Christianity Through the Centuries

Rating:
Summary: Worst written and edited book I have ever read!!
Review: Book is the worst written and edited book I have ever read. Numerous errors, typos; Syntax that frequently defies interpretation. Frequent use of terms that are never defined. Poor maps; Useless diagrams. A real test. The editor must have been asleep on this one. What was Zondervan thinking?

Rating:
Summary: Worst written and edited book I have ever read!!
Review: Book is the worst written and edited book I have ever read. Numerous errors, typos; Syntax that frequently defies interpretation. Frequent use of terms that are never defined. Poor maps; Useless diagrams. A real test. The editor must have been asleep on this one. What was Zondervan thinking?

Rating:
Summary: Quality Introduction to Church History
Review: Earle Cairns take the reader on an epic journey of the history of the church from the day of Pentecost to the middle of the last decade of the 20th Century. The 560-page volume gives the reader an overview of the people, events, movements, doctrines, and cultures that sometimes shaped the church and that the church often shaped. The author shares little known details (Charlemagne was 7 foot tall), while presenting the broad-brush stroke of two thousand years of history.

The book was written from a conservative, nondenominational perspective. Though the author is from the Reformed tradition, I thought the book was thoughtful, fair, and balanced. It is easy to read and contains an abundance of pictures, photographs, maps and charts. Christianity Through the Centuries is an outstanding introductory presentation of Church history that I would heartily recommend.

Earle E. Cairns is professor emeritus at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois. He is a member of the American Society of Church History, the American Historical Association, and the Conference on Faith and History.

Rating:
Summary: Quality Introduction to Church History
Review: Earle Cairns take the reader on an epic journey of the history of the church from the day of Pentecost to the middle of the last decade of the 20th Century. The 560-page volume gives the reader an overview of the people, events, movements, doctrines, and cultures that sometimes shaped the church and that the church often shaped. The author shares little known details (Charlemagne was 7 foot tall), while presenting the broad-brush stroke of two thousand years of history.

The book was written from a conservative, nondenominational perspective. Though the author is from the Reformed tradition, I thought the book was thoughtful, fair, and balanced. It is easy to read and contains an abundance of pictures, photographs, maps and charts. Christianity Through the Centuries is an outstanding introductory presentation of Church history that I would heartily recommend.

Earle E. Cairns is professor emeritus at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois. He is a member of the American Society of Church History, the American Historical Association, and the Conference on Faith and History.

Rating:
Summary: An Excellent History of Christianity
Review: In my humble opinion, Cairns has written and excellent title on the spread of Christianity over the centuries.

The book is divided into 3 main periods:

1. Ancient Church History (5 B.C. - A.D. 590).
2. Medieval Church History (590 - 1517).
3. Modern Church History (1517 and After).

In all, the book contains 42 chapters roughly divded into the three periods. The writing style is interesting, easy to follow and is supported by several charts and maps.

I was required to read the book for a class and thoroughly enjoyed the title and have referred to it often when teaching a Bible study lesson.

An excellent source of information, I highly recommend the book. Read and enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: Difficulty read...there are better ones out there.
Review: The only reason I bought the book is b/c it was required for a college course. I found myself turning to other sources to obtain info on Christian History mainly b/c the book is very dry and doesnt flow well.

Rating:
Summary: Difficulty read...there are better ones out there.
Review: This book is great for the student that has no familiarity with Church History, like me when I first started reading it. Cairns starts you from the beginning with the ministry of Jesus and lays out history for you in a way to bring it to life. His structure is very effective. Each chapter is outlined according to event or idea to keep the concise focus on topic. This book is a great resource to start with when beginning study of Church History!