Church history

Church history or ecclesiastical history as an academic discipline studies the history of Christianity and the way the Christian Church has developed since its inception.

Henry Melvill Gwatkin defined church history as "the spiritual side of the history of civilized people ever since our Master's coming".Henry Melvill Gwatkin, Early Church History to A.D. 313, p. 4. A. M. Renwick, however, defines it as an account of the Church's success and failure in carrying out Christ's Great Commission.A. M. Renwick and A. M. Harman, The Story of the Church (3rd ed.), p. 8. Renwick suggests a fourfold division of church history into missionary activity, church organization, doctrine and "the effect on human life".

Church history is often, but not always, studied from a Christian perspective. Writers from different Christian traditions will often highlight people and events particularly relevant to their own denominational history. Catholic and Orthodox writers often highlight the achievements of the ecumenical councils, while evangelical historians may focus on the Protestant Reformation and the Great Awakenings.

Notable church historians

Hegesippus (d. 180)Eusebius, Church History, ii.23; iii.20; iii.32; iv.8; iv.22; Eusebius (d. 339) The Venerable Bede (d. 735) David Brading (d. 2024) Macarius Bulgakov (d. 1882) Henry Chadwick (d. 2015) Owen Chadwick (d. 2008) Hans Werner Debrunner (d. 1998) Henry Melvill Gwatkin (d. 1918) Woba James Diarmaid MacCulloch George Marsden Martin E. Marty (d. 2025) Daniela Müller Mark Noll Jaroslav Pelikan (d. 2006) Catherine Pepinster Philip Schaff (d. 1893)Study Light website, Commentaries section, Schaff’s Popular Commentary on the New Testament Carl Trueman Paul Woolley (d. 1984)

See also Ecclesiastical history of the Catholic Church Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People Historical theology

References

Church history

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