Five-minute digest
Church History in Plain Language
Summary
Church History in Plain Language is a one-volume survey of the history of Christianity from Jesus and the apostles to the late twentieth century, written by Bruce L. Shelley, a professor at Denver Seminary, and first published in 1982. Its aim, stated in the title, is to tell the story of the church clearly and engagingly for readers without training in theology or history, and it has been widely used in churches, colleges and seminaries. Later editions updated the final chapters to cover recent developments, including the growth of Christianity in the global South. Shelley divides the story into a series of 'ages', each introduced with a short overview. The early chapters cover Jesus and the apostles and the growth of the church in the Roman world, including persecution, the formation of the New Testament canon and the creeds. Next he treats the conversion of Constantine, the great councils, monasticism and Augustine. The medieval section discusses the papacy, the split between the Eastern and Western churches in 1054, the Crusades, scholasticism and the friars. The Reformation chapters describe Luther, Zwingli, the Anabaptists, Calvin, the English Reformation and the Catholic response at Trent and through the Jesuits. Later sections take up the age of reason and revival, including Pietism, the Wesleys and the Great Awakening; the nineteenth-century missionary movement and the challenges of science and biblical criticism; and the twentieth century's world wars, totalitarian ideologies, ecumenical movement, Second Vatican Council, Pentecostalism and evangelicalism. Each chapter usually opens with a story or scene that brings a person or event to life before explaining its significance. Shelley writes from an evangelical Protestant perspective but tries to treat Catholic and Orthodox Christianity fairly, and he gives attention to ideas, institutions and ordinary believers. Reviewers have praised its readability and breadth while noting that a single volume must simplify many debates. Because the book is under copyright, this library provides a description only, without quotations.
Top Lessons
History as story
Shelley introduces each period through a person or scene.
Continuity and change
The book traces how the church adapted to very different cultures over two thousand years.
Writing for non-specialists
Shelley aimed to make a vast subject accessible to general readers.
For the Christian reader
Shelley, an evangelical historian at Denver Seminary, wrote so that ordinary believers would know the story of the church to which they belong. His survey helps students see their own congregation as part of the one church of every age, and see the Holy Spirit's work through faithful and flawed people alike.