Bruce L. Shelley
Ph.D., University of Iowa
Bruce Shelley was senior professor of church history and historical theology at Denver Seminary.
“Just plain good. No, make that great—accessible, reader friendly, and simply put: interesting!”
—MARK GALLI, former editor in chief of Christianity Today
“If you want a stimulating journey through the rich history of Christianity, this is the one book you must read!”
—DR. SCOTT WENIG, Denver Seminary
“Updates and enriches this already classic text, making it particularly poignant for our age.”
—THE REV. DR. GLENN PACKIAM, New Life Church
“Detailed and thorough while also sweeping and comprehensive. Christian history needs to belong to everybody. This book will help it do just that.”
—THE REV. DR. JENNIFER WOODRUFF TAIT, Christian History magazine
THIS IS THE STORY OF THE CHURCH FOR TODAY’S READERS.
Bruce Shelley’s history of the church brings the story of global Christianity into the twenty-first century. For this fifth edition, Marshall Shelley assembled a team of historians, historical theologians, and editors to revise and update his father’s classic text. The new edition adds important stories of the development of Christianity in Asia, India, and Africa, both in the early church as well as in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. It highlights the stories of women and non-Europeans who significantly influenced the development of Christianity but whose contributions are often overlooked in overviews of church history.
COVERING RECENT EVENTS, THIS BOOK ALSO:
- Details the rapid growth of Christianity in the southern hemisphere
- Examines the influence of technology on the spread of the gospel
- Discusses how Christianity intersects with other religions in countries all over the world
The fifth edition of Church History in Plain Language provides an easy-to-read guide to the worldwide Christian story with intellectual substance and promises to set a new standard for readable church history.
