I would Luke a list og Tour top 3 historians and the name og their work and maybe some reasons for the 3 you have chosen, thanks

__________________
Martin - Reformed
Husband to the most godly, honorable and loyal wife Line
Searching for a Church
Webpage www.5solas.dk
Free Online Reformed Seminary - http://www.tnars.net
Soli Deo Gloria

Schaff!

As for a contemp, I like Mark Noll for the easy reading but he is in no way comprehensive.

__________________
Ewen
1689 LBCF
Assemblies of God Bible College
Singapore

I do not know if he would consider himself one but Iain Murray has done an excellent job recording the history of the Church in the 20th century.

__________________
Benjamin P. Glaser, M. Div, Licentiate, Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church
Member Fairmount ARP Church
Pittsburgh, PA

Deo Vindice

I would add Wm Cunningham to the list

Hard to name just 3, so many these days specialize in a specific area.

John Hannah definitely be a very good modern day historian.

__________________
"Be killing sin or it will be killing you."--John Owen

Tim Goerz
Weatherford Presbyterian(PCA)
Alvord, Texas

Merle d'Aubigné - several volumes on the Reformation

__________________
Bob, elder, RBC Louisville. 1689 LBCF

"... Of such also, or of those who make a credible profession of being such, all those particular churches consist, which constitute our Lord's visible kingdom. ... Consequently, all the subjects of His government must have spiritual dispositions, , and yield spiritual obedience- obedience proceeding from an enlightened understanding, an awakened conscience, and a renewed heart."- Abraham Booth 1788

Eusebius has to be one, i would think, with all his work on Ecclesiastical History in the Early Church.

So in order, I would put him first because he came first. William Cunningham WOW, praise God for working through him. I'd have to put him on there and then probably Schaff.

1. Eusebius
2. Cunningham
3. Schaff

__________________
Rev. Andrew J. Barnes
Husband of Dena
Father of Oliver
Master of Bruce
Pastor of Tchula Presbyterian Church

What can I say, I like blogs!

Mark Knoll,
Kenneth Scott Latourette
Schaff

-----Added 6/30/2009 at 11:12:52 EST-----

Don't forget Kenneth Scott Latourette; his is the best history of missions ever written.

Stephen Neill is also good for missions history.

__________________
Pergamum


"If a commission by an earthly king is considered a honor, how can a commission by a Heavenly King be considered a sacrifice?"
-- David Livingstone

Merle d'Aubigné - I love his non-contemporary attitude that God is an actor in history's drama

P. Schaff

Wm. Cunningham

J. Gonzalez, G. Marsden, M. Noll, I. Murray, and D. Bebbington are also very good, but probably too recent to know the enduring value of their scholarship.

__________________
Dennis E. McFadden, Ex Mainline Baptist (in Remission)
Atherton Baptist Homes, CEO
First Baptist Church of Alhambra, Member, Transformation Ministries (CA)

Click to get: Board Rules -- Signature Requirements -- Suggestions?

D'Aubigne
Eusebius
Neander


For Schaff lovers, you may find this paper I did on Volume 1 of his history here.

Cheers,

__________________
Adam B., Wine Country, California, PCA

"I fear not to hold with Junius, de Politia Mosis cap. 6, that he who was punishable by death under that Judicial law, is punishable by death still; and he who was not punished by death then, is not to be punished by death now."

He wasn't a bad offensive lineman, either.

__________________
Curt Lovelace
Pastor, Covenant Baptist Church (CBA)
Acton, Maine
Director, Lifework Forum
Sermons at SermonAudio.com/CBCActon
Blogging at Coffee with Curt

Dr. Hannah is an excellent teacher on the subject. He also has some reformed leanings, although he is at DTS.

__________________
Edward
Deacon
PCA
Texas

In addition to Eusebius and Schaff I would Add J.N.D. Kelly.

__________________
J. David Kear
Sunday School Teacher
First Presbyterian Church
Villa Rica, Georgia

OOOOO, good one Mr. Kear.

