The present work has as its basis the series of five Short Histories by the same author, which appeared in the following order: The Reformation, 1884; The Early Church, 1886; The Medieval Church, 1887; The Modern Church in Europe, 1888; and The Church in the United States, 1890. Reversing the order of the first two volumes - The Short History of the Reformation and The Short History of the Early Church - the five volumes form a connected History of the Church nearly down to the present time. From this experiment of brief histories of the several periods, it has been illustrated anew that the popular taste for the condensed treatment of the secular sciences can be safely applied to the domain of Theological Science, and to no department with greater hope of success than to Historical Theology. These summaries have met with a reception far more generous than could have been expected, and the indications are not wanting that they have led students of Church History, and even general readers, into the broader paths laid out by Neander, Gieseler, Schaff, Hagenbach, Fisher, and other masters of this fascinating and growing science. What was done in the Short History for each period has seemed proper for all the periods taken together. The result is the present work - Short History of the Christian Church.
