With all the pressing demands of modern ministry, why make time to learn church history? Is it relevant to worship and ministry today? Pastor Dayton Hartman argues that church history is not old news, but a vital component of a healthy ministry. In Church History for Modern Ministry, Hartman explores the importance of church history and shows how an understanding of our past can help us address contemporary issues. The faithfulness, discipleship, and perseverance of the early church can help today's church stand firm in times of change. "Hartman gives us an enjoyable, readable, and trustworthy book in Church History for Modern Ministry that helps us see the theological and ministerial value of studying our history. If you're a pastor, you need to know church history--not just for doctrinal clarity and sermon illustrations, but also for your own spiritual nourishment. I will be pointing pastors and aspiring pastors to this book for years to come." --Tony Merida, founding pastor, Imago Dei Church, Raleigh, NC For many evangelicals, church history jumps from the book of Acts, has a brief stopover in the Protestant Reformation, and picks up in the present day. In Church History for Modern Ministry, Hartman corrects our dangerous a-historical view by mining the rich history of our faith. I'll be recommending this to pastors and parishioners alike. It's a great way for them to meet the family they never knew they had! --Drew Dyck, managing editor, Leadership Journal; author, Yawning at Tigers: You Can't Tame God, So Stop Trying It seems to me that 95 percent of the stupid things we do as pastors could be avoided if we knew a little church history. I am very happy that Dayton Hartman has written this book. As both a practicing pastor and a practicing church historian, he is well poised to bring the insights of our forefathers to bear on the day-to-day issues that confront church leaders. That Church History for Modern Ministry is both short and snarky is an added bonus! --Mike McKinley, author; contributor and speaker, 9Marks; senior pastor, Sterling Park Baptist Church (Sterling, VA) In this helpful book Hartman shows pastors why we should appreciate church history. Every generation of Christians and pastors stands on the shoulders of those who have gone before. The lessons that God taught our forebears can be very useful for ministry today. Hartman helps us see how this is so, and also provides practical suggestions for introducing historical insights into congregational life. I recommend this book for pastors as well as other church leaders. --Tom Ascol, PhD; executive director, Founders Ministries Christians in America today--especially evangelicals--suffer from a damaging lack of connection to the 'cloud of witnesses' who have preceded us in Christian history. I am happy to commend Dr. Dayton Hartman's readable introduction to church history for pastors, who will surely be the key players in teaching Christians about the riches of the church's past. --Thomas S. Kidd, PhD; professor of history, Baylor University Over the past decade, I have taught church history to over a thousand seminarians and college students. Many of them have raised questions about whether or not church history is really useful for pastors and other ministers. While I make regular pastoral application in the classroom, I have yet to find a good book to point students to that weds church history and practical ministry. I'm grateful that pastor-historian Dayton Hartman has written this book--it fills an important gap and answers many of the questions my students are asking. I hopeChurch History for Modern Ministry is widely read and leads more pastors and other ministry leaders to mine the depths of Christian history for contemporary spiritual flourishing. --Nathan Finn, PhD; dean of the School of Theology and Missions, Union University All pastors and Christian teachers can greatly benefit from a solid knowledge of church history. And the best place to start is with Dayton Hartman's book Church History for Modern Ministry. This helpful book presents the key content of church history in a clear, concise, and careful manner. Yet the book is also distinct in reflecting careful theological ideas in a readable and sometimes humorous way. I endorse this book and its author to all readers. --Kenneth R. Samples, senior research scholar, Reasons to Believe Church History for Modern Ministry is a lighthearted yet serious look into the value of Christian history for contemporary ministry. Knowing the past helps ministers respond to future events with practical wisdom and theological depth. Hartman frames historical and theological developments with the expertise of a historian and the disposition of a pastor while introducing us to saints of old along the way. --Walter Strickland II, special advisor to the president for diversity, instructor of theology, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary Cloaked in skinny jeans, coiffed with a faux-hawk and possessed by a sense of humor and engaging style, Dayton Hartman invites his tribe (pastors) to visit the foreign country that is the church's past. An able guide, Hartman gives an introductory tour that will surely inspire his group to visit again and again and to appreciate, value, and dialogue with church history as they press on to lead the people of God today. --Edward L. Smither, PhD; dean of the College of Intercultural Studies, Columbia International University; author of Augustine as Mentor This book is like most of my favorite books: short, enjoyable, and surprisingly practical! Hartman has provided an easy-to-read primer on the need and relevance of church history for our modern-day ministry. This book is anything but dry, and Hartman writes in a way that is relatable, refreshingly accessible, and immediately helpful. I was challenged by my own distance from the church of the past and encouraged to close that gap as a result of this work. Read it, enjoy it, and put these exhortations to use for the glory of God and the good of His church! --Brian Davis, hip-hop artist (God's Servant), Lamp Mode Recordings; pastor/church planter, Risen Christ Fellowship (Philadelphia, PA)

