On This Day in Christian History, pastor Robert J. Morgan promises “a year’s worth of insight and spiritual challenge” through anecdotes and events from the second century into the twentieth century. Spanning across Western Christian traditions, from early Catholicism to Reformation groups, several times embracing conflicted forces (Catholic/Protestant, Anglican/Puritan, Reformed/Anabaptist, Quaker/Congregationalist), Morgan attempts to be as all-encompassing as he can be both in tradition, era, and station in life (laity, clergy, etc.).

The book, however, does not deliver on its description. If it had been titled Random Events in Christian History, it would have been more aptly named. Edification, inspiration and consistency are far from being themes in this book. As an example, in the entry for Jan. 1, Swiss Reformer Zwingli is held up as a hero and then in Jan. 17’s entry, he is condemned for his execution of Anabaptists. Every leader has their contributions and their grievous sins, but refusing to deal with disparities makes for bad reading. There were also several repetitive pieces (examples: John Calvin, Council of Constance, etc.).

If you want to learn about church history, there are a number of good resources available and your pastor or local evangelical Bible professor probably has a few of them. Look into those kinds of resources instead of looking to this daily information download with poor scholarship.