Short History of the Christian Church


Read by TriciaG

(4.9 stars; 18 reviews)

"The present work has as its basis the series of five Short Histories by the same author, which appeared in the following order: The Reformation, 1884; The Early Church, 1886; The Medieval Church, 1887; The Modern Church in Europe, 1888; and The Church in the United States, 1890. The five volumes form a connected History of the Church nearly down to the present time." (from the preface)

John Fletcher Hurst was an American bishop in the Methodist Episcopal Church. He wrote the 5 histories as Chautauqua textbooks. The audio files are in the following order:
Part 1: The Early Church (A.D. 30-750)
Part 2: The Medieval Church (A.D. 750-1517)
Part 3: The Reformation (A.D. 1517-1545)
Part 4: The Modern Church in Europe (A.D. 1558-1892)
Part 5: The Church in the United States (A.D. 1492-1892) (26 hr 30 min)

Chapters

Preface 4:41 Read by TriciaG
1.1 The Church and Its History 7:43 Read by TriciaG
1.2 The Scene of the Labors of the Apostles 8:07 Read by TriciaG
1.3 The Greek and Roman Conditions 12:22 Read by TriciaG
1.4 The Attitude of Judaism towards Christianity 7:51 Read by TriciaG
1.5 The Period of Universal Persecution 7:47 Read by TriciaG
1.6 Christian Worship 4:23 Read by TriciaG
1.7 The Life of Christians 4:26 Read by TriciaG
1.8 Ecclesiastical Organization 4:02 Read by TriciaG
1.9 Ebionism and Gnosticism 11:13 Read by TriciaG
1.10 The Pagan Literary Attack 7:35 Read by TriciaG
1.11 The Christian Defenders 8:04 Read by TriciaG
1.12 The Christian Schools 6:16 Read by TriciaG
1.13 Liberation under Constantine 6:47 Read by TriciaG
1.14 Reaction under Julian 7:37 Read by TriciaG
1.15 The Montanistic Reform 5:58 Read by TriciaG
1.16 Controversies on Christ 6:52 Read by TriciaG
1.17 The Later Controversies 14:07 Read by TriciaG
1.18 Ecclesiastical Schisms 6:53 Read by TriciaG
1.19 The Scriptures and Tradition 9:07 Read by TriciaG
1.20 Apocryphal Writings 5:57 Read by TriciaG
1.21 Theology During the Early Period 17:12 Read by TriciaG
1.22 Ecclesiastical Government and the Roman Primacy 14:44 Read by TriciaG
1.23 Sacred Seasons and Public Worship 8:41 Read by TriciaG
1.24 Ecclesiastical Discipline 5:53 Read by TriciaG
1.25 Christian Life and Usages 11:56 Read by TriciaG
1.26 The Church in the Catacombs 15:41 Read by TriciaG
1.27 Monasticism 6:20 Read by TriciaG
1.28 The Age of Gregory the Great 4:14 Read by TriciaG
1.29 The Expansion of Christianity 13:12 Read by TriciaG
1.30 The Close of the Early Period 7:05 Read by TriciaG
2.1 The Medieval Transition 5:48 Read by TriciaG
2.2 The Reign of Charlemagne 8:29 Read by TriciaG
2.3 Church and State under the Later Carolingian Rulers 5:47 Read by TriciaG
2.4 The Fictitious Isidore 9:12 Read by TriciaG
2.5 Mohammedanism 7:37 Read by TriciaG
2.6 The Schools of Charlemagne 7:29 Read by TriciaG
2.7 Theological Movements 7:32 Read by TriciaG
2.8 The Rule of the Popes 10:16 Read by TriciaG
2.9 The Gregorian Reform 7:19 Read by TriciaG
2.10 Moral Life and Ecclesiastical Usages 6:14 Read by TriciaG
2.11 The Public Services 7:45 Read by TriciaG
2.12 The Writers of the Times 4:58 Read by TriciaG
2.13 New Missions 12:38 Read by TriciaG
2.14 Schism between the East and the West 6:52 Read by TriciaG
2.15 The Anglo-Saxon Church 6:48 Read by TriciaG
2.16 Arnold of Brescia 8:12 Read by TriciaG
2.17 The Waldenses and the Albigenses 5:53 Read by TriciaG
2.18 Thomas Becket 7:30 Read by TriciaG
2.19 The Monastic Orders 9:33 Read by TriciaG
2.20 Monasteries as Centres of Intellectual Life 2:44 Read by TriciaG
2.21 Christian Art 6:19 Read by TriciaG
2.22 Christian Worship 5:10 Read by TriciaG
2.23 The Crusades: A.D. 1096-1270 9:02 Read by TriciaG
