CHURCH HISTORY IN PLAIN LANGUAGE (5th edition) by Bruce Shelley

 

This is the story of the church for today's readers. Bruce Shelley's classic history of the church brings the story of global Christianity into the twenty-first century. Like a skilled screenwriter, Shelley begins each chapter with three elements: characters, setting, and plot. Taking readers from the early centuries of the church up through the modern era, he tells his readers a story of actual people, in particular situations, who are taking action or being acted upon, and provides a window into the circumstances and historical context. From there he develops the story of a major period or theme of Christian history.

 

Also covering recent events, this book:

• Details the rapid growth of Evangelical and Pentecostal Christianity in the southern hemisphere

• Addresses the decline in traditional mainline denominations

• Examines the influence of technology on the spread of the gospel

• Discusses how Christianity intersects with other religions in countries all over the world

 

For this fifth edition, Bruce Shelley’s son brought together a team of historians, historical theologians, and editors to revise and update his father's classic text. The new edition adds important stories of the development of Christianity in Asia, India, and Africa, both in the early church as well as in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. It also highlights the stories of women and non-Europeans who significantly influenced the development of Christianity but whose contributions were often overlooked in previous overviews of church history. This concise book provides an easy-to-read guide to church history with intellectual substance. The new edition of Church History in Plain Language promises to set a new standard for readable church history.