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Church history

{{Short description|Academic discipline studying the history of Christianity}}

{{About|the academic discipline|an overview of the history of the Christian religion|History of Christianity|other uses|Church History (disambiguation)|and|Ecclesiastical History (disambiguation)}}

{{Redirect|Church historian|the official of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints|Church Historian and Recorder}}

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

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See also

References

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Further reading

= Books =

  • {{Cite book |last=Bowden |first=Henry W. |title=Church History in the Age of Science: Historiographical Patterns in the United States, 1876–1918 |publisher=University of North Carolina Press |year=1971 |isbn=0807811769}}
  • {{Cite book |last=Bowden |first=Henry W. |title=Church History in an Age of Uncertainty: Historiographical Patterns in the United States, 1906–1990 |publisher=Southern Illinois University Press |year=1991 |isbn=978-0809316212}}
  • {{Cite book |last1=Bradley |first1=James E. |title=Church History: An Introduction to Research Methods and Resources |last2=Muller |first2=Richard A. |publisher=William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company |year=2016 |isbn=9780802874054 |edition=2nd}}
  • {{Cite book |last=Clark |first=Elizabeth A. |author-link=Elizabeth A. Clark |title=Founding the Fathers: Early Church History and Protestant Professors in Nineteenth-century America |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-8122-4319-2 |series=Divinations: Rereading Late Ancient Religion |jstor=j.ctt3fhpx3}}
  • {{Cite book |last=Daughrity |first=Dyron B. |title=Church History: Five Approaches to a Global Discipline |publisher=Peter Lang |year=2012 |isbn=9781433116957}}

= Anthologies =

  • {{Cite book |title=The Church of Ireland and Its Past: History, Interpretation and Identity |publisher=Four Courts Press |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-84682-637-5 |editor-last=Empey |editor-first=Mark |editor-last2=Ford |editor-first2=Alan |editor-last3=Moffitt |editor-first3=Miriam}}
  • {{Cite book |last=Gleixner |first=Ulrike |title=Gendering Historiography: Beyond National Canons |publisher=Campus Verlag |year=2009 |isbn=978-3-593-38960-8 |editor-last=Epple |editor-first=Angelika |pages=105–116 |chapter=Gendering Tradition and Rewriting Church History |doi=10.25595/775 |editor-last2=Schaser |editor-first2=Angelika |chapter-url=https://www.genderopen.de/handle/25595/781}}
  • {{Cite book |last=van Roaden |first=Peter |title=Religious Identity and the Problem of Historical Foundation: The Foundational Character of Authoritative Sources in the History of Christianity and Judaism |publisher=Brill Publishers |year=2004 |isbn=978-90-04-13021-0 |editor-last=Frishman |editor-first=Judith |series=Jewish and Christian Perspectives Series |pages=513–532 |chapter=Power and Piety in Contemporary Church History and Social Science |doi=10.1163/9789047412830_027 |editor-last2=Otten |editor-first2=Willemien |editor-last3=Rouwhorst |editor-first3=Gerard |chapter-url=https://brill.com/display/book/edcoll/9789047412830/BP000027.xml}}

