Church History

Recommended Resources: Church History

	Kurian, George Thomas, ed. The Encyclopedia of Christian Civilization. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2011. A comprehensive reference work on the history and impact of Christianity. Over 1,400 entries provide an in-depth and dynamic look at Christianity both through its history and the way it has shaped societies around the world.
	Lacoste, Jean-Yves, ed. Encyclopedia of Christian Theology. New York: Routledge, 2017. Provides a critical overview of the significant concepts, events, councils, theologians, philosophers, and movements in Christian theology.
	Louth, Andrew, ed. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. 4th edition. Oxford University Press, 2022. Contains over 6,500 cross-referenced A-Z entries, and offers unrivaled coverage of all aspects of this vast and often complex subject, from theology; churches and denominations; patristic scholarship; and the bible; to the church calendar and its organization; popes; archbishops; other church leaders; saints; and mystics.
	McFarland, Ian A., David A. S. Fergusson, Karen Kilby, and Iain R. Torrance, eds. The Cambridge Dictionary of Christian Theology. Cambridge University Press, 2011. With over 550 entries ranging from Abba to Zwingli composed by leading contemporary theologians from around the world, The Cambridge Dictionary of Christian Theology provides an ecumenical introduction to the defining topics in Christian thought.
	Mannion, Gerard, and Lewis Seymour Mudge, eds. The Routledge Companion to the Christian Church. London: Routledge, 2008. Introduces the fundamental historical, systematic, moral and ecclesiological aspects of the study of the church.
	Walton, Robert C. Chronological and Background Charts of Church History. Zondervan Charts. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2019. This book organizes large amounts of information from the history of the church for greater understanding and ease of reference.

Databases

Atla Historical Monographs Collection: Series 1 (circa 1200 through 1893) and Series 2

Provides religious and theological literature from the late 13th century to 1922.

Atla Religion Database with AtlaSerials PLUS (off campus access requires login)

The Atla Religion Database is the premier resource for journal articles, book reviews, and collections of essays in all fields of religion with the largest collection of full text religion and theology journals. This database is produced by Atla, a membership association of collectors and connectors in religion and theology.

Credo Reference: Christian History and Theology (off campus access requires login)

Credo is an excellent place to begin when you are first learning about a topic. On this site, you will be able to search encyclopedias, dictionaries, and handbooks on topics ranging from Christianity to other religions to the interactions between religion and society.

JSTOR: Religion and Theology archive collection (off campus access requires login)

This collection covers the history and philosophy of religious thought spanning traditions, periods, and critical approaches. As an archival collection, it includes the full text of journals from their inception through approximately five years ago.

Religion and Philosophy Collection (off campus access requires login)

A full-text collection of journal and magazine content on world religions, philosophy of language, moral philosophy and more.

Dictionaries and Encyclopedias

Benedetto, Robert and Donald K. McKim. Historical Dictionary of the Reformed Churches. 2nd ed. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2010.

Ferguson, Everett. Encyclopedia of Early Christianity. 2nd ed. New York: Routledge, 1999.

Hillerbrand, Hans Joachim. The Encyclopedia of Protestantism. London: Routledge, 2011.

Kapic, Kelly M., and Wesley Vander Lugt. Pocket Dictionary of the Reformed Tradition. IVP Pocket Reference Series. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2013.

Kurian, George Thomas, ed. The Encyclopedia of Christian Civilization. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2011.

Lacoste, Jean-Yves, ed. Encyclopedia of Christian Theology. New York: Routledge, 2017.

McFarland, Ian A., David A. S. Fergusson, Karen Kilby, and Iain R. Torrance, eds. The Cambridge Dictionary of Christian Theology. Cambridge University Press, 2011.

Guides, Charts, Introductions, etc.

Bingham, D. Jeffrey. The Routledge Companion to Early Christian Thought.. Routledge Companions. London: Routledge, 2011. [access limited to one simultaneous reader]

Esler, Philip Francis, ed. The Early Christian World. 2nd ed. London: Routledge, 2017.

Kaatz, Kevin W., ed. Voices of Early Christianity: Documents from the Origins of Christianity. Voices of an Era. Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood, 2013.

Kelly, J. N. D. Early Christian Doctrines. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2014.

Mannion, Gerard and Lewis S. Mudge, eds. Routledge Companion to the Christian Church. London: Routledge, 2010.

Marty, Martin. The Christian World: A Global History. New York: Modern Library, 2007.

Walton, Robert C. Chronological and Background Charts of Church History. Zondervan Charts. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2019.

Works on Periods of Church History

Early Church

Ashwin-Siejkowski, Piotr. The Apostles’ Creed: And Its Early Christian Context. London: T&T Clark, 2009.