This is the SCM Core Text: "Modern Church History" provides an introduction to global Christianity from 1700 to the mid 20th C. The book aims to help students understand the processes, movements and individuals who have contributed to making the contemporary Christian landscape the shape it is in the 21st century. Theologically it takes a wide and inclusive approach to provide a balanced survey of Christianity in all its forms - Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox. Geographically it focuses on the Christian church in the UK, continental Europe and North America, and examines in each location the social movements, campaigns and campaigners, scientific and political challenges that have shaped the Christian Church throughout the period.Beginning with the reaction to Lutherism, it charts the rise of Pietism in Europe throughout the late 17th and early 18th centuries, the influence of John Wesley and the Methodists, in the UK and the 'Great Awakening' in North America. The early chapters summarize the developments within the Christian Church in the UK, with detailed coverage of the English, Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish situations, throughout the 19th Century. This is followed by a summary of the various schools of thought to have developed through the 20th C, including the church's reaction to the 2 world wars in Europe, fundamentalism in the USA. The book also provides specific coverage of the religious situation in North America throughout the modern period covering the development of separate black churches, the 'New Evangelicalism'. It is suitable for level two as well as introductory courses in modern church history or courses concerned with religion, culture and society in the 18th - 20th centuries

Known as the “Father of Church History,” Eusebius was bishop of Caesarea in Palestine and the leading Christian scholar of his day. His Ecclesiastical History is an irreplaceable chronicle of Christianity’s early development, from its origin in Judaism, through two and a half centuries of illegality and occasional persecution, to a new era of tolerance and favor under the Emperor Constantine. In this book, Michael J. Hollerich recovers the reception of this text across time. As he shows, Eusebius adapted classical historical writing for a new “nation,” the Christians, with a distinctive theo-political vision. Eusebius’s text left its mark on Christian historical writing from late antiquity to the early modern period—across linguistic, cultural, political, and religious boundaries—until its encounter with modern historicism and postmodernism. Making Christian History demonstrates Eusebius’s vast influence throughout history, not simply in shaping Christian culture but also when falling under scrutiny as that culture has been reevaluated, reformed, and resisted over the past 1,700 years.

