A Great Deal
Christian Books Distributors is offering an incredible pre-order price on a classic series of books: Philip Schaff’s History of the Christian Church, an 8-volume set examining the history of the church from the time of Christ all the way until after the time of the Reformation. The series usually sells for approximately $250, but for a limited time CBD is selling it for $49.99. I am assuming that they are being straight with us when they say that this price will not last. This is a great series for any library (and it looks great on the shelves too)! Here is the detailed description from CBD:
“Philip Schaff (1819-1893) was a German Reformed church historian, born in Switzerland. He was educated at Tubingen, Halle, and Berlin, and later took a position as Professor of Church History at Union Theological Seminary, New York. Schaff bases his work on the premise that church history in order to be valid and valuable must deal with three factors: 1) God through Christ, 2) man as a responsible moral creature, and 3) Satan as a real being employing the Anti-Christ as his agent at the end of time. Schaff begins his history with an examination of the preparation for Christianity in Judaism and the heathen world and the life and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The 8 volume series concludes with a general introduction to modern church history and a thorough analysis of the productive period of the Reformation, tracing the Protestant movement in Germany and Switzerland to the close of the 16th century. There are footnotes, charts, maps and each volume contains its own alphabetical index. Schaff taught church history at German Reformed Seminary in Mercersburg, Penn., and Union Theological Seminary in New York. He was involved in the formation of the Evangelical Alliance, the revision of the English Bible (the Revised Version), and the Alliance of the Reformed Churches. Schaff was founder of the American Society of Church History.”
If you’d like to order it, here is the information you need:
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History of the Christian Church, 8 volumes By Philip Schaff |
Comments (22) »
1. Steve Weaver
May 31, 2006
3:26 PM
Thanks for the heads up! Ordered!
2. Nephos
May 31, 2006
4:29 PM
Great deal! Order placed. Thanks for the info.
3. Wes Bredenhof
May 31, 2006
5:13 PM
It’s not the first time that they’ve offered it at this price. I’m sure it won’t be the last.
4. Renee
May 31, 2006
5:19 PM
They are normally pretty good when they have these discounts. I have ordered other sets from them at discount and been very pleased. Thanks for letting us know.
5. George Fastenau
May 31, 2006
5:26 PM
Noted and ordered. Thanks!
6. Dallas Pymm
May 31, 2006
5:47 PM
Dang Tim. You have started a revolution. I may get this as well.
Tim should be getting commision for this one. I figure 10% would be fair. What do you think?
7. Tim H.
May 31, 2006
7:11 PM
Tempting… I’d like some church history, but I don’t know if I’d ever get through all these volumes. I think I need something shorter.
8. Renee
May 31, 2006
7:12 PM
Great idea. on the 10%
Tim has probably brought them more business on something worthwhile for any serious collection (as opposed to the many ads for Purpose This and Your Best Life That)…
(tongue in cheek…couldn’t help it)
:-)
9. Francisco
May 31, 2006
7:37 PM
had any of you guys ever read “Church History in Plain Language” by Bruce L. Shelley? I borrowed a copy and it seems to me -so far- with some omissions and a little biased. Any thoughts? Btw, several Schaff’s books can be found at http://www.ccel.org/s/schaff/
(of course, someone would say to me that is better to have the books in your hands…granted ;-)
10. Renee
May 31, 2006
7:46 PM
Francisco, I was tempted to order the book you mention but I didn’t feel a strong urge to purchase it. How was it biased (I am curious)?
I have downloaded some of the Schaff works from CCEL (an good site), but I like having the books also :-)… they are for when guest show up… (yeah, that’s a good reason, sound good)
11. Tim Challies
May 31, 2006
7:55 PM
Francisco - I read that one a few years ago and wasn’t terribly impressed. He made too little distinction between Protestant and Catholic, between biblical theology and unbiblical theology. I felt that this really hindered the book.
12. Brian Thornton
May 31, 2006
9:39 PM
Don’t worry guys…if Tim is smart (and I know he is), he is getting a percentage from each sale as a CBD affiliate. If he’s not an affiliate, then he needs to sign up as one to receive a commission on items purchased through a link from his site such as this one.
13. Francisco
June 1, 2006
12:21 AM
“I was tempted to order the book you mention but I didn’t feel a strong urge to purchase it. How was it biased (I am curious)?”
Renee, Tim just took the words out of my mouth ;-)
14. Josh Adams
June 1, 2006
3:00 AM
Tim H, I highly reccomend this book if you’re interested in a shorter book on church history. At $13 for a good 800 page book, I can honestly say that it would be a wise purchase for anyone who can read english. As for bias, I don’t really recall anything that troubled me. It definately pointed out a lot of flaws in the RCC leadership over the years, but it also didn’t take the traditional route of sticking its fingers in its ears. humming, and pretending that the protestants somehow defied the total depravity doctrine they held so dear.
15. Bibliomaniac
June 1, 2006
8:45 AM
CBD’s price is a good one, but I was fortunate enough to find the Schaff set in a thrift store for a grand total of $6. Doubt if CBD will match that price….
16. Scott D. Andersen
June 1, 2006
9:56 AM
The little church history reading I’ve done I have found enjoyable and profitable. Digging into different perspectives gives me the idea though, that History can be slanted to the authors bias. One book that I remember finding very exasperating was a Church History book published by Eerdman’s. The only mention it gave of the Waldensians was a two page article written by a Jesuit Priest living in their day. It was very biased against these people from an extreme Catholic viewpoint and this article was the only mention made of the Waldensians in the whole History book. Lesson: I should be prepared to consult more than one source and be ready to dig a little deeper.
17. Tim Challies
June 1, 2006
11:06 AM
“I should be prepared to consult more than one source and be ready to dig a little deeper.”
Absolutely. I am hoping to add some helpful church history resources to Discerning Reader in the near future.
18. bchallies
June 1, 2006
9:35 PM
If Hendrikson is the publisher the binding is probably reasonably flexible. You won’t need a set of anvils to read it. I believe Schaff was involved in the late 19th century theological downgrade. I would not be surprised if his assessment of the patristic period was not somewhat dubious. gamullet
19. bchallies
June 1, 2006
10:22 PM
I looked up “mercersburg theology”. which among other things, espoused ecumenism. Apparently Schaff endorsed theological union between Reformed, Lutherans, and eventually even with Romanists. He defended himself, with some difficulty, against charges of heresy. I dare say his theological convictions colored[proper spelling] his historical interpretation. gamullet
20. david
June 1, 2006
10:25 PM
I can verify that these are very nice bindings. They do lay flat, and the paper is high quality. Most, but not all, Hendrickson volumes are nice. I do have a few cheesy ones.
21. JRush
June 2, 2006
12:10 PM
I’m going to have to quit reading here. It costs too much! Another $50 smackers evaporated into cyberspace.
Stop it!
JRush
22. Dallas Pymm
June 20, 2006
11:51 AM
I missed this the first time it was out at the sale price. It is back though for those who might be interested.