Bruce Shelley

Bruce Shelley's classic one-volume history of the church, now in 5th edition, brings the story of global Christianity into the twenty-first century and provides an easy-to-read guide to Christian history with compelling narrative and intellectual substance.

Church History in Plain Language

Bruce L. Shelley

With more than 315,000 copies sold, this is the story of the church for today's readers. The fourth edition of Shelley's classic one-volume history of the church brings the story of Christianity into the twenty-first century. This latest edition of the book takes a close look at the rapid growth of evangelical and Pentecostal Christianity in the southern hemisphere, addresses the decline in traditional mainline denominations, examines the influence of technology on the spread of the gospel, and discusses how Christianity intersects with other religions in countries all over the world. This concise book provides an easy-to-read guide to church history with intellectual substance. The new edition of Church History in Plain Language promises to be the new standard for readable church history. Features include: Includes contemporary developments related to the spread of the gospel Discusses how technology has an impact on how the church worships and grows Covers the explosion of Christianity in the southern hemisphere

Todd Luallen

I wasn't exactly excited about listening to 20+ hours of a history book, but the reviews of this book gave the impression that each chapter was a short story of sorts, with many biographical nuggets that really hit home. So I took the plunge, and I'm glad I did. The “in Plain Language” portion of the title really is accurate in my opinion. I never felt lost with the way in which history was being told in this book. And as a whole this book accomplished what I hoped it would. It gave me a really good overview of the biggest and most influential moments in the history of the Christian Church. Shelley definitely presents his perspective or interpretation of the historical narratives, but he never does so in an overhanded way. Of course I agreed with most of his “take” on things, so perhaps it's easy for me to say. I was worried at the end of the book that it was going to become a mainly American Church perspective, but he finished up with multiple chapters on Asia and Africa, which is really where so much excitement is happening these days. He did mention in the end of the book that the largest growth in the Modern South (what we would call the 3rd World) is overwhelmingly charismatic. I was surprised to hear this because of the books I've read about the Home Church in China, so I plan on looking into it a bit. All around a great read for all Christians, or those that are interested in the Christian Church.

Nathan Griffin

Really solid 30,000 ft view of church history. Obviously trying to distill so much into a little less than 600 pages is going to simplify events and leave much out, but there's a list of further reading for each chapter which I will probably use for a few reads in the future. I thought Shelley's style and writing were very well done and remained engaging throughout the book. The chapters were also fairly short, making this a pretty easy daily read

Bruce Leon Shelley

Traces the history of the Church, focusing on the motivations of its founders, conflicts, key figures, and defining events over the centuries.

Church History in Plain Language

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