Bingham, D. Jeffrey. The Routledge Companion to Early Christian Thought. Routledge Companions. London: Routledge, 2011.

Calhoun, Robert L, and George A. Lindbeck. Scripture, Creed, Theology: Lectures on the History of Christian Doctrine in the First Centuries. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2011.

Cianca, Jenn. Sacred Ritual, Profane Space: The Roman House As Early Christian Meeting Place. Studies in Christianity and Judaism. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2018.

Clark, Elizabeth A. Women in the Early Church. Fathers of the Church. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2017.

Cohick, Lynn H., and Amy Brown Hughes. Christian Women in the Patristic World: Their Influence, Authority, and Legacy in the Second Through Fifth Centuries. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2017.

Daley, Brian, Timothy J. Gaden, L. G. Patterson, and Andrew Brian McGowan. God in Early Christian Thought: Essays in Memory of Lloyd G. Patterson. Supplements to Vigiliae Christianae. Leiden: Brill, 2009.

Daly, Robert. Apocalyptic Thought in Early Christianity. Holy Cross Studies in Patristic Theology and History. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2009.

Edwards, Mark. Image, Word and God in the Early Christian Centuries. Ashgate Studies in Philosophy & Theology in Late Antiquity. London: Routledge, 2013.

Fedou. The Fathers of the Church in Christian Theology. Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2019.

Ferguson, Everett. The Early Church at Work and Worship, vol. 1: Ministry, Ordination, Covenant, and Canon. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2013.

Glancy, Jennifer A. Slavery in Early Christianity. Oxford University Press, 2002.

González, Justo L. A History of Early Christian Literature. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2019.

Guy, Laurie. Introducing Early Christianity: A Topical Survey of Its Life, Beliefs and Practices. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2004.

Haynes, Daniel. A Saint for East and West: Maximus the Confessor’s Contribution to Eastern and Western Christian Theology. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2019.

Heffernan, Thomas J. The Passion of Perpetua and Felicity. New York: Oxford University Press, 2012.

Holman, Susan R. Wealth and Poverty in Early Church and Society. Holy Cross Studies in Patristic Theology and History. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2008. [access limited to one simultaneous reader]

Hughes, Kyle R. How the Spirit Became God: The Mosaic of Early Christian Pneumatology. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2020. [access limited to three simultaneous readers]

Irenaeus, and James R. Payton. Irenaeus on the Christian Faith: A Condensation of “Against Heresies.” Cambridge, UK: James Clarke & Co, 2012.

Johnson, Maxwell E. Praying and Believing in Early Christianity: The Interplay Between Christian Worship and Doctrine. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2013.

Kaatz, Kevin W., ed. Voices of Early Christianity: Documents from the Origins of Christianity. Voices of an Era. Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood, 2013.

Kelly, J. N. D. Early Christian Doctrines. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2014.

Kelly, Joseph F. The World of the Early Christians. Message of the Fathers of the Church. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2017.

Koester, Helmut. History and Literature of Early Christianity. 2nd ed. New York: De Gruyter, 2000.

Moss, Candida R. Ancient Christian Martyrdom: Diverse Practices, Theologies, and Traditions. The Anchor Yale Bible Reference Library. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2012.

O’Mahony, Kieran. Christian Origins: Worship, Belief and Society. Journal for the Study of the New Testament. Supplement Series. London: Sheffield Academic Press, 2003.

Papandrea, James Leonard. Reading the Early Church Fathers: From the Didache to Nicaea. New York: Paulist Press, 2012.

Placher, William C. and Derek R. Nelson, eds. Readings in the History of Christian Theology, vol. 1: From Its Beginnings to the Eve of the Reformation. Rev. ed. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2015.

Rhee, Helen. Early Christian Literature: Christ and Culture in the Second and Third Centuries. London: Routledge, 2005.

Rombs, Ronnie J. Tradition and the Rule of Faith in the Early Church. Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2010.

Rousseau, Philip. The Early Christian Centuries. Hoboken, NJ: Routledge, 2014.

Shoemaker, Stephen J. Mary in Early Christian Faith and Devotion. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2016.

Stark, Rodney. The Rise of Christianity: A Sociologist Reconsiders History. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1996.

Talbert, Charles H. The Development of Christology During the First Hundred Years, and Other Essays on Early Christian Christology. Supplements to Novum Testamentum. Leiden: Brill, 2011.

Wilken, Robert Louis. The Spirit of Early Christian Thought: Seeking the Face of God. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003.

Williams, A. N. The Divine Sense: The Intellect in Patristic Theology. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2007.

