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Invitation to Church History: World
A two-volume introductory survey of church history from its origins to the present day
Designed for an educated lay audience and students in introductory college and seminary church history courses, these visually stunning textbooks are carefully written for first-time learners in the subject areas. Invitation to Church History: World walks readers through the story of God's people from Christ to the contemporary church around the world. Invitation to Church History: American chronicles American church history from the pilgrims to contemporary denominations in the United States.
In these full-color textbooks, many features facilitate learning: photos make the material come alive for the reader; diagrams clarify and distill complex concepts and sets of information; and review materials aid the student in processing and retaining the concepts in each chapter.
Readers will gain a clear understanding of the meaning of the gospel, the wonder of divine redemption, and the majesty of God. The story of the church is presented as part of the redemptive history of God and His people. With a conservative, Christ-centered perspective, Hannah writes with fairness and generosity toward diverse views.
Designed for an educated lay audience and students in introductory college and seminary church history courses, these visually stunning textbooks are carefully written for first-time learners in the subject areas. Invitation to Church History: World walks readers through the story of God's people from Christ to the contemporary church around the world. Invitation to Church History: American chronicles American church history from the pilgrims to contemporary denominations in the United States.
In these full-color textbooks, many features facilitate learning: photos make the material come alive for the reader; diagrams clarify and distill complex concepts and sets of information; and review materials aid the student in processing and retaining the concepts in each chapter.
Readers will gain a clear understanding of the meaning of the gospel, the wonder of divine redemption, and the majesty of God. The story of the church is presented as part of the redemptive history of God and His people. With a conservative, Christ-centered perspective, Hannah writes with fairness and generosity toward diverse views.
592 pages, Hardcover
First published August 27, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 5, 2025
John Hannah’s “Invitation to Church History: World” is a phenomenal introduction to the history of the Christian church. He traces the history of theology, politics, and thought from the Church Fathers, the Medieval Period, The Reformation, The Enlightenment, and Postmodernity. Overall, his work is rich with historical and theological insight while, at the same time, being perfectly accessible to read.
One of the features I appreciated in Hannah’s text was his emphasis on historical perspectives. Hannah began his text with a survey of the different perspectives on history. Asian and Greek cultures first thought of history as primarily circular or cyclical in nature. Hegel, of course, emerged advocating for a view of history that is dialectical, a series of syntheses that progress to a final degree of perfection. Eventually, postmodern philosophy developed and has since rejected any “meta narrative” to explain the cosmic progress of history. In contrast to the major philosophies of history, the church has long seen history as superintended by God for the purpose of redemption and his glory. Christian history is first and foremost Christocentric, meaning that all of history is to be understood in light of the person and work of Jesus Christ. This approach to history not only aids in our understanding and approach to history, but should also lead us to a deeper and richer appreciation for God’s provision and decrees.
There are a few cons of Hannah’s text, however, that may need to be examined. For one, the text had an immense number of grammatical errors that should not be present in an academic textbook. I do not simply mean errors in syntax that happen to many of us who are not English buffs. Instead, there were periods where there shouldn’t be any, spaces (or lack thereof) where they shouldn’t be, and paragraph indents in the middle of a sentence. This does not take away from the message of the text itself, but it was difficult to read at times with this issue.
Also, little to no attention is given to the rise and spread of Christianity in those places outside of the west. Of course, it is up to the author’s discretion whether or not he chooses to incorporate certain details or to leave others out. For a history textbook that intends to survey the church’s past in the world, however, there was little world in it. The rise of the Orthodox Church and the spread of Christianity into Latin America, Africa, and Asia is certainly a central aspect of the church’s inheritance and should be given the examination it deserves.
Besides my critics, I thoroughly enjoyed Hannah’s survey of Christian history. It was engaging, insightful, and well structured!
One of the features I appreciated in Hannah’s text was his emphasis on historical perspectives. Hannah began his text with a survey of the different perspectives on history. Asian and Greek cultures first thought of history as primarily circular or cyclical in nature. Hegel, of course, emerged advocating for a view of history that is dialectical, a series of syntheses that progress to a final degree of perfection. Eventually, postmodern philosophy developed and has since rejected any “meta narrative” to explain the cosmic progress of history. In contrast to the major philosophies of history, the church has long seen history as superintended by God for the purpose of redemption and his glory. Christian history is first and foremost Christocentric, meaning that all of history is to be understood in light of the person and work of Jesus Christ. This approach to history not only aids in our understanding and approach to history, but should also lead us to a deeper and richer appreciation for God’s provision and decrees.
