I encourage you to learn more about Church History and it's rich history. These are some of the helpful books for students of church history. There have been many disagreements, heresies, and struggles for the truth throughout church history. If we want to stand faithfully in the present, we need to get familiar with those events. Robert Shindler, a close associate of Charles Haddon Spurgeon, noted, “It is all too plainly apparent men are willing to forego the old for the sake of the new. But commonly it is found in theology that that which is true is not new, and that which is new is not true.” I hope that this look into the past strengthens you and motivates you.
1. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church by F.L. Cross
2. The Story of Christianity (2 volumes) by Justo Gonzales
3. Sketches from Church History by S.M. Houghton
4. The Church in History by B.K. Kuiper
5. A History of Christianity by Kenneth Scott Latourette
6. 2000 Years of Christ’s Power (3 volumes) by N.R. Needham
7. History of the Christian Church (8 volumes) Philip Schaff
8. Church History in Plain Language by Bruce L. Shelley
9. Parade of Faith: A Biographical History of the Christian Church by Ruth A. Tucker
Historical Theology
1. Historical Theology: An Introduction to Christian Doctrine Gregg R. Allison
2. The History of Christian Doctrines by Louis Berkhof
3. Heresies: Heresy and Orthodoxy in the History of the Church Harold O.J. Brown
4. Historical Theology by William Cunningham
5. Thinking with the Church: Essays in Historical Theology by B.A. Gerrish
6. History of Theology by Hägglund Bengt
7. The Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine (5 volumes) by Jaroslav Pelikan
This article is part of the Recommended Reading collection on Ligonier Ministry