Medieval

Baker, Denise Nowakowski. Julian of Norwich’s Showings: From Vision to Book. Princeton Legacy Library. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2014.

Biller, Peter and A.J. Minnis. Medieval Theology and the Natural Body. York Studies in Medieval Theology. Rochester, NY: York Medieval Press, 1997. [access limited to one simultaneous reader]

Davies, Brian. The Thought of Thomas Aquinas. Clarendon Paperbacks. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1992.

Davis, Adam J. The Medieval Economy of Salvation: Charity, Commerce, and the Rise of the Hospital. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2019.

Evans, G. R. Philosophy and Theology in the Middle Ages. London: Routledge, 1993.

Friedman, Russell L. Medieval Trinitarian Thought From Aquinas to Ockham. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2010.

Gilson, Étienne. Medieval Essays. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2011.

Harwood, Larry D. Medieval Civilization: Formation, Fruition, Finality, and Fall. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2016.

Madigan, Kevin. Medieval Christianity: A New History. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2015.

Mauriege, Maxime, Stephen F. Brown, Andreas Speer, Kent Emery, and Russell L. Friedman. Philosophy and Theology in the Long Middle Ages: A Tribute to Stephen F. Brown. Studien Und Texte Zur Geistesgeschichte Des Mittelalters. Leiden: Brill, 2011.

Newman, Barbara. Voice of the Living Light: Hildegard of Bingen and Her World. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998.

Oberman, Heiko Augustinus. The Harvest of Medieval Theology: Gabriel Biel and Late Medieval Nominalism. The Robert Troup Paine Prize-Treatise 1962. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 2000.

Ozment, Steven E., Carlos Eire, and Ronald K. Rittgers. The Age of Reform, 1250-1550: An Intellectual and Religious History of Late Medieval and Reformation Europe. Yale University Press, 2020.

Rosemann, Philipp W. Mediaeval Commentaries on the Sentences of Peter Lombard. Leiden: Brill, 2010.

Slotemaker, John T. Trinitarian Theology in Medieval and Reformation Thought. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2020.

Smith, Lesley. Masters of the Sacred Page: Manuscripts of Theology in the Latin West to 1274. The Medieval Book. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2001.

Torrell, Jean-Pierre. Saint Thomas Aquinas. Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 1996.

- - - . Saint Thomas Aquinas, volume 2: Spiritual Master. Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2003.

Van Nieuwenhove, Rik. An Introduction to Medieval Theology. Introduction to Religion. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012.

Vos, A. The Theology of John Duns Scotus. Studies in Reformed Theology. Leiden: Brill, 2018.

Wickham, Chris. Medieval Europe. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2016.

Reformation

Atherstone, Andrew and Kate Benson. Reformation: A World in Turmoil. Oxford: Lion Books, 2015.

Berthoud, Pierre and Pieter J. Lalleman. The Reformation: Its Roots and Its Legacy. Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications, 2017.

Bierma, Lyle D., Gunnoe, Charles D. Jr., Maag, Karin, and Fields, Paul W. An Introduction to the Heidelberg Catechism: Sources, History, and Theology. Texts and Studies in Reformation and Post-Reformation Thought. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2005. [access limited to one simultaneous reader]

Cartledge, Mark J., and Mark A. Jumper. The Holy Spirit and the Reformation Legacy. Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications, 2020.

Eire, Carlos M. N. Reformations: The Early Modern World, 1450-1650. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2016.

Evans, G. R. The Roots of the Reformation: Tradition, Emergence and Rupture. 2nd ed. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2012.

Hamm, Berndt, and Robert James Bast. The Reformation of Faith in the Context of Late Medieval Theology and Piety: Essays by Berndt Hamm. Studies in the History of Christian Thought. Leiden: Brill, 2004.

Hinlicky, Paul R. Lutheran Theology: A Critical Introduction. Cascade Companions. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2020. [access limited to one simultaneous reader]

Horn, Trent. The Case for Catholicism: Answers to Classic and Contemporary Protestant Objections. Ignatius Press, 2017.

Janz, Denis R. Luther and Late Medieval Thomism: A Study in Theological Anthropology. Waterloo, ON: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2009.

Karlberg, Mark W. Reforming the Christian Faith: Theological Interpretation After the Protestant Reformation. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2017.

McGrath, Alister E. Reformation Thought: An Introduction. 3rd ed. Oxford, UK: John Wiley and Sons, Inc, 2000. [access limited to one simultaneous reader]

Oberman, Heiko Augustinus, and Donald Weinstein. The Two Reformations: The Journey From the Last Days to the New World. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003.