Schaff is definitely one of the three best. I think that Pelikan is a good contender. I'm not sure anyone has done history of doctrine better than he has (not even Harnack). Eusebius, d'Aubigne, Cunningham, Everett Ferguson are also all excellent.

__________________
Rev. Lane Keister
Teaching Elder, PCA, North Dakota (working out of bounds in a CRC and an RCA church)
http://greenbaggins.wordpress.com
http://brahmsgreenglove.blogspot.com
http://accenttranslation.blogspot.com
Click to get: Board Rules -- Signature Requirements -- Suggestions?

Philip Schaff: History of the Christian Church; Creeds of Christendom

Reinhold Seeberg: Textbook of the History of Doctrines (Lehrbuch der Dogmengeschichte)

William Cunningham: Historical Theology; The Reformers and the Theology of the Reformation

Jaroslav Pelikan: The Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine, 5 vols.

Richard A. Muller: Post-Reformation Reformed Dogmatics

J. N. D. Kelly: Early Christian Doctrines

-----Added 7/1/2009 at 09:55:14 EST-----

Etienne Gilson: The Spirit of Medieval Philosophy; Christian Philosophy in the Middle Ages; The Christian Philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas

__________________
Steven J. Carr (Sven)
http://beholdingthebeauty.blogspot.com/
Eagan, MN
PCA
"Weak is the effort of my heart / And cold my warmest thought / But when I see thee as thou art / I'll praise thee as I ought."--John Newton
Trophy Wife/Arm Candy: Crystal Ann Children: Steven Jr. and Hannah Grace

1. Eusebius
2. A.J Whylie
3. Schaff

__________________
Pastor Jerrold H. Lewis. (Dipl. IT; Assc. A; B.Th; M.Th Candidate, PRTS)
Lacombe Free Reformed Church
"A hot iron, though blunt, will pierce sooner than a cold one, though sharper."

JOHN FLAVEL

My Blog - Click HERE
Our Church site - Click HERE

We used Earle E. Cairns for our Church History class.

__________________
Nancy L./ www.foundersbaptist.org
Spring, TX

Your will, Lord Jesus Christ! Nothing more... nothing less... nothing else.

Most Church Historians are either generalists or specialists. It is hard to break it down from there; but my list reflects men still living.

In terms of generalists: Noll (Turning Points is the best summary of Christian history), Nichols of Lancaster, very easy to read and well researched, and Justo Gonzalez (The Story of Christianity: excellent and thorough as he seeks to look at the theological, political, and sociological reasons Christians did things.)

In terms of specialists: Carl Trueman on the reformation ( I put him ahead of Schaefer, Scott Clark, Godfrey, Beeke, and Hoffecker) Michael Hayken on Patristics (we need a lot more men who know this time period. In terms of a sociological method I enjoy Rodney Stark's Cities of God and the Rise of Christianity.) And Nick Needham (4 volume set of 2000 Years of Christ's power). In terms of American history- George Marsden and DG Hart are both excellent. [I know that is 4; go ahead and sue me].

I do not like Eusebius, even though he is "the father of church history" because of his over all bias and favor of Constantine. He is helpful in the sense that when one reads him you understand how Christians thought and lived in that time.

__________________
Pittsburgh, PA
New Covenant PCA, a church replant that you could read about here.
Co-Director of Children's Ministry
Bible Teacher - Trinity Christian School
M. Div Candidate at the Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary
Blogger, Relentless Grace

1. Eusebius
2. Schaff
3. The third and final one here a bit hard. John Fox would probably been one of the most influential. But personally, I like Everett Ferguson/ Tom Nettles.

__________________
David Jolley
Currently SBC, may change
Confessions: 1680-SLBCF/ 2000-BFAM
Escondido, CA

1. Richard Muller
2. J.N.D Kelly
3. Henry/Owen Chadwick

__________________
Keith
Pastoral Worker and MDiv Student, PCI
Ballymoney, Northern Ireland

1) Philip Schaff
2) Eusebius
3) John Gerstner

__________________
Johnathan Tate
Cornerstone Presbyterian Church (OPC), Arden, NC

Husband of one, father of 3 (1 in-utero); Time's "Man of the Year" 2006

I am no expert, but three that I have benefited from:

1. Michael Haykin
2. C. Gregg Singer (Theological Interpretation of American History)
3. Hughes Oliphant Old (Reading and preaching of the scriptures series.)

