Monks and Mystics
From SPARK
One-sentence summary
A children's book of historical biographies of church leaders during the middle ages.
Description
This is the second in a series that tells about people and the history of the Christian church. From stories of the Medieval church, children will learn how the Christian church developed into another era. From Gregory I through Wycliffe and Hus, they will learn about the crusades, the spread of Islam, the beginnings of universities, and the Reformation. As the church continues to grow, children will learn about problems within the church and persecution from non-believers. Children will learn from bad decisions those early Christians made but also learn from their strong faith. They will see God's wonderful care of His people.
Explanations of Islam; division within the church; the crusades; the first university; creeds and councils; and the Renaissance are included.
The chapter titles include the following:
- A medieval church timeline
- What was the medieval church?
- Gregory the Great: An ape who became a lion
- How did the Pope get his name?
- Boniface: The good news of Christ in foreign worlds
- Charlemagne: Crowned by God
- What is Islam?
- Constantine and Methodius: You sent us holy men.
- Vladimir: If you know him, you too will rejoice.
- A divided Church: The Great Schism of 1045
- Anselm of Canterbury: “May God so reign in your heart.”
- What were the Crusades?
- Bernard of Clairvaux: “Did you lead us here to die?”
- Francis: A knight in monk's clothing
- How the Universities were born
- Thomas Aquinas: We call him the “Dumb Ox.”
- Catherine of Sienna: Do that which you have promised.
- John Wycliffe: I will not die, but live and declare the works of the Lord.
- Councils of the Medieval Church
- John Hus: “This goose is not afraid of being cooked.”
- Other Medieval Christians
- The Renaissance: The Middle Ages come to an end.
- Where we got our information
- Map of the medieval world showing places where the stories took place
Considerations
- This book was written for children 9-14 years old.
- It has 240 pages divided into 22 chapters. The last four pages list source information and show a map of the medieval world where the stories took place.
- This book begins at the close of the sixth century A.D. where the first book ended.
- Today's Christian church faces many of the same problems that the medieval church had.
- This book shows that the middle ages were not a dark and oppressed time between Augustine and Luther.
- God did not abandon His people for 1000 years!
- During the middle ages missionaries shared the good news of Jesus in foreign lands.
- The Bible was translated into different languages.
- Christians were responsible for their actions before God and each other.
- Believers and non-believers in Jesus were used by God.
Limitations
- The biographical stories are based on historical research and facts, but some of the story-lines are fiction. Children in some cultures may not be able to understand what is fact from what is fiction.
- Because many names are used, children will need to follow some complicated story lines.
- Except for the cover, the book has no pictures.
Guidelines for Use
- As an audio book.
- As Christian radio programs.
- In schools and Sunday Schools as curriculum for church history.
- Useful for training adults. It could be used to help train national church workers in Bible schools and seminaries.
Where to Obtain
Link to Producer or Source Organization
Christian Focus Publications Ltd
Cost
3.99 (GBP) as of June 2008
Producer/Owners
Author/Artist/Producer
Mindy and Brandon Withrow
Current copyright owner
Mindy and Brandon Withrow, 2005
Other Information
If you are interested in translating this second volume of the history of the Christian church for children, you will need to contact Christian Focus Publications Ltd. They will help you work out a Creative Commons License agreement.
Reviewed by
Vida, VMS
Date
June 23, 2008
