Eusebius: The Church History [Hardcover]

Eusebius (Author), Paul L. Maier (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 28, 1999

Much of our knowledge of the first three centuries of Christianity comes from Eusebius, the first great historian of the Christian faith. This full-color edition is a standard reference work on the early church. (20040603)

Editorial Reviews

Review

A masterful translation. (Forum Letter 20040603)

A publication with enduring value. (Response 20040603)

Eminently enjoyable. (Restoration Quarterly 20040603)

Maier has done something for ordinary Christian pastors and lay people. He's brought the earliest years of the church back to life. (Michael L. Sherer Metro Lutheran News 20040603)

Well-translated, carefully-introduced edition of ancient texts are the lifeblood of real history. . . . Kregel's publication of a new translation of Eusebius's Church History by Paul L. Maier is, therefore, an important event. (Mark A. Noll McManis Professor of Christian Thought Wheaton College 20040603)

A pleasant and accessible introduction to this important resource for church history. (Atlanta Constitution-Journal 20040603)

A very high quality translation of a very important work. (Christian Library Journal 20040603)

Eusebius, as the first church historian, gave us a priceless treasure. . . . Now Dr. Paul Maier in his new translation and commentary brings this resource in its most accessible and convenient form to modern readers. (Ken Curtis Christian History Institute 20040603)

Far and away the best [translation] on the market. (Northwest Baptist Witness 20040603)

There is no book more important to understanding the early church than Eusebius's Church History . And there is no edition more readable and engaging than this one. (Mark Galli Editor Christian History Magazine )

While there are numerous editions of The Church History, none compares with this one. (Biblical Worldview )

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Greek

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: Kregel Academic & Professional; 4th edition (September 28, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0825433282
• ISBN-13: 978-0825433283
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #164,464 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

129 of 132 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars simply the best translation available, March 19, 2000

By 

Robert Wormley (lakebay, wa United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Eusebius: The Church History (Hardcover)

For those few brave souls today interested enough in theology and textual criticism to appreciate what a new and modern translation of "Church History" would add to their ability to understand the history of the Church, this is the only book out there. Dr. Maier follows up his classic translation of Josephus with a modern translation of Eusebius. His most important contribution to Eusebian studies is his decision to cut out the repetitiveness in the original work and translate Eusebius' train of thought instead of merely translating all of the asides and rhetorical flowerings of the nearly impossable-to-read and vast Church history. Each chapter of Eusebius is summarized and critiqued by Dr. Maier in an attempt to help the reader recognize both the value and the critical diffuculties in the original work. This kept me in the text and allowed me to skip certain sections that I wasn't interested in. (I challenge anybody to read the entire volume word for word, I made it through almost 8 chapters before starting to skip whole sections) The content of Eusebius is gripping at time, especially his vivid descriptions of the martyrdom of the early Church and his eyewitness biographical details of Origen and other early church fathers who he knew and studied under. Without Eusebius we would know almost nothing of the march of Christianity across the Roman empire and even less about the crucial critical history of the New Testament in the first 3 centuries. Dr. Maier has opened up access to this invaluable source both to lowly theologians like myself, and to the leading scholars of the day. I pray that Dr. Maier will continue to translate other ancient authors who up until this day are only available in translations so old that there are no publishing dates on the title pages!

36 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book, July 27, 2001

By 

Neil "nwcs" (Tennessee) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Eusebius: The Church History (Hardcover)

This book is a great addition to any library. Paul Maier translates Eusebius' works into very understandable English with unobtrusive, yet insightful, comments. The book is well organized. You can read by section or by book pretty easily. The book itself is quite marvelous. Eusebius gives us a history of what happened in the church after the writing of the New Testament up to the conferences of his day.

It is from Eusebius that we gain a lot of understanding of Christian thought from that time. Eusebius did have a few factual errors in his works, but that's OK given that they did not have a library system like we have or the internet...

40 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Too much edited out, January 19, 2009

By 

T. J. Taylor (Ridgecrest, Ca) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Eusebius: The Church History (Paperback)

After discovering an older translation of this book at our library i decided i needed one for my own. I chose this newer translation but the parts that i was interested in on transitions from the first century church were not included. It has a lot of good information, but this edition is not complete or the older translator added stories of his own.