__________________
Rob VanDoodewaard
Free Reformed Church
PRTS Student
Grand Rapids, MI

I'm surprised at all the commendations of Schaff. I soldiered through two volumes and found him turgid, tendentious, pompous and really surprisingly uninformative given the sheer quantity of words.

__________________
Ruben
Moderator
F.P.C.I.
Indiana

Vanities and disguises have covered us, and thereby we are naked; licenciousness hath inflam'd us, and thereby we are frozen; voluptuousness hath fed us, and thereby we are sterved, the fancies and traditions of men have taught and instructed us, and thereby we are ignorant.
John Donne

Board Rules - Signature Requirements - Suggestions?

Calvinistas Conversando
Teología en Mexico
The Howling Wilderness

The reason that there are so many commendations of Schaff is because he is brilliant. I might grant you that he is turgid, but then again, who wasn't back then? He was an academic and it seems to me that the academic style back then was to be excessive and complex. As far as being tendentious and pompous he says things we might disagree with, but that hardly qualifies as tendentious or pompous. As to being uninformative, how on earth can you say that? Whoever reads Schaff and comes away uninformed either is really really smart or hasn't taken care in reading him. Every time I pick up Schaff, I am amazed at the vastness of his learning, and the range of his abilities. I really hope that one day I can have a quarter of the knowledge and ability that he had.

On a related note, is there any such thing as an "Adult Sunday School" curriculum that could give a rough outline of church history in a year's time - maybe something of a mix between lecture and video. Something to inform the lay person who is not going to pickup Schaff, etc. but who is interested enough to attend a weekly SS class for a year to become informed? Or am I dreaming?

__________________
Warren
Member, PCA
South Carolina

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek"
Romans 1:16

As far as Reformation history, I'm surprised no one has mentioned Heiko Oberman. I never knew the man, but one of my undergrad history profs was a student of his and he has been hugely influential in modern historical studies. Steven Ozment (another student of Oberman) is also worth reading and Richard Muller has also been mentioned a couple of times. On North American church history, Nathan Hatch (The Democratization of American Christianity), D.G. Hart, and George Marsden are excellent.

__________________
Wes Bredenhof
Pastor, Providence Canadian Reformed Church
Hamilton, Ontario
www.bredenhof.ca
Gospel Talk Radio Program

In terms of Sunday School education curriculum I have no idea. Your best bet is to read Turning Points by Noll; Crossway sells another overview but I forget the author. I teach church history at a local Christian school and have lots of notes on the subject, perhaps I can turn it into a SS. curriculum. Most pastors study our history in great detail and are a tremendous resource.

In my view his generalizations and summarizations alone probably disqualify him from brilliance. Certainly he had the ability to read a lot of material. But I don't think his bad style can be wholly blamed on the times.

Alister McGrath- His books are very well written and easy to read, even when they deal with a technical subject, like Iustitia Dei.

Mark Noll- I put him in here just for his work done on American Christianity. His book America's God helped me greatly in understanding the religious atmosphere of 21st century American Christianity.

I haven't read much too many church historians, so I don't know if either of them qualify as the best, but they both write in an accessible style and seem to be non-partisan in their interpretations of history(i.e. Mark Noll disapproving of evangelicalism, yet writing The Age of Evangelicalism which convicted me more than ever that evangelicalism is an accurate representation of biblical Christianity).

What about historians dealing with the 1st and 2nd centuries of Christianity? Does anyone have any suggestion for a historian that specializes in that time?

__________________
Andrew C.
IFB
LBCF 1689

Plus, he was a liberal, and his liberalism is the most dangerous kind: the kind that pretends to be orthodox. I did a book review you may want to read.

Cheers,