Christian Literature

“To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.”

— St. Thomas Aquinas

My entrance to the study of ancient history began here. Having been raised a Christian, my initial interest in history pertained to the birth and spread of Christianity. Although my interests have widened, I will always value my journey exploring the history and ideas of this powerful vision of faith. Because much of the Western world has been influenced by it, I will likely find myself returning for a closer look.

Here are a few of the Bibles, books, and lectures I have found helpful.

Early Christianity

PRIMARY SOURCES

  • Barnstone, Willis and Marvin Meyer, eds. The Gnostic Bible. Boston, MA: New Seeds Books, 2003.

  • Chadwick, Henry, trans. Saint Augustine: Confessions. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008.

  • Croft, Aloysius and Harold Bolton, trans. Thomas A Kempis: The Imitation of Christ. Milwaukee, WI: Bruce Publishing Company, 1940. Reprint, Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 2003.

  • Cruse, C. F., trans. Eusebius’ Ecclesiastical History: New Updated Edition. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1998.

  • Mead, G. R. S., trans. Pistis Sophia: The Gnostic Tradition of Mary Magdalene, Jesus, and His Disciples. London, 1921. New and Revised Edition. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 2005.

  • Pine-Coffin, R. S., trans. Saint Augustine: Confessions. London: Penguin Books, 1961.

  • Roberts, Alexander, and James Donaldson, eds. Ante-Nicene Fathers. Originally published by the Christian Literature Publishing Company, 1885-97. 10 vols. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1994.

  • Schaff, Philip, ed. Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: First Series. Originally published by the Christian Literature Publishing Company, 1886-89. 10 vols. (vols. 1 to 5., Augustine) Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1994.

  • Schaff, Philip, and Henry Wace, eds. Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Second Series. Originally published by the Christian Literature Publishing Company, 1890-1900. 14 vols. (vols. 3 & 4., Athanasius, Jerome, Rufinus) Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1994.

  • The Companion Bible. Authorized Version of 1611 (KJV). Notes and appendixes by E. W. Bullinger, 1922. Grand Rapids, MI: Kregal Publications, 1999.

  • The Lost Books of the Bible. World Pub., 1926. Reprint, New York: Bell Publishing Company, 1979.

  • The Nelson Study Bible. New King James Version. General Editor, Earl D. Radmacher. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1982.

  • The New American Bible. Saint Joseph Edition. New York: Catholic Book Publishing, 1970.

  • The New Oxford Annotated Bible. New Revised Standard Version with the Apocrypha. Edited by Michael D. Coogan. 4th ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010.

  • The Thompson Chain-Reference Bible. New International Version. Edited by Frank Charles Thompson. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Bible Publishers, 1983.

SECONDARY SOURCES

  • Brown, Peter. Augustine of Hippo: A Biography. Forty-Fifth Anniversary Edition. Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press, 2000.

  • Chadwick, Henry. Augustine: A Very Short Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001.

  • Comfort, Philip W. Essential Guide to Bible Versions. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2000.

  • Ehrman, Bart D. Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why. New York: Harper San Francisco, 2005.

  • Gonzalez, Justo L. The Story of Christianity: Complete in One Volume, The Early Church to the Present Day. vol. 1. Peabody, MA: Prince Press, 2001.

  • Harnack, Adolf. The Mission and Expansion of Christianity in the First Three Centuries. James Moffatt, trans. 2nd ed. 2 vols. (vol. 1) Williams and Norgate. New York: G. P. Putnam’s sons, 1908.

  • Lightfoot, Neil R. How We got the Bible. 3rd ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2003.

  • McDonald, Lee M. The Formation of the Christian Biblical Canon. Revised and Expanded Edition. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1995.

  • McKelvey, R. J. The New Temple: The Church in the New Testament. London: Oxford University Press, 1969.

  • Nock, A. D. Conversion: The Old and the New in Religion from Alexander the Great to Augustine of Hippo. 1933. Reprint, Baltimore, MD: John Hopkins University Press, 1998.

  • Pagels, Elaine. Adam, Eve, and the Serpent. New York: Vintage Books, 1988.

  • Pagels, Elaine. The Origin of Satan. New York: Vintage Books, 1995.

  • Sanders, E. P. Paul: A Very Short Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001.

  • Schaff, Philip. History of the Christian Church. Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1858. 8 vols. (vol. 1: Apostolic Christianity / vol. 2: Ante-Nicene Christianity) Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 2002.

  • Shelley, Bruce L. Church History in Plain Language. 2nd ed. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1995.

  • Urban, Linwood. A Short History of Christian Thought. Revised and Expanded Edition. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995.

  • Weiss, Johannes. Earliest Christianity: A History of the Period A.D. 30-150. vol. 1. Wilson-Erickson, 1937. Frederick C. Grant, trans. New York: Harper Torchbooks, 1959.

Post-Reformation Christianity

PRIMARY SOURCES

  • Calvin, John. Institutes of the Christian Religion. Henry Beveridge, trans. 1989. Reprint, Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1997.

  • Erasmus, Desiderius. Betty Radice, trans. Praise of Folly and Letter to Maarten Van Dorp 1515. Originally published, 1971. London: Penguin Books, 1993.

  • Erasmus, Desiderius and Martin Luther. Ernst F. Winter, trans. and ed. Discourse on Free Will. 1989. Reprint, New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2013.

