Parade of Faith

I'm a church history buff. That's the stuff I read for fun. The stories of faith heroes from the past stand as present inspiration. I was thrilled, therefore, when my dear friend, Ruth Tucker's Parade of Faith (Zondervan) was released this year.

Parade of Faith is, hands down, the best general church history book on the market today. I have several volumes of noteworthy histories on my shelves -- but Tucker's surpasses them all.

Here's why:

1) Ruth Tucker is a story-teller. She is a master of biographical history, and that's what makes it powerful and interesting. History is wonderful when it's told as a story, and horriblly boring without skin on.  Tucker makes it come alive!

2) The book is packed with outstanding pictures. I like that! A picture paints a thousand words. Tucker's excellent use of illustrations makes this book stand apart from the others.

3) The Parade of Faith includes branches from many different faith streams, and treats them all respectfully.. For instance, Tucker includes a little bit about the founding of the Wesleyan Methodist Church. Most general church history volumes omit that.

4) I appreciate the way Tucker handles the various characters of history. She doesn't whitewash the facts, but in a disarming manner, introduces these colorful individuals as long-lost friends.  She made them so fascinating I decided to do a little more digging on the lives of significant faith giants.

5)  The  Parade of Faith is up to date.  It brings the histroy all the way to our back door. 

6)  The book is clear and fast-paced.  Tucker writes in the present tense most of the time and jams a ton of content into a small space.  In other words, she doesn't spin her wheels.  Occasionally, I had to stop readhing just to catch my breath!

I highly recommend Parade of Faith to anyone who teaches church histoy, or who would like to learn more about it. Purchase Here