Parsons, Michael. Aspects of Reforming: Theology and Practice in Sixteenth Century Europe. Studies in Christian History and Thought. Milton Keynes, UK: Paternoster, 2013.

Pelikan, Jaroslav. Historical Theology: Continuity and Change in Christian Doctrine. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2014.

Placher, William C., and Nelson, Derek R. Readings in the History of Christian Theology, vol 2: From the Reformation to the Present. Louisville, KY: Presbyterian Publishing Corporation, 2017.

Rublack, Ulinka. The Oxford Handbook of the Protestant Reformations. Oxford, UK: OUP Oxford, 2017. [access limited to one simultaneous reader]

Slotemaker, John T. Trinitarian Theology in Medieval and Reformation Thought. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2020.

Sunshine, Glenn S. A Brief Introduction to the Reformation. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2017.

Wandel, Lee Palmer. A Companion to the Eucharist in the Reformation. Brill’s Companions to the Christian Tradition. Leiden: Brill, 2013.

Wengert, Timothy J. Human Freedom, Christian Righteousness: Philip Melanchthon’s Exegetical Dispute with Erasmus of Rotterdam. Oxford Studies in Historical Theology. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.

Modern

Postmodern

Significant Figures in Church History: Primary and Secondary Sources

Augustine

Primary Sources (Augustine's works)
Secondary Sources (works about Augustine and his works)

Primary Sources (Augustine's works)

Augustine, E. M. Atkins, and R. J. Dodaro. Augustine: Political Writings. Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2001.

- - -. Christian Instruction; Admonition and Grace; The Christian Combat; Faith, Hope and Charity. Fathers of the Church. Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2002.

- - -. The City of God, books I–VII, books VIII–XVI, books VIII–XVI. The Fathers of the Church: A New Translation. Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2008.

- - - Confessions. Translated by Sarah Ruden. New York: Modern Library, 2017.

- - -. The Happy Life; Answer to Skeptics; Divine Providence and the Problem of Evil; Soliloquies. The Fathers of the Church: A New Translation. New York: Catholic University of America Press, 2008.

- - -. The Immortality of the Soul; The Magnitude of the Soul; On Music; The Advantage of Believing; On Faith in Things Unseen. Fathers of the Church. Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 2002.

- - -. On the Free Choice of the Will, On Grace and Free Choice, and Other Writings. Translated and edited by Peter King. Cambridge Texts in the History of Philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010.

- - -. The Retractions. Fathers of the Church, a New Translation. Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 1999.

- - -. The Teacher; The Free Choice of the Will; Grace and Free Will. The Fathers of the Church: A New Translation. Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2004.

- - -. The Trinity. The Fathers of the Church: A New Translation. Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 2002.

Secondary Sources (works about Augustine and his works)

Conybeare, Catherine. The Routledge Guidebook to Augustine’s Confessions. The Routledge Guides to the Great Books. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2016.

O’Daly, Gerard J. P. Augustine’s City of God: A Reader’s Guide. 2nd edition. Oxford University Press, 2020.

Stock, Brian. The Integrated Self: Augustine, the Bible, and Ancient Thought. Haney Foundation Series. University of Pennsylvania Press, 2017.

James Wetzel. Augustine: A Guide for the Perplexed. Continuum Guides for the Perplexed. London: Continuum, 2010.

White, James Boyd. Let in the Light: Learning to Read St. Augustine’s Confessions: With Attention to the Latin Text. Columbia University Press, 2022.

Aquinas

Primary Sources (works by Thomas Aquinas)
Secondary Sources (works about Thomas Aquinas and his works)

Primary Sources (works by Thomas Aquinas)

Thomas Aquinas. Aquinas: Political Writings. Edited and translated by R. W. Dyson. Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2002.

- - - . Commentary on the Gospel of John, chapters 1-5, chapters 6-12, chapters 13-21. Thomas Aquinas in Translation Series. Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2010.

- - - . De Sortibus: A Letter to a Friend About the Casting of Lots. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2021.

- - - . On Evil. Translated by Richard Regan. Edited by Brian Davies. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003.

- - - . On Love and Charity: Readings From the Commentary on the Sentences of Peter Lombard. Translated by Peter A. Kwasniewski. Thomas Aquinas in Translation. Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2008.

- - - . Summa Theologiae. Green Bay, WI: Emmaus Academic, 2017.
I, 1-49
I, 50-119
I-II, 1-70
I-II, 71-114
III, 1-59
III, 60-90

- - - . Treatise on Happiness. Translated by John A. Oesterle. Notre Dame Series in the Great Books. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1983.

- - - . Treatise on the Virtues. Translated by John A. Oesterle. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1984.

Other online sources

St. Thomas Aquinas's Works in English