  • Luther, Martin. Mark D. Tranvik, trans. The Freedom of a Christian. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2008.

  • Luther, Martin. The Jews and Their Lies. Reprint, York, SC: Liberty Bell Publications, 2004.

SECONDARY SOURCES

  • Burks, Ron & Vicki. Damaged Disciples: Casualties of Authoritarian Churches and the Shepherding Movement. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1992.

  • Cox, Harvey. Fire From Heaven: The Rise of Pentecostal Spirituality and The Reshaping of Religion in the Twenty-First Century. 1995. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press, 2001.

  • Cox, Harvey. The Secular City. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2013.

  • Cutten, George Barton. Speaking in Tongues: Historically and Psychologically Considered. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1927.

  • Epstein, Daniel Mark. Sister Aimee: The Life of Aimee Semple McPherson. New York: Harcourt Brace & Company, 1993.

  • Gonzalez, Justo L. The Story of Christianity: Complete in One Volume, The Early Church to the Present Day. vol. 2. Peabody, MA: Prince Press, 2001.

  • Hoekema, Anthony A. What About Tongue Speaking? 1966. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1976.

  • Hughes, Richard T., ed. The American Quest for the Primitive Church. Chicago, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1988.

  • Kelsey, Morton. Tongue Speaking: The History and Meaning of Charismatic Experience. New York: Crossroad Publishing Company, 1981.

  • Kildahl, John P. The Psychology of Speaking in Tongues. New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1972.

  • Mansfield, Stephen. Derek Prince: A Biography. Lake Mary, FL: Charisma House, 2005.

  • Moore, David S. The Shepherding Movement: Controversy and Charismatic Ecclesiology. New York: T & T Clark International, 2003.

  • Schaff, Philip. History of the Christian Church. Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1888. 8 vols. (vol. 7: The German Reformation) Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 2002.

  • Shelley, Bruce L. Church History in Plain Language. 2nd ed. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1995.

  • Steele, David N., and Curtis C. Thomas. The Five Points of Calvinism: Defined, Defended, Documented. Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian & Reformed Publishing, 1963.

  • Stolee, H. J. Pentecostalism: The Problem of the Modern Tongues Movement. Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Publishing House, 1963.

  • Synan, Vinson. The Holiness-Pentecostal Tradition: Charismatic Movements in the Twentieth Century. 2nd ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1997.

  • Synan, Vinson, ed. Aspects of Pentecostal-Charismatic Origins. Plainfield, NJ: Logos International, 1975.

  • Tillich, Paul. Perspectives on 19th & 20th Century Protestant Theology. New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1967.

  • Urban, Linwood. A Short History of Christian Thought. Revised and Expanded Edition. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995.

AUDIO/VISUAL RECORDINGS

  • After the New Testament: The Writings of the Apostolic Fathers, CD, 2 Vols. Taught by Bart D. Ehrman. The Great Courses, 2005.

  • American Religious History, CD, 2 Parts. Taught by Patrick N. Allitt. The Great Courses, 2001.

  • Books That Matter: The City of God, DVD. Taught by Charles Mathewes. The Great Courses, 2016.

  • From Jesus to Constantine: A History of Early Christianity, DVD. Taught by Bart D. Ehrman. The Great Courses, 2004.

  • Gnosticism: From Nag Hammadi to the Gospel of Judas, CD, 2 Vols. Taught by David S. Brakke. The Great Courses, 2015.

  • Great Ancient Civilizations of Asia Minor, DVD. Taught by Kenneth W. Harl. The Great Courses, 2001.

  • Great World Religions: Christianity, CD. Taught by Luke Timothy Johnson. The Great Courses, 2003.

  • Luther: Gospel, Law, and Reformation, CD, 2 Parts. Taught by Phillip Cary. The Great Courses, 2004.

  • St. Augustine’s Confessions, DVD. Taught by William R. Cook and Ronald B. Herzman. The Great Courses, 2004.

  • The Apocalypse: Controversies and Meaning in Western History, DVD. Taught by Craig R. Koester. The Great Courses, 2011.

  • The Catholic Church: A History, DVD. Taught by William R. Cook. The Great Courses, 2009.

  • The Era of the Crusades, DVD. Taught by Kenneth W. Harl. The Great Courses, 2003.

  • The Fall of the Pagans and the Origins of Medieval Christianity, DVD. Taught by Kenneth W. Harl. The Great Courses, 2011.

  • The Greatest Controversies of Early Christian History, CD, 2 Vols. Taught by Bart D. Ehrman. The Great Courses, 2013.

  • The History of the Bible: The Making of the New Testament Canon, DVD. Taught by Bart D. Ehrman. The Great Courses, 2005.

  • The Greatest Controversies of Early Christian History, CD, 2 Vols. Taught by Bart D. Ehrman. The Great Courses, 2013.

  • The History of Christianity II: From the Reformation to the Modern Megachurch, DVD. Taught by Molly Worthen. The Great Courses, 2017.

  • The History of Christianity in the Reformation Era, CD, 3 Parts. Taught by Brad S. Gregory. The Great Courses, 2001.

  • The New Testament, DVD. Taught by Bart D. Ehrman. The Great Courses, 2000.

  • Understanding the New Testament, DVD. Taught by David Brakke. The Great Courses, 2019.

  • World of Byzantium, DVD. Taught by Kenneth W. Harl. The Great Courses, 2001.