The field of Church History has always been in an awkward position when it comes to the choice of appropriate literature. Some may recommend their students to learn all necessary research languages when studying Church History. Others will flash out a rather simplistic thin, by content shallow, text in order to motivate (or maintain) their students in study of this matter. Indeed, it is an adequate challenge to meet the needs of a particular community of readers when coming up with such text. More than two decades of readers’ favor have proven Shelley’s adequacy in the approach he took in Church History in Plain Language. Being read by laypeople as well as college students, this well known volume is now available in its revised version that traces the Church era including its recent stage.
The title of Shelley’s famous introductory text captures well both intent and idea that lie behind the text itself. The author’s aim was not to come up with an immensely exhaustive set of historical dictionaries that would provide in depth dealings with both historical and theological issues raised within the Church history. Neither did he provide exhaustive bibliographical information, pointing out the primary sources the readers might want to examine. Shelley proves to be both a good narrator and journalist. The articles in the text are concise, setting forth the events and personage that are crucial for specific themes Shelley dealt with. The formal clarity is well-balanced vis-à-vis the plain narrative Shelley managed to maintain throughout the entire material. Thus the title that engages both its historical and narrative (plain) aspects is truthful indeed.
The volume is meant to trace the two millennia of the Church in a rather objective fashion. Obviously, as Mark Noll correctly observed, Shelley has his “historical friends and historical enemies”; however, in his narrative way, Shelley labored to provide important socio-historical details that were to an extent sufficient for general understanding of historical personage, events, and movements alike. Thus the level of bias is certainly lower than in most evangelical books in this sort of introductory literature. It must be noted that Shelley makes every heresy and misguidance that has been manifest in the Church era obvious; however, a reader will never encounter with any word of condemnation nor cheap critique. Wise, gracious, gentle, and veracious are the words that best describe the author’s approach. Faithful to the Scripture and history – that is what the author opts for throughout the entire volume.
The fact that Bruce Shelley is not exclusively a historian, but also a historical theologian is well represented in this textbook. One who encounters with the volume will not experience solely dry historical account of particular events of Christian history; rather, Shelley incarnates theological notions into their historical settings, pointing out countless doctrinal dilemmas the Church of Jesus Christ have dealt with . Thus a careful reader will not miss the development of the Christian thought as existent in both Eastern and Western Orthodoxy, even though the Western Christianity is author’s primary aim so the vast majority of this material is established in following fashion. The author does a masterful job in depicting major doctrinal distinctives in their historical framework, providing various reasons for their existence. Therefore, one reading Shelley’s opus will come to understanding the main theological development implemented into the historical development without separating the two. The author understood a sine qua non that lies in the relationship between the Church and thought of the day. Every event, persona and movement is carefully put into the story of the Christian Church.
The volume is constructed in a chronological manner, beginning in medias res with the crucifixion of Christ. In this manner, Shelley begins to unveil the drama of Christ’s Church, which is divided into the eight ages of the Church. On the one hand, strikingly immediate exposure of the cross possesses capacity to become a two-edged sword; some readers might expect this sort of text to set Jesus into the story of the Old Testament, which is a necessary preliminary component of the Church history indeed. Despite this missing element, Dr. Shelley provides a concise yet insightful depiction of The Age of Jesus and the Apostles, wherein he sets the scene for the rest of the story that is about to follow.
Not only does the section The Age of Catholic Christianity deal with the first three centuries of Christianity, but it also sets forth the important theme, which traces through the entire volume – the notion of the universal (i.e. catholic) Christian Church. Doing so, Shelley flashes out a “sine development” of Christian history. Though gently, yet obviously Shelley points out the Church’s departure from its “Pauline doctrinal nest” engaging with the surrounding cultural and political environment. Thus both The Age of Christian Roman Empire and The Christian Middle Ages reflect this secular dimension of the Church’s existence. However, the author does not condemn this stage; even more, he accurately depicts important personage of the day such as Augustine of Hippo; in the latter development of this era Shelley also highlights Tomas Aquinas as well as “the catholic non-conformist” Peter Waldo.
Certainly, the core of Shelley’s historical theological zealotry is found in the two following sections of the volume. The Age of the Reformation is a self-descriptive section. Bruce L. Shelley endeavors to set the scene for the restoration, which he indeed perceives as commenced by the Reformation and reach its climax by evangelicalism. The Reformers are not iconized; neither does one find many of their weaknesses (with an obvious exception of Henry VIII the king of England). However, Shelley’s commitment to give a precise and faithful historical account could be observed in the depiction of the Reformation movements. Despite Shelley’s being a protestant, a reader will not witness any ad hominem arguments for Protestantism per se. Its accurate description is more than enough to speak for the Reformation herself.
Furthermore, Shelley traces the major Church split caused by reformation to the next dimension. In the midst of “the cult of reason”, the rise of pietism and Methodism makes the paths straight for the Great Awakening. In this fashion, a reader encounters with The Age of Reason and Revival, the age of evangelical Christianity. Shelley, being a master storyteller, leads his readers into stories of the great preachers and their personal conversions leading into powerful testimony time of the conversions of the multitudes, both in the United Kingdom and the New Continent. Indeed, this is the restoration Shelley opts for in his “sine graph of Church history”. The Gospel is preached in its intrinsic clarity and the Church is revived a new.
The last two sections of this volume trace the era of missional movement, the rise of Christian liberalism, leading to the twenty-century ecumenism and capitalistic thought that certainly impacted the Church. Both The Age of Progress and The Age of Ideologies depict foundations of what we observe as the Church of today – including its positive and negative aspects. Shelley points out the outreach of the Church of the last two centuries, being expressed in both Protestantism and Roman Catholicism. The notion of ecumenism and more open attitude of the Roman Catholic Church are indeed the items that Shelley pays his close attention to as well. Having revised the original edition, Bruce Shelley presents contemporary phenomena such as American egotism as well as the church growth movements.
As I inferred above, Church History in Plain Language is not an in-depth set of texts that would provide exhaustive information for a doctoral student. Neither is this book a simplistic high school volume that would make adults shy away from reading it. Shelley’s aim was to trace the entire story of the Church, and to do it in the most concise manner possible. Indeed, this was not an easy task. Thus for some freshmen at college, the text might be rather lengthy to read it all; however, its narrative/journalistic straightforward format would enable to read through the text quickly with satisfactory comprehension of the subject. The language of the book is fresh and clear; Shelley did not overload this material with Latinisms and other scholarly components that would lead the readers astray from the crux interpretum of this material – the story of the Church. It needs to be noted that although the format that Shelley chose has its own limitations, there are the elements within the Church history that, in my judgment, did not get appropriate attention . Secondly, the weakness I perceive as a major one is insufficiency of associating philosophy of the day and its influence vis-à-vis the Church . Despite its weaknesses, the book will be of an immense worth when using it in an appropriate context such as the introductory college level, laypeople, or any adult with the rusty knowledge of the ecclesiastical history.
Finally, Church History in Plain Language is definitely the text that is worth reading. Not only did Bruce Shelley prove himself to be a profound historian (historical theologian), but also he presented himself as a master of la belle lettre. Indeed, the title is genuine in its witness to the entire text. The text is not probably the one that would catch the attention of any scholarly historian; however, there are multitudes that need to read it. Our congregations are full of people that are ignorant of this crucial subject. This text is the one that offers the capacity to meet this indeed in an attractive, yet powerful fashion so that Socrates’ words “Know thyself” will anchor the Church of today and tomorrow.
