The vast history of the church is expounded in this textbook volume, with a special focus on the development of Christian doctrine and philosophical thought through the ages. Williston Walker tells the story of the church, including the circumstances of its birth and early years, the changes which led to the Reformation, and the developments in doctrine once the church spread across the Atlantic. He provides a wide bibliography of historical, theological, and encyclopaedic texts that have gone into the making of A History of the Christian Church, giving readers access to a bigger view of research on Christian history.

In Logos, A History of the Christian Church connects to the datasets and other resources in your library, growing your capacity for research and learning. Look up theological or philosophical terms with a right-click or double-click to bring up your preferred dictionary, and see history in context with Logos Bible Software's Timeline of church and world history.

To give you an idea of how old this book is, when he retired from Yale as Titus Street Professor of Ecclesiastical History Williston Walker was replaced by Roland Bainton. Bainton was replaced in 1962 by Jaroslav Pelikan, who just passed away in 2006. This book is well written, full of information,but just a tad dry. Use it as a supplement to other books.
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Since publication of the first edition in 1918, A History of the Christian Church by Williston Walker has enjoyed outstanding success and recognition as a classic in the field. Written by an eminent theologian, it combines in its narrative a rare blend of clarity, unity, and balance. In light of significant advances in scholarship in recent years, extensive revisions have been made to this fourth edition. Three scholars from Union Theological Seminary in New York have incorporated new historical discoveries and provided fresh interpretations of various periods in church history from the first century to the twentieth. The result is a thoroughly updated history which preserves the tenor and structure of Walker's original, unparalleled text.

Professor Walker occupied Yale University's ecclesiastical history department like a colossus. One gem I appreciated because it contradicts so much of what we commonly believe was the "sack of Rome" and its destruction by "barbarians": "When the walls of the Empire were broken, the Germans came, for the most part, not as enemies of Christianity." The Goths had been converted to Unitarian Christianity (Arianism) by the great translator of scripture, the Unitarian Goth, Ulfilas. [130] However, the hostility of the Trinitarians was so great, that to this day, the myth of this "barbarian" destruction, which annihilation was not noticed by its contemporaries who lived it, the myth continues to be preached.

Published in 1918, Professor Walker writes as an apologist believer, from the era when Faith was considered to be a perfectly reasonable position. ( )

A single volume history of the church, Walker’s work provides a great introductory resource for the student and pastor. In-depth and very readable, Walker divides the books by period into short, easy-reference chapters. While chronological (spanning from the NT-era to the mid-20th century – thus missing some more recent developments), these chapters are either personality or issue driven, thus making the book a good resource for review of specific issues and events in church history. A ( )