Church History

Name: Church History
Brand: TAN Bookshttps://tanbooks.com/

by TAN Bookshttps://tanbooks.com/

Religious_studiesGrades 10–12

About This Curriculum

Fr. John Laux's Church History is a classic 686-page textbook covering 2,000+ years of Catholic Church history from Christ's life through 1940, including Roman persecutions, martyrs, saints, Church councils, heresies, schisms, the Crusades, Reformation, and Vatican I.

What makes it unique: Comprehensive traditional Catholic perspective on Church history with balanced treatment of both triumphs and struggles, written in accessible yet scholarly style by a experienced high school religion teacher.

Church History: Comprehensive Traditional Catholic Seminary-Style Textbook

Fr. John Laux's Church History is a 686-page traditional Catholic textbook covering 2,000+ years of Church history from Christ through 1940. Written in 1929 for upper high school and college students, it provides comprehensive coverage of major events, figures, and theological developments in Catholic tradition.

Best for

Traditional Catholic high schools or homeschools seeking comprehensive church history coverage, adult education programs, and teachers with strong theological background who can supplement with primary sources

Evaluation Criteria

2 strengths · 2 concerns · 1 neutral · 1 insufficient evidence

Historical ContextStrength

The curriculum excels at providing extensive historical context for Church developments and theological issues.

Comprehensively covers Roman persecutions, conversions of nations, Crusades, Inquisition, Reformation, and Catholic Reformation, placing Church teaching within broader historical movements

Theological KnowledgeStrength

The curriculum systematically builds theological knowledge through comprehensive historical coverage of doctrinal developments.

Covers major theological topics including early Church Fathers, great heresies, Church councils, and doctrinal developments over 2,000 years in systematic chronological fashion

Teacher TrainingConcern

No evidence of teacher training materials or professional development support is provided.

Review focuses entirely on the student textbook with no mention of teacher guides, instructional materials, or professional development resources

Primary Text EngagementConcern

The curriculum appears to rely primarily on secondary historical narrative rather than direct engagement with primary sources.

Review describes it as a traditional textbook format covering historical events and figures, with no mention of reading original documents, papal encyclicals, or conciliar texts

Direct InstructionNeutral

The traditional textbook format suggests a direct instruction approach, though specific pedagogical guidance is unclear.

Described as written for 'upper high school and college courses' in traditional textbook format, but review does not mention teacher guides or instructional support materials

Vocabulary BuildingInsufficient Evidence

Explicit vocabulary instruction is not evident, though specialized terminology would likely be encountered through the comprehensive content.

Review mentions the text is 'well indexed' for reference use but does not describe explicit vocabulary instruction or glossary features

Sources: cathyduffyreviews.com