CloserLookBooks.com

---

Back

     The Baker History of the Church     

The Baker History of the Church, an 8-volume series covering various periods of church history, is being introduced by Baker Books. The first two volumes—the only two available at this time—are written by Ivor J. Davidson, a professor of systematic theology at the University of Otago, New Zealand. Volume One is The Birth of the Church: from Jesus to Constantine and covers the years AD 30-312. The second volume—just released—is A Public Faith: from Constantine to the Medieval World and covers AD 312-600.

I was not familiar with the author prior to purchasing these two volumes, but having made my way through much of the first volume, I have come to appreciate the concise way he addresses the various aspects of his subject. He does not get bogged down in controversy. He will identify issues that confront the historian, but he does not allow them to preoccupy him. For my taste, these two books go a long way to either refresh my memory of the history of the early church, or to school me in areas I have been uninformed.

Future volumes to be published are:

Vol 3- Medieval Church (Paul Bassett) Feb 06
Vol 4- The Reformation (Rudolph Heinze) Nov 05
Vol 5- The Church in the Age of Reason (Meic Pearse) Nov 06
Vol 6- Church and Empire (Ian Shaw) May 07
Vol 7- Church and Ideology (Author to be commissioned) Oct 07
Vol 8- A World Church (Author to be commissioned) May 08

The first two volumes retail for $29.95, and are well worth the price, but if you buy them at www.amazon.com you can obtain them for $19.95.

Other books I have enjoyed reading on the subject are:

• The Eternal Kingdom, F. W. Mattox (one of my favorites)
• Turning Points, Mark Noll

Steven Lloyd

Joining the conversation:

Tom Steed wrote informing me that Everett Ferguson has a new book on the subject, Church History: Volume 1, published by Zondervan's. The second volume is written by another author and is not yet available.