= Journal articles =

  • {{Cite journal |last=Anderson |first=Josh J. |date=December 2006 |title=A Profile of the Membership of the American Society of Church History |journal=Church History: Studies in Christianity and Culture |volume=75 |issue=4 |pages=963–972 |doi=10.1017/S0009640700112302}}
  • {{Cite journal |last=Aubert |first=Annette G. |date=June 2016 |title=Henry Boynton Smith and Church History in Nineteenth-century America |journal=Church History: Studies in Christianity and Culture |volume=85 |issue=2 |pages=302–327 |doi=10.1017/S0009640716000019}}
  • {{Cite journal |last=Bebbington |first=David W. |author-link=David W. Bebbington |date=2013 |title=The Evangelical Discovery of History |journal=Studies in Church History |volume=49 |pages=330–364 |doi=10.1017/S0424208400002229}}
  • {{Cite journal |last=Berezhnaya |first=Liliya |date=Fall 2009 |title=Does Ukraine Have a Church History? |journal=Kritika: Explorations in Russian and Eurasian History |series=New Series |volume=10 |issue=4 |pages=897–916 |doi=10.1353/kri.0.0123}}
  • {{Cite journal |last=Brakke |first=David |author-link=David Brakke |date=September 2002 |title=The Early Church in North America: Late Antiquity, Theory, and the History of Christianity |journal=Church History: Studies in Christianity and Culture |volume=71 |issue=3 |pages=473–491 |doi=10.1017/S0009640700130239 |jstor=4146416}}
  • {{Cite journal |last=Cook |first=C. W. |date=1970 |title=The Writing of South African Church History: Our Appraisal of the English-speaking Traditions |journal=South African Historical Journal |volume=2 |pages=107–116 |doi=10.1080/02582477008671477}}
  • {{Cite journal |last=Costelloe |first=M. Joseph |date=1961 |title=Church History in American Colleges and Universities |journal=The Journal of Higher Education |volume=32 |issue=2 |pages=70–76 |doi=10.1080/00221546.1961.11777654}}
  • {{Cite journal |last=Denis |first=Philippe |date=November 1997 |title=From Church History To Religious History: Strengths and Weaknesses of South African Religious Historiography |url=https://www.proquest.com/openview/6ed44f3a43fda792b297f9d7ac61d0ac/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=37817 |journal=Journal of Theology for Southern Africa |volume=99 |pages=84–93}}
  • {{Cite journal |last=Foot |first=Sarah |author-link=Sarah Foot |date=2013 |title=Has Ecclesiastical History Lost the Plot? |journal=Studies in Church History |volume=49 |pages=1–25 |doi=10.1017/S0424208400001984}}
  • {{Cite journal |last=Heitzenrater |first=Richard P. |date=December 2011 |title=Inventing Church History |journal=Church History: Studies in Christianity and Culture |volume=80 |issue=4 |pages=737–748 |doi=10.1017/S0009640711001193}}
  • {{Cite journal |last=Hillerbrand |first=Hans J. |date=March 2001 |title=Church History as Vocation and Moral Discipline |journal=Church History: Studies in Christianity and Culture |volume=70 |issue=1 |pages=1–18 |doi=10.2307/3654408|jstor=3654408 }}
  • {{Cite journal |last=Hudson |first=Winthrop S. |date=April 1960 |title=Shifting Trends in Church History |journal=Journal of Bible and Religion |volume=28 |issue=2 |pages=235–238 |jstor=1460071}}
  • {{Cite journal |last=Kollman |first=Paul V. |date=Fall 2004 |title=After Church History? Writing the History of Christianity from a Global Perspective |journal=Horizons |volume=31 |issue=2 |pages=322–342 |doi=10.1017/S0360966900001572}}
  • {{Cite journal |last=Liptak |first=Dolores |date=Spring–Winter 1993 |title=Women Church Historians: First and Second Generation |journal=Records of the American Catholic Historical Society of Philadelphia |volume=104 |issue=1–4 |pages=19–30 |jstor=44211200}}
  • {{Cite journal |last=Mallard |first=William |date=December 1968 |title=Method and Perspective in Church History: A Reconsideration |journal=Journal of the American Academy of Religion |volume=36 |issue=4 |pages=345–365 |doi=10.1093/jaarel/XXXVI.4.345}}
  • {{Cite journal |last=Molendjik |first=Arie L. |date=2004 |title='That Most Important Science': The Study of Church History in the Netherlands in the Nineteenth Century |journal=Dutch Review of Church History |volume=84 |pages=358–387 |doi=10.1163/9789047406242_017|isbn=978-90-474-0624-2 |url=https://pure.rug.nl/ws/files/2977102/Molendijk-THATMOSTIMPORTANT2004-1.pdf }}
  • {{Cite journal |last=Printy |first=Michael |date=March 2021 |title=History and Church History in the Catholic Enlightenment |journal=Modern Intellectual History |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=248–260 |doi=10.1017/S1479244319000118}}
  • {{Cite journal |last=Ramirez |first=Daniel |date=December 2022 |title=Puritans, Padres, and Pentecostals: Perspectival and Pedagogical Shifts in Americana Church History |journal=Church History: Studies in Christianity and Culture |volume=91 |issue=4 |pages=864–884 |doi=10.1017/S0009640722002815|doi-access=free }}
  • {{Cite journal |last=Wiesner-Hanks |first=Merry E. |author-link=Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks |date=September 2002 |title=Women, Gender, and Church History |journal=Church History: Studies in Christianity and Culture |volume=71 |issue=3 |pages=600–620 |doi=10.1017/S000964070013029X}}

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Category:History of Christianity

Category:Christian theology

Category:Fields of history

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