2.24 Arabic Philosophy 3:47 Read by TriciaG
2.25 The Hohenstaufens in Italy 5:50 Read by TriciaG
2.26 The Jewish Philosophy 4:30 Read by TriciaG
2.27 The Scholastic Philosophy 11:09 Read by TriciaG
2.28 Abelard and his Fortunes 8:13 Read by TriciaG
2.29 General Literature 4:02 Read by TriciaG
2.30 The Great Schools 2:51 Read by TriciaG
2.31 The Divided Papacy 7:20 Read by TriciaG
2.32 Retrospect 3:57 Read by TriciaG
3.1 The Heralds of Protestantism 33:33 Read by TriciaG
3.2 The Humanism of Italy 11:40 Read by TriciaG
3.3 The Reformatory Councils 7:37 Read by TriciaG
3.4 The German Reformation: Martin Luther 18:39 Read by TriciaG
3.5 Luther: Further Labors and Personal Character 16:25 Read by TriciaG
3.6 Melanchthon and other German Reformers 12:24 Read by TriciaG
3.7 The Reformation in German Switzerland 10:39 Read by TriciaG
3.8 The Reformation in French Switzerland 18:49 Read by TriciaG
3.9 The English Reformation: First Period 17:24 Read by TriciaG
3.10 The English Reformation: Second Period 8:43 Read by TriciaG
3.11 The Scotch Reformation 6:51 Read by TriciaG
3.12 The Reformation in the Netherlands 9:45 Read by TriciaG
3.13 The Reformation in France 11:00 Read by TriciaG
3.14 The Reformation in Italy 13:08 Read by TriciaG
3.15 The Reformation in Spain and Portugal 6:50 Read by TriciaG
3.16 The Reformation in Scandinavia 3:20 Read by TriciaG
3.17 The Reformation in the Slavic Lands 6:48 Read by TriciaG
3.18 Survey of Results 6:57 Read by TriciaG
3.19 The Four Hundredth Anniversary of Luther's Birth 5:39 Read by TriciaG
4.1 Recuperative Measures of Romanism 6:17 Read by TriciaG
4.2 The Order of Jesuits 9:46 Read by TriciaG
4.3 The English Church under James I and Charles I 8:03 Read by TriciaG
4.4 The English Puritans 5:40 Read by TriciaG
4.5 The Quakers 4:44 Read by TriciaG
4.6 Cromwell and the Commonwealth 8:05 Read by TriciaG
4.7 The Church During the Restoration 6:52 Read by TriciaG
4.8 English Deism 7:52 Read by TriciaG
4.9 The Protestant Church in Germany 4:44 Read by TriciaG
4.10 Mysticism in Germany 5:42 Read by TriciaG
4.11 The Thirty Years' War 7:37 Read by TriciaG
4.12 The Protestant Emigration to America 2:49 Read by TriciaG
4.13 Arminius and the Synod of Dort 5:17 Read by TriciaG
4.14 The Salzburg Persecution 3:39 Read by TriciaG
4.15 Spener and Pietism 10:18 Read by TriciaG
4.16 The Moravians 5:32 Read by TriciaG
4.17 Swedenborg and the New Church 4:53 Read by TriciaG
4.18 Rationalism in Germany 6:25 Read by TriciaG
4.19 The Evangelical Reaction 5:50 Read by TriciaG
4.20 French Mysticism and Flemish Jansenism 6:07 Read by TriciaG
4.21 French Infidelity 5:21 Read by TriciaG
4.22 French Protestantism 6:25 Read by TriciaG
4.23 The Russo-Greek Church 9:07 Read by TriciaG
4.24 Wesley and Methodism 9:08 Read by TriciaG
4.25 The Tractarian Movement 6:53 Read by TriciaG
4.26 The Schools in the Church of England 13:36 Read by TriciaG
4.27 The English Universities 5:19 Read by TriciaG
4.28 Scholars and Divines of the English Church 16:23 Read by TriciaG
4.29 Puritan and Presbyterian Scholars and Divines 15:00 Read by TriciaG
4.30 Critical Periods in the History of the Scottish Church 10:50 Read by TriciaG
4.31 The Ekskine Schism and the Haldane Revival 7:44 Read by TriciaG
4.32 The Great Disruption 8:30 Read by TriciaG
4.33 Learning and Literary Culture in the Roman Catholic Church 7:26 Read by TriciaG
4.34 The Growth of Mary-Worship 6:10 Read by TriciaG
4.35 The End of the Temporal Power of the Papacy 6:00 Read by TriciaG
4.36 The Contest with Germany 4:27 Read by TriciaG
4.37 The Survival of Superstition 3:38 Read by TriciaG
4.38 Roman Catholicism in England 7:44 Read by TriciaG
4.39 The Vatican Council 5:36 Read by TriciaG
