2000 Years of Christ's Power - Volume 3: Renaissance and Reformation [16th Century]

Volume 3 of the 2000 Years of Church History Series

The Renaissance was a reaction against the attitude of the Middle Ages. And the Reformation was the passionate, divisive argument that grew out of it. Catholics, Calvinists, Lutherans, Anabaptists - our present-day divisions were the front-page headlines of the Reformation. Volume three of 2,000 Years of Christ's Power, in showing the progression of the Reformation era, and the daring bravery of its figures, presents a period of history from which there are many lessons to be learnt - not least of all, the vibrancy of people's lives and the courage with which they faced death.

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2000 Years of Christ's Power is a series of volumes covering the history of the church, written by Nick Needham, who teaches Church History at the Highland Theological College. This series was born out of the author's deep conviction that today's Christians can benefit enormously from learning what God has done in the past. Academically reliable, but written with an easy, even humorous style which makes it accessible to anybody with an interest, this work falls into a category all of its own.

Contents:
1. Songs of Spring: The Renaissance
2. Maturing Sun: Martin Luther and the Birth of the Protestant Reformation
3. Warm Days: Renewing the Church, 1521-31
4. Ripeness to the Core: John Calvin and the Reformed Faith
5. Flowers for the Bees: The Radical Reformation
6. The Winnowing Wind: Europe Divided
7. Sweet Kernel: The English and Scottish Reformations
8. Gathering Swallows: The Catholic Counter-Reformation
9. Thou Hast Thy Music Too: The Eastern Orthodox World

Author:

Nick Needham is a Church History lecturer at Highland Theological College in Dingwall. Previous to this, he taught Systematic Theology at the Scottish Baptist College in Glasgow. From 2004 to 2021, he was the minister of Inverness Reformed Baptist church. He is author of the highly collectable 2,000 Years of Christ's Power series.

Endorsements:

For many years now I have said: if you want a thorough, learned but accessible and well-written history of the church, read Nick Needham's 2,000 Years of Christ's Power. Now, with the fourth volume finally available, Christians have an excellent resource for improving their knowledge of the history of their faith. Highly recommended.
--Carl R. Trueman, Professor of Biblical and Religious Studies, Grove City College, Pennsylvania

Nick Needham's volumes on church history explain everything that someone new to the subject might not understand. At the same time, they achieve a depth of detail to interest those who already know something of the subject. We use them as standard texts at LTS and look forward eagerly to forthcoming volumes.
--Robert Strivens, Pastor, Bradford-on-Avon Baptist Church, Wiltshire, UK & former Principal, London Seminary

What makes the books so useful is that in a non-technical (but not simplistic) way, they bring out the main story line of the history of the church through the centuries. But in addition, and most helpfully, each chapter concludes with a selection of writings (translated of course!) from people discussed in the chapter. This means that we are not only told what certain people believed, but we are able to read some of their actual writings -- and this is often extremely illuminating.
--Martin K. Bussey, Lecturer in theology, Africa International University, Kenya

It is a brave historian who tackles the extremely challenging task of writing the 2,000-year history of the Church. Well, Nick Needham has more than risen to the challenge. This eagerly-awaited fourth volume has been well worth the wait and, not to pressure our brother scholar, we now look forward to the concluding volume!
--Michael A. G. Haykin, Professor of Church History and Biblical Spirituality, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky

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