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The history of the church is a history of real people—popes and priests, monks and martyrs, and many ordinary folks like us. All claimed to follow Christ, but not all had the same understanding of what it meant to be Christian.

This history covers two types of church. The one is the great institutional churches, which through the centuries distorted the church to fit man's notions of power and position. Less is known about the other, which consisted of everyday believers striving to follow Christ in lowly obedience and holiness.

The history of the church is marked by paradoxes: although seeking no earthly rule, she has swept through empires; she has been persecuted nearly to extinction while living victoriously; she has been overshadowed by great state churches while quietly living and spreading the truth; and she has influenced Western civilization while being hated by it.

This account of the church up to the beginning of the Anabaptist movement helps us understand how the church grew and changed over the centuries. More than that, it can inspire us to faithfulness to Christ and His teaching in our day.

Contents

• Foreword
• 1. The Fullness of Time
• 2. The New Testament Church
• 3. The Early Spread of the Way
• 4. Out of the Shadows
• 5. Persecuted by Rome
• 6. Martyrs, Apologists, and Fathers
• 7. The Effects of False Teaching on the Church
• 8. From Persecuted Church to Emperor's Favorite
• 9. The Constantinian Change
• 10. Church Persecutes Church
• 11. Controversy; Politics; the Church of the East
• 12. The Latin Church Fathers
• 13. The End of the Roman Empire in Europe
• 14. The Development of the Papacy
• 15. The Development of Monasticism
• 16. British Christianity
• 17. Irish Christianity
• 18. The Church Enters the Dark Ages
• 19. Christianizing Europe
• 20. From Mohammad to Charlemagne
• 21. Eastern and Russian Christianity
• 22. Social Upheaval in Europe
• 23. The Great Power Struggles
• 24. Three Influences on Society and Church
• 25. Nonconformists in Southern Europe
• 26. Efforts to Destroy Nonconformists
• 27. Late Medieval Reform Movements
• 28. Harbingers of the Reformation
• 29. The Magisterial Reformation
• 30. The Radical Reformation: Anabaptism
• List of Maps
• Endnotes
• Index