Christian History Made Easy summarizes the most important events in the history of the church, from the time of Jesus to modern day. Christian History Made Easy explains early church history, the Church Councils, the Great Schism, the Crusades, Francis of Assisi, John Wycliffe, Martin Luther, the Protestant Reformation, and more. Christian History Made Easy presents key church history events and great Christian leaders everyone should know, along with full-color church history timelines, photos, pictures, and maps. The study guide and worksheets in the back makes this book an excellent Bible Study, adults Sunday school topics, or homeschool curriculum. Author Timothy Paul Jones makes Christian history refreshingly fun while at the same time informing Christians about the history of the Christian faith.Full-color, 224 pages, paperback, 6 x 9 inches. Theologian J. I. Packer says Christian History Made Easy is, ...a beautifully simple, beginner-friendly telling of Christian history, a precious heritage. Christian History Made Easy Covers Major Events in Church History Early Church History The Early Church--Peter and Paul, the Age of the Apostles, The Destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem scatters Christians Early Church Fathers Persecution of Christians--Emperor Nero and Domitian, Martyrdom of Peter, Paul, Ignaitius, Polycarp, Justin Martyr Christianity legalized in the Roman Empire, Emperor Constantine, Christianity the official religion in the Roman Empire The Byzantine Era The Council of Nicaea, The Nicene Creed Augustine, Jerome translates the Bible into Latin, St. Patrick Fall of the Roman Empire, rise of the Eastern Orthodox Church Gregory the Great, Rise of Monasticism Rise of Islam and the Islamic Conquest in Europe, Charles Martel, Charlemagne East/West Church Schism (Photian Schism), Leif Ericson converts to Christianity Great Schism, Hildebrand reforms the church, the Crusades, Lateran Councils, Richard the Lionheart Pre-Reformation Church History Middle Ages, Bubonic Plague, John Wycliffe, the Wycliffe Bible The Renaissance, Jan Hus, Joan of Arc, Ottomans capture the Christian city of Constantinople, Johann Gutenberg's printing press The Protestant Reformation Erasmus, Martin Luther, 95 Theses, Ulrich Zwingli, William Tyndale, King Henry VIII, The Geneva Bible, The Matthew's Bible, Church of England history, John Knox, Queen Mary Tudor, Queen Elizabeth I, King James Version Bible Galileo, Pilgrim's Progress, Quaker founded, first Protestant missionary societies The Great Awakening and Church History in America and Europe John and Charles Wesley, George Whitefield, Handel writes the Messiah, Sunday school is developed, John Newton writes Amazing Grace. Divisions over slavery in Baptist history Abolition, William Wilberforce, Charles Finney leads revivals, George Muller's faith orphanage, YMCA an YWCA founded, Charles Spurgeon, Salvation Army founded Church History in the 20th and 21st Century Amy Carmichael, Irish missionary to India, Azusa Street, Scofield Bible, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Billy Graham, Discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, Modern political State of Israel C.S. Lewis, major evangelistic crusades in Latin America and Korea, Roman Catholic church apologizes for lack of leadership during the Holocaust Each Chapter of Christian History Made Easy Includes Key events Key concepts Names you should know Terms you should know Bible maps and time-lines Things to think about Clarification of words At the end of each chapter is a student guide, student worksheet, learning activity and quiz Endorsement for Christian History Made Easy Rose's product line includes a wonderful collection of high quality, visually attractive materials that lend themselves to learning the basics of the Christian Faith. In most areas where alternative views exist, they are faithfully presented leaving the reader to decide which best fits their understanding of scripture....I have used Christian History Made Easy for my Sunday school class and found it to be very well done. This book has a great collection of auxiliary Study Guide questions. The author, Timothy Paul Jones is obviously a practiced teacher. I used an early edition. The recent upgrade of this package looks even better... --Dr. Gene A. Stringer, Elder, Christian Church of Ashland, Oregon Endorsements and biography for Author Timothy Paul Jones Dr. Timothy Paul Jones is a brilliant young biblical scholar who helps simplify the complex. His [resources] are great and sorely needed during our time when many are biblically illiterate and know even less about Church history. --Dr. Jerry Newcombe, author, TV host, and spokesperson for Truth that Transforms with Dr. D. James Kennedy (formerly The Coral Ridge Hour) About the Author: Dr. Timothy Paul Jones Timothy Paul Jones serves as a professor of Christian ministry and as associate vice president at the Southern Baptist Theological seminary, where he teaches courses in applied apologetics and family ministry. Before teaching at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, he led churches in Missouri and Oklahoma as pastor and associate pastor. Dr. Jones has authored or contributed to more than a dozen books, including PROOF; Conspiracies and the Cross; and, Christian History Made Easy. In 2007, Charles Colson listed him as one of "four names you need to know" when responding to the new atheists and in 2010, Christian Retailing magazine selecte

THE history of Christianity is, no doubt, full of twists and turns: the earliest examples of the Christian church consisted of a group of outcasts who, in turn, worked to change the entire world, one experience at a time. Through the Middle Ages, we saw councils, violence, and wars, as shifts in church focus moved to politics, power, and gain. The pressure mounted to an explosion point, and the ultimate explosion arrives in the form of the Protestant Reformation - and beyond. Originally written to teach modern church history at the college/seminary level, in Modern Church History: 1500 A.D. to the Present, Dr. Lee Ann B. Marino, Ph.D., D.Min., D.D. traces the details, changes, rises, and falls of key points in Christian history through the modern day points of church history. Using key documents and writing key summaries of church issues and information present in middle church history, Dr. Marino takes the student through over five hundred years' worth of historical events - from the Protestant Reformation, Counter-Reformation, renewals, revivals, awakenings, the Holiness, Evangelical, and Pentecostal Movements, modern missionaries, ecumenical councils, and the church today. This complete volume includes the necessary readings for each week, outlines of history in each chapter, explaining and expounding upon the current themes and issues of the topic at hand, a historical timeline, homework assignments and final exam, for a complete modern church history course.

Study guide for A Survey of Church History, Part 1 A.D. 100-600 includes lesson objectives, message outline, study questions, and discussion questions. Suitable for individual or group study.

Michael McGarry explores the foundation of youth ministry in the Old and New Testaments and brings that together with Church history in a compelling way. McGarry presents a thorough biblical framework to think about youth ministry as the church's expression of partnership with the family for co-evangelizing and co-discipling the next generation.