Where To Start In Church/ Baptist History?

Bro. Glen

Schaff's quotation is an excellent place to start, and echos what I said in the earlier thread.

To write history, however, one must define the scope of the work. For example, would you be writing a history of one local church, a local association, a movement, or a denominational structure. Or, perish the thought, the history of the church of God from Creation. Hassell did as well as anyone on that topic, but only briefly gives notice to many interesting things.

Do you have a specific topic for research in mind?

Another thing, I learned this many years ago, to know history you have to write history. Another axiom in the history business is that good history makes no one happy. That is to say there are partisans on both sides with their shortcomings, mistakes, coverups, foibles, etc., which most of those partisans would prefer not to be exposed, but in writing a good history you have to do it.

One problem with writing Church history theology often comes into play, and you have to take care not to let that theology cloud the judgment of the historical record. An example of this would be for a Baptist writer to universally condemn the Catholic church or the Pentcostals, while ignoring the shortcomings of Baptists. It is simply intellectually dishonest to do it this way. Another axiom of the history biz, no one has a monopoly on the truth and no one is free from error.

Hope it helps

Jeff,.

 

Sorry for the confusion. I haven't slept well for several days.

I think you have to work backward to understand it and not loose interest. If you start at the back and work forward, you aren't as likely to be able to identify with the concepts, people, places, etc. But as you learn the recent information, then the other stuff will be an accumulation of knowledge, and less likely to cause burnout. {I know this is opposite of the way history is usually taught] Of course there are other valid approaches, but this is what seems to work best for most people. Some of it will depend on your personality, interests, exposure to other ideas, etc.

 

Good series on Church History: http://www.emmanuel-baptist.org/sermons/History/

 

My favourite history references are the two volume set: A Manual of Church History, by A. H. Newman, Judson Press......It is rather dated, but I have always enjoyed it. I also like a Lutheran's work, A History of the Christian Church, Lars P. Qualben.

I also like to read historical background books dealing with ancient life and culture, such as Matthews, Manners and Customs in the Bible. In this regard, don't be afraid to read either secular or theologically liberal writers. They all offer valuable information, and generally without a noticeable bias.

Cheers,

Jim

 

I have been thinking about this since someone (Gina, I think) asked something about recommending an outline of Baptist history for newbies. I am in agreement with Jeff. The best place for most people to start (there will be exceptions) is in the present and work back. Perhaps start with the history of your own local church. What are its origins? Who were the people who started it? From where did they come? What ties did they have? Then broaden to the histories of the churches that are connected with yours. What common point of origin did they have? What doctrines tied them together? Who were these people? Then back to the next connections, and so on.

 

LOL! I'm gonna sound like Seinfeld when I go to my church and ask "Who AHHH these people??"
Gina

 

If anyone is looking for an online start piont for church history I don't think you can beat Phil Johnson's "The Hall of Church History" web addredd is http://www.gty.org/~phil/hall.htm

Regards
Bob