4.40 The Old Catholics 6:40 Read by TriciaG
4.41 The Evangelical Alliance 4:11 Read by TriciaG
4.42 The Sunday-School 3:52 Read by TriciaG
4.43 The Revision of the Bible 4:34 Read by TriciaG
4.44 The Protestant Mission Field 16:21 Read by TriciaG
4.45 The Temperance Reform 4:08 Read by TriciaG
4.46 Philanthropy in England and Germany 7:26 Read by TriciaG
4.47 English Preachers 5:20 Read by TriciaG
4.48 Literature and Religion in England 5:42 Read by TriciaG
4.49 The Salvation Army 5:06 Read by TriciaG
4.50 Survey of Religious Life on the Continent 6:19 Read by TriciaG
5.1.1 The New Christendom 4:34 Read by TriciaG
5.1.2 The Spanish Colonization 10:04 Read by TriciaG
5.1.3 The French Colonization 9:33 Read by TriciaG
5.1.4 The English Colonization: Virginia and Massachusetts 14:53 Read by TriciaG
5.1.5 Maryland, Pennsylvania, and other English Colonies 9:13 Read by TriciaG
5.1.6 Continental Colonies: Dutch, Swedes, Huguenots, and other Protestants 7:55 Read by TriciaG
5.1.7 The Providential Planting 5:46 Read by TriciaG
5.1.8 Political Framework of the Colonies 6:49 Read by TriciaG
5.1.9 Church Government in the Colonies 7:48 Read by TriciaG
5.1.10 Education 9:59 Read by TriciaG
5.1.11 Intolerance in the Colonies 13:30 Read by TriciaG
5.1.12 Religious Life of the Colonies 6:22 Read by TriciaG
5.1.13 Colonial Worship and Usages 6:04 Read by TriciaG
5.1.14 Missions to the Indians 10:07 Read by TriciaG
5.1.15 Theological Movements 10:32 Read by TriciaG
5.1.16 Religious Literature 9:48 Read by TriciaG
5.1.17 Early Leaders 12:15 Read by TriciaG
5.1.18 The Influence of the Puritans 4:15 Read by TriciaG
5.1.19 The Episcopal Defection in Connecticut 3:56 Read by TriciaG
5.2.1 The Church at the Founding of the Republic 7:10 Read by TriciaG
5.2.2 The Separation of Church and State 8:15 Read by TriciaG
5.2.3 The French Infidelity 7:29 Read by TriciaG
5.2.4 Revival at the Beginning of the Century 5:57 Read by TriciaG
5.2.5 Expansion in the South and West 6:38 Read by TriciaG
5.2.6 The Protestant Episcopal Church 5:09 Read by TriciaG
5.2.7 The Congregational Church 5:14 Read by TriciaG
5.2.8 The Reformed Churches 6:08 Read by TriciaG
5.2.9 The Baptist Church 11:47 Read by TriciaG
5.2.10 The Presbyterian Church 12:54 Read by TriciaG
5.2.11 The Lutheran Church 10:45 Read by TriciaG
5.2.12 American Methodism 19:50 Read by TriciaG
5.2.13 The Roman Catholic Church 14:54 Read by TriciaG
5.2.14 The Unitarian Church 13:16 Read by TriciaG
5.2.15 The Universalist Church 9:11 Read by TriciaG
5.2.16 The Moravian Church 8:35 Read by TriciaG
5.2.17 Alexander Campbell and the Disciples of Christ 9:11 Read by TriciaG
5.2.18 The Quakers 9:34 Read by TriciaG
5.2.19 Other Denominations 26:05 Read by TriciaG
5.2.20 The Transcendentalists 10:24 Read by TriciaG
5.2.21 Communistic Churches 12:09 Read by TriciaG
5.2.22 The Mormons 14:27 Read by TriciaG
5.2.23 The Antislavery Reform 16:10 Read by TriciaG
5.2.24 The Temperance Reform 17:11 Read by TriciaG
5.2.25 Philanthropy and Christian Union 15:39 Read by TriciaG
5.2.26 Missions 16:46 Read by TriciaG
5.2.27 The Sunday-School 7:33 Read by TriciaG
5.2.28 Christian Literature 13:07 Read by TriciaG
5.2.29 The American Pulpit 12:56 Read by TriciaG
5.2.30 Theology of the American Church 12:52 Read by TriciaG
5.2.31 Theological Scholarship 19:04 Read by TriciaG

Reviews

Short but broad history


(5 stars)

A short history of the Church, but very comprehensive. Well read by Tricia G.


(5 stars)

Great listening. If you’re interested in the history of the Christian church in America this is a wonderful way to gain insight into what brought us to the current day.


(5 stars)

Fascinating subject. Thank you to the reader , you were wonderful!!