History of Christianity

New to the homeschool library is the video series, The History of Christianity, written and presented by Dr. Timothy George. This video series was used last year for one of the Co-op classes. There are six programs on the video. Bill and I viewed the entire video in one sitting. Our interest level was kept. Since my favorite books to read to my children have been Christian biographies I was familiar with many of the people mentioned in the video. But I did learn some interesting things. It was mentioned that Martin Luther and Zwingli had met only once face to face. They met to discuss their differing views of the Lord's Supper. Zwingli saw the Lord's Supper as a memorial feast while Luther still believed that Christ was bodily present in the sacrament of the altar "in, with, and under" the elements of bread and wine. I found this interesting since I was raised by my parents in a church that does believe in the doctrine of transubstantiation. Now I go to a church where Communion is a memorial service.

The Reformation period in the history of Christianity was a very important time. Men like John Wycliffe, Martin Luther, Zwingli, and John Calvin did much to reform and bring revival to the Christian faith. Johannes Gutenberg has been named "Man of the Millennium" as a result of his 1455 invention of the printing press. The first book he published was the Bible. God used Gutenberg's work to spread the Gospel to the entire world.

Christian biographies are my favorite books to read to my children. This is why in the homeschool library we have so many biographies. One series we have is the Heroes of the Faith series. It is written by several authors. This exciting biographical series explores the lives of famous Christian men and women throughout the ages. These books were written to inspire and encourage you to follow the example of these "Heroes of the Faith" who made Jesus the center of their lives. Some titles that are found in the homeschool library are: Gladys Aylward, Missionary to China by Sam Wellman, John Bunyan, Author of the Pilgrim's Progress by Sam Wellman, Jonathan Edwards, the Great Awakener by Helen Hosier, Martin Luther, the Great Reformer by Dan Harmon, Hudson Taylor, Founder, China Inland Mission by Vance Christie, John Wesley, the Great Methodist by Sam Wellman, William Tyndale, Bible Translator and Martyr by Bruce and Becky Durost Fish, and George Whitefield, Pioneering Evangelist by Bruce and Beck Durost Fish. We do have other titles available that are not listed. The biographies are found together on one shelf as you enter the library.

The homeschool library does have some videos about people from Christian history. From Gateway Films we have the following films: Children's Heroes from Christian History, Volumes I - III, God's Outlaw - William Tyndale, Martin Luther, and Stephen's Test of Faith.

The animated series called The Storykeepers is from the time of Nero when the early Christian were persecuted. There are eleven videos in this series. I like this series since the main characters are constantly telling stories about Jesus.


My favorite biography is Missionary Stories with the Millers by Mildred A. Martin. When Josh was a small boy I read one of the missionary stories from this book to him nightly as he was lying in bed ready to sleep. I had read this book several times since my children's ages vary. The Salina Public Library in the Christian Fiction section of the children's library have a series of Christian biographies by Dave & Neta Jackson. In the homeschool library we have four volumes of these biographies that are shorten by these authors titled Hero Tales by Dave & Neta Jackson. These biographies are told from the viewpoint of a young person involved with the character.

A book that I suggest you purchased for your personal devotion time is One Year Book of Christian History by E. Michael and Sharon Rusten. We do not have a copy in the homeschool library mainly because once somebody checked the book out it would take a year to read. It is a daily glimpse into God's powerful work. There is a different selection for each day of the year. This book can be purchased at Christianbook.com and probably at other book sites.