Summer is here and the HistoricalTheology.org crew has book recommendations to add to your summer reading list. Here’s something for all the historians and theologians in your family!
Eight Women of Faith (2016) by Michael A. G. Haykin.
It is difficult to find sources on women in church history that are scholarly without being too narrow or technical for readers outside of academia; Haykin’s book is one of a few. In it, he introduces readers to Lady Jane Grey, Margaret Baxter, Anne Dutton, Sarah Edwards, Anne Steele, Esther Edwards Burr, Ann Judson, and Jane Austen. This book strikes a rare balance between not forcing information about women in the past into modern categories, while still making it meaningful for believers today. Readers can trust the author, knowing he has expertise in the time periods and figures he writes on, and thus truly appreciate these women’s stories. - JD
How Africa Shaped the Christian Mind: Rediscovering the African Seedbed of Western Christianity by Thomas Oden
As my research is focused on American evangelicalism (especially in the twentieth century), I have to be intentional to read books that keep me tethered to the Great Tradition. Thomas Oden has been a vital guide.
This book was born out of Oden's work on the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture series, when he realized that African thought played an outsized and underappreciated role in the intellectual development of Christianity. Oden demonstrates that it was the African teachers (Origen, Lactantius, Augustine, Athanasius, Tertullian, and more) who were at the front of the pack teaching and interpreting Scripture for others, mainly Christians north of the Mediterranean who would then take what they learned from these African leaders to the rest of the known world. Africa was at the headwaters of the Western concept of the university, careful exegesis, and the development of certain doctrinal formulations. Oden unpacks this forgotten story, and urges future scholars to unearth the depths of dependency that the worldwide church has had on African Christianity. - JP
To Think Christianly: A History of L'Abri, Regent College, and the Christian Study Center Movement by Charles Cotherman
American evangelicalism has always leaned on networks and relationships. In To Think Christianly, Cotherman details a specific network that gained steam in the twentieth century: the Christian study center movement. Tracing the stories of intellectually-focused communities such as L'Abri, Regent College, Ligonier, and beyond, Cotherman sheds light on a relatively unstudied but influential aspect of evangelicalism. Many evangelicals, consciously or not, can trace their DNA back to the confluence and legacy of one or more of these centers. - JP
The Good Shepherd: Meditations on Christian Ministry in Today’s World (Eerdmans, 1977) by Lesslie Newbigin
This book is a collection of talks that Newbigin gave in the late 1960s and early 1970s to the gathering of pastors in the Church of South India. If you are a pastor, elder, or lay leader in your church you will be edified by the vision for pastoral ministry that Newbigin provides in these addresses. Newbigin had the uncanny ability to perceive ahead of his time the issues plaguing the church in the western world; this is the setting we continue to occupy. (Note: This book is, sadly, out of print, but you can find a used copy like this one, or you can find the electronic version free online here through the NewbiginResources.org website. Find out more about Newbigin here.) - TS
Sermons on 2 Timothy (Banner of Truth, 2018) by John Calvin
In the late spring and early summer of 1555, John Calvin preached a series of sermons on 2 Timothy. These sermons were published in French in 1561 and translated into English in 1579 by Laurence Tomson. Robert White’s 2018 English translation is the first in English since Tomson’s; the last 439 years have confirmed the need for this fresh translation. In these 30 sermons, Calvin walks through the entire book of 2 Timothy, uncovering the treasures to be found. These sermons can be read as a devotional practice (along with the text of 2 Timothy), for sermon or teaching preparation (amazingly, biblical commentators continue to interact with Calvin’s thoughts), or for historical insight (especially along with Bruce Gordon’s brilliant biography Calvin). I’m triple-dipping, as it were, and using it for all three. Get it on Amazon or at Banner of Truth. Check out more about Calvin here. - TS
An All-Round Ministry: Direction, Wisdom, and Encouragement for Preachers and Pastor (Banner of Truth, 2018) by Charles Spurgeon
In 1865, Spurgeon began hosting an annual conference of students, graduates, and friends of the Pastor’s College in which he would give an address to the gathering of pastors and pastors-in-training. This book contains 12 of those talks. Any pastor, elder, or pastor-in-training would do well to hear these words. Pastor, here is what you can expect to find in these talks: “Dwell in God, brethren; not sometimes go to him, but abide in him. They say in Italy that, where the sun does not enter, the physician must. Where Jesus does not shine, the soul is sick. Bask in his beams, and you shall be vigorous in the service of your Lord.” This is a re-read for me, and still Spurgeon is a fresh breath of air that revives the weary traveler. Order from Amazon or Banner of Truth. Learn more about Spurgeon here. - TS
2,000 Years of Christ's Power Vol. 1 & 2 by Nick Needham
For so many Christians, their understanding of church history largely begins in the 16th century with the Protestant Reformation and is largely limited to Europe and North America. Yet, since the time of the apostles, Christianity has impacted the entire world throughout every century. For those looking for an engaging overview of church history throughout the centuries and not only in the West but also in Africa and Asia, Needham’s four-volume work is an excellent place to start. The first two volumes cover the first 15 centuries, from the early church to the medieval church. Here you’ll be introduced both to the life and thought of the major figures of church history, as well as many of the lesser-known ones. - GC