"Fundamentally speaking, any church history should be written with the redemption view of history or the divine providence view of history. History of the world may be written in all sorts of historical views, but the history of church must always be written in a way that reflects the divine providence for salvation of mankind and God's redemptive works. It should therefore be regarded that an account of church history is true and valid only if it has been written according to the historical view of divine providence. I am a strong advocate of the historical view of divine providence, and I have made every effort to abide by the view throughout this book"--Preface.