There are a few cons of Hannah’s text, however, that may need to be examined. For one, the text had an immense number of grammatical errors that should not be present in an academic textbook. I do not simply mean errors in syntax that happen to many of us who are not English buffs. Instead, there were periods where there shouldn’t be any, spaces (or lack thereof) where they shouldn’t be, and paragraph indents in the middle of a sentence. This does not take away from the message of the text itself, but it was difficult to read at times with this issue.
Also, little to no attention is given to the rise and spread of Christianity in those places outside of the west. Of course, it is up to the author’s discretion whether or not he chooses to incorporate certain details or to leave others out. For a history textbook that intends to survey the church’s past in the world, however, there was little world in it. The rise of the Orthodox Church and the spread of Christianity into Latin America, Africa, and Asia is certainly a central aspect of the church’s inheritance and should be given the examination it deserves.
Besides my critics, I thoroughly enjoyed Hannah’s survey of Christian history. It was engaging, insightful, and well structured!
December 21, 2019
(NOTE: I'm stingy with stars. For me 2 stars means a good book or a B. 3 stars means a very good book or a B+. 4 stars means an outstanding book or an A {only about 5% of the books I read merit 4 stars}. 5 stars means an all time favorite or an A+ {Only one of 400 or 500 books rates this!).
Dr. Hannah is one of the 3 Professors who most influenced me in Seminary. I thought I already loved Church History when I started taking his classes but I have never been the same after his classes. I hoped for a more massive in depth account of Church History from him but that was not his purpose. He instead purposed to provide a college or seminary survey text. And he has produced one of the two or three best surveys. I hope to do a real review of it someday.
Dr. Hannah is one of the 3 Professors who most influenced me in Seminary. I thought I already loved Church History when I started taking his classes but I have never been the same after his classes. I hoped for a more massive in depth account of Church History from him but that was not his purpose. He instead purposed to provide a college or seminary survey text. And he has produced one of the two or three best surveys. I hope to do a real review of it someday.
September 29, 2020
Dr. Hannah is an absolute institution at Dallas Theological Seminary and a master of Church History. I took every class that I could from him and was excited that he would write a survey of church history.
There are two volumes in this set. The first volume covers the history of the church from the end of the book of Acts all the way to modern day. He does try to make an effort to talk about the global church, but it does have a very Western focus. His second volume starts with the American Colonies and goes to the modern day, but is focused on the American church.
Both of these volumes are incredibly helpful and useful. Even as someone who has taken lots of graduate level classes in Church History I learned a lot from these volumes. However, they are accessible for the lay person as well. I'd recommend them for anyone interested in getting a great survey of church history.
The books themselves have high quality paper and are well made. The pages are filled with pictures, graphs, and other illustrations. Most of them are great, but there were some that I couldn't understand what they meant. If you are someone who hates illustrations and pictures, then you may want to pass on these. I also noticed a number of mistakes where the wrong name was used, or two groups were confused for each other. I never notice things like this, but the mistakes were glaring enough that it made a few paragraphs hard to read.
There are two volumes in this set. The first volume covers the history of the church from the end of the book of Acts all the way to modern day. He does try to make an effort to talk about the global church, but it does have a very Western focus. His second volume starts with the American Colonies and goes to the modern day, but is focused on the American church.
Both of these volumes are incredibly helpful and useful. Even as someone who has taken lots of graduate level classes in Church History I learned a lot from these volumes. However, they are accessible for the lay person as well. I'd recommend them for anyone interested in getting a great survey of church history.
The books themselves have high quality paper and are well made. The pages are filled with pictures, graphs, and other illustrations. Most of them are great, but there were some that I couldn't understand what they meant. If you are someone who hates illustrations and pictures, then you may want to pass on these. I also noticed a number of mistakes where the wrong name was used, or two groups were confused for each other. I never notice things like this, but the mistakes were glaring enough that it made a few paragraphs hard to read.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews