Read This Book: Urban Legends of Church History

It may be too early, but perhaps you practiced on your students before publication: have you gotten any memorable pushback/”hating” due to identifying one of these “histories” as an urban legend?

The book has been vetted by a number of our colleagues from a variety of institutions and denominations—from Baptist to Lutheran, from Anglican to Assembly of God. Several experts in church history provided feedback early on in the writing process. We’re pretty confident that for our intended conservative protestant audience, most of the subjects we address will be received with thanksgiving.

On the other hand, we do acknowledge right up front that as much as we would love to say we’re stating “just the facts,” the truth is that all history is told from the historian’s perspective and a lot of things are subject to interpretation. We’re writing from the vantage point of orthodox, protestant Christians, a perspective we don’t try to hide. Different historians might take us to task on some of the details or characterizations or interpretations of certain issues, but that’s unavoidable. We do strive to be fair with the evidence, even when it doesn’t support our own theological preferences. But we don’t pretend to be purely objective, dispassionate, or disinterested observers. We believe history matters, and the matters of history affect belief.

So even if we get pushback from people who don’t share some of our perspectives, that’s okay. It’s part of learning and growing as we travel this road together.

The book releases October 1, 2020. Grab your copy here (affiliate link).

About the Authors

Michael J. Svigel is Chair and Professor of Theological Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary. Dr. Svigel comes to DTS after working for several years in the legal field as well as serving as a writer with the ministry of Insight for Living. He and his wife, Stephanie, have three children, Sophie, Lucas, and Nathan.

John Adair is Assistant Professor of Theological Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary. Prior to joining the faculty at DTS, Dr. Adair spent several years as a writer at Insight for Living. He and his wife, Laura, have three children—Nicholas, Harper, and Thomas. [Fun fact: John and I co-authored a book together for Insight for Living!]