Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary.

Michael A. G. Haykin is professor of church history and biblical spirituality at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.


“The story of the growth of God’s kingdom is thrilling in all its aspects, and to have this brief summary available in book form will surely aid us in the assurance that absolutely nothing can prevent King Jesus from fulfilling His purpose in building His church. Thrilling to read.” — Derek W. H. Thomas, Senior Minister, First Presbyterian Church, Columbia, South Carolina; Robert Strong Professor of Systematic and Pastoral Theology, RTS Atlanta; and Teaching Fellow of Ligonier Ministries

Genres: History, Christian, Church History, Nonfiction, Theology, Audiobook, Church

63 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 1, 2016

About the author

Sinclair B. Ferguson is Associate Preacher at St Peter's Free Church in Dundee and also Distinguished Visiting Professor of Systematic Theology at Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was Senior Minister of First Presbyterian Church of Columbia, South Carolina and prior to that, he was minister of St. George's-Tron Church in Glasgow.

Reviews

[Michael Beck · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good, short introduction covering the 2,000 years of church history.

[Sarah Fowler Wolfe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I highly recommend this small 100-page overview of the Christian church over the last two millennia to everyone.

[Brenda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very short, but a great high-level overview of church history. I borrowed the audiobook from Hoopla - the reader is excellent.

[Latisha Sexton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really good (and short) introduction to the major movements in church history. The only thing I wished they had included was a list of resources to do more in-depth digging. But this is a great starting point in understanding how the church has gotten to where it is today.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book because my Mom got two copies for Christmas, and gave one to me. It's a small book, so I put it in my purse to read when I was out and about with extra time on my hands.

Church History 101 falls into the category of book that you need to read with a dictionary in one hand. I would recommend Theopedia Most of the terms that I looked up I was familiar with, but wanted to confirm that I was thinking of the correct definition. My rating would be 5 star if I had not spent so much time looking up various words.

Big words aside, this was an excellent overview of Christianity from the first century to the twentieth century. Recently I heard someone say that the majority of American Christians think that Christian history begins with Billy Graham. This book is a good first step to correcting that error. Each chapter covers one century. It mentions the main characters, events, and theologies that shaped each century, as well as pointing out some overlaps between centuries.

I would recommend this book to everyone, with the caveat that they may need to have a dictionary handy.

[Anete Ābola · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very short introduction to church history. 5 minutes about every century.
Until today I had not read much church history, because those I knew weren't very trustworthy. but it is an important topic, we just need to read our info from a trustworthy source.

[Matt Palmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interested in church history but have no clue where to start?? Start here! This short little book is a great primer on church history. As you read it, you will find your interests piqued by certain topics and will be able to do further study from there.

This book will also give you a sense of the wonder of the Church and give you a newfound and/or strengthened confidence in what God is doing through His church by the power of the Gospel in the midst of the struggles of the day.

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very short introduction to church history. Each century is painted with a wide brush stroke, and the authors acknowledged the book’s brevity and limited scope upfront. However, I greatly appreciated how they provided a brief application at the end of each chapter, from maintaining the truth and purity of the gospel to the importance of evangelizing.

[Michael Newhouse · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't realize this book was so short; so beware it will likely leave a lot to be desired. It did provide a VERY brief overview (highlights) of 2,000 years of Church history, but if you want more than a fly by on this topic have your next book ready to go.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

If read for what it is (an extremely brief overview), this book is a great way to establish an outline upon which to build through further study. That was my intent. It's NOT thorough, but it isn't meant to be. For me, I hoped this would be a good way to identify and prioritize specific timeframes that I'd like to study more extensively, and it served that purpose well.

[Keven Bissonnette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Il faudra peut-être "googlé" certain mots pour les novices, mais somme toute très accessible et très intéressant.

[Rachel Schultz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like this format - 20 chapters, one for every century.

[Michaël St-Amour · Rating 5 out of 5]

À l'aube d'une église qui perd ses racines et ne connaît plus son histoire, l'ABC de l'histoire de l'Église propose un résumé intéressant du christianisme du premier siècle jusqu'au vingtième siècle.
Comme introduction, la lecture se fait rapidement et il saura certainement trouver sa place dans les bibliothèques ou les tables d'églises qui prennent à coeur l'instruction historique de leurs membres.
Également à conseiller comme lecture de chevet à tous ceux qui souhaitent avoir une base dans ce domaine souvent négligé.

[Josiah Richardson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is an example of time travel at mach 10 speeds. 20 centuries of church history in under 100 pages is a daunting task. Inevitably, so much is left out and the authors essentially were left highlighting an entire century in 3 pages at a time. I don't think I could have done better and I would have hated to be in the preproduction team when this one was made, having to decide what goes in and what goes out. In any event, what was included was good and what was left out is worth researching and reading about.

[Neil Kruger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short and sweet. Filled with historical nuggets that will aid anyone in doing a single session overview of church history.

The authors obviously have a Reformed bias. They are extremely kind to any individuals who exhibit Reformed tenets in embryonic form.

[Grant Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short overview of western Church history since the time of Christ. If you have never read much about how we got to here from the Bible, this is a great overview. Not in depth, but gives plenty of hooks to explore in other resources.

[Jim Becker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very helpful

[Doug Van Meter · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very brief survey of 20 centuries of church history. A good appetizer for a more substantial deep dive into the matter.

[Humphrey Kutosi · Rating 5 out of 5]

The authors do a great work of chronicling the workings of God through the frailties of men of like passions as you and I. Theirs is not a pretended attempt at neutrality but of a Biblical and soundly theological commentary on history. It's concise introduction to history for the uninitiated and yet a great polisher for the rusty and dusty. Heartily recommended!

[Joc-e-lyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

J'ai lu la version française de cet ouvrage (ABC de l'histoire de l'Église) et c'est un très bon résumé de l'histoire du christianisme que je recommande vivement.

[Maria Ebersol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick, concise, church history from a reformed perspective

[Sophie Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent speed read through church history! I’m in awe of the heavy-laden brevity and all it communicates. Recommend for dipping your toes in church history or for a fun, concise refresher.

[Elise de Waal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Brief but informative flyover view of church history
Edit: changing my review as I think more about the book: still helpful for quick info, but has many gaps. Also, it feels pretty narrowly focused on the Western church and we get little, if any, info of the church internationally.

[Ryan Watkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good brief high view introduction to church history. Recommended.

[Liam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok really short church history. Not particularly good. Author often gets overly ‘preachy’ in a way that just seems unnecessary.

[Clay Graham · Rating 3 out of 5]

Highlights for sure. It’s almost cute how brief the discussion of each century/topic is.

[Hobart · Rating 3 out of 5]

This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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... the record of church history teaches us to hold fast to Christ, assured that He is with us always, even to the end of the world. He will build up His church and kingdom to all generations.

WHAT'S CHURCH HISTORY 101 ABOUT?
That's the controlling idea behind this book—it's a survey of Church History—which is the story of Christ building his church. There will be highlights and lowpoints. This, and more, is sketched out in the preface—as well as a description of the book that follows.

The chapters came from Ferguson's time in the pulpit. Then Beeke, Haykin and their assistants revised them for use in The Reformation Heritage KJV Study Bible, and then there were published as this book.

APPLICATION
Each chapter sums up a century of Church History, talking about major movements controversies and figures incredibly briefly. It's a ninety-nine page book, covering 20 Centuries—so to say the chapters are brief is an understatement. Most chapters include (not always as the concluding point) a "lesson" for application. Like:

Gregory’s vision produced a kind of nominal Christianity with which the church continues to struggle to this day.

The church should honor Gottschalk’s memory despite his human frailties. We should also continue to educate ourselves about missionaries such as Cyril and Methodius, and remember that the quest for power and recognition, demonstrated by Pope Nicholas, ultimately detracts from the mission and witness of the church.

Today we must see that the church exists to bring light to the world, and we must be willing to separate earthly power and gain from the mission of the church. The church accomplishes her mission by the power of the Holy Spirit, not by the might of kings or political leaders.

I get these came from a Study Bible, and those tend to be very object lesson-oriented, but I'm not sure it's all that helpful (or necessary) in this context.

SO, WHAT DID I THINK ABOUT CHURCH HISTORY 101?
I think I read something wrong about the length—I knew it was a brief survey, but I didn't expect it to be so brief that I finished it in under 90 minutes.

But, for a quick, very surface-level look at 2,000 years of History? This is good—it focuses on the essentials, it helps orients the reader to what matters—and hopefully ignites someone's interest in diving deeper into a person, period, or movement mentioned in these pages.

I enjoyed it, I appreciate what it tried to do, I wish it had done more, but that would've defeated the purpose, I guess.

I do recommend this for anyone Junior High and up for a solid overview, a refresher, or a nice way to spend an hour or so. It won't change your life, but for those who don't need the introduction, it will serve as a reminder that Christ is building His Church and what that looks like.

[Glenn Crouch · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is probably the smallest book that covers the 20 Centuries of Church History - and is a pretty good intro to the topic. This is easy to read and devotes a chapter to each Century. Given the size of the book, many (many, many,...) people and topics are left out - but it is a good place to start for an overview of Church History, which will hopefully develop a hunger for more.

The only minor criticism is that the Reformed Theological view is portrayed at times as the "correct" Christian view - and as a Lutheran Pastor I would disagree ;-) However the book does a fair (though as mentioned brief) coverage of Luther.

I think today that society (and not just Christians) are very ignorant of History, and books like this are definitely needed.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very brief overview of some of the most important people and events in church history. Each "chapter" is only a few pages long. There is almost no depth to the book at all. But it does serve the purpose of giving a sense of what was happening in the church during that century.

If that is of interest to you, it is worth your time and money, but the value of this book is quite limited.

[Bradley Somers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quick and clear. For such a short read the authors did a great job of capturing a wide view of Christian History. They lead from the Christian movements under the apostles all the way to the Dark Ages and Into the Great Awakenings. I appreciated both the generosity and cautions that they use to deal with movements that get off of gospel centre. The clear pastoral instructions at the end of each era add to a helpful application of these histories.
It is less than a 101 study but still a helpful read.