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Title: Historical Theology: An Introduction to the History of Christian Thought by Alister E. McGrath ISBN: 0-631-20844-5 Publisher: Blackwell Publishers Pub. Date: April, 1998 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $47.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.6 (5 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Seminary Student
Comment: I have to read this book for my church history class and I have found it to be a very good resource. The author presents the material in a highly readable format but it is not immature writing either. There are brief explanations about key figures throughout the churches history and these help you relate theologies with their proponents. This is a well written book that is highly insightful.
Pros:
Well written
Based on historical documents
Very in-depth
Cons:
Not for personal reading
Rating: 4
Summary: Excellent for study of historical theolgoy
Comment: McGrath is a leading scholar in our day, and this book shows why. While obviously very informed in his area of study, his writing is alive and easily accessible to the reader just wading into the study of historical theology. There are excerpts of original writings from different issues in church history, all of which are framed by McGrath's helful explanation, summary, and commentary. Definitely worth having.
Rating: 4
Summary: HIGHLY READABLE INTRODUCTION TO CHRISTIAN THOUGHT
Comment: You've got a year of historical theology coming up, and you've already got a sinking feeling. All those "-ologies": Christology, soteriology, ecclesiology... All those "-isms": Arianism, Pelagianism, Apollinarianism, Docetism and so on... All the councils, creeds and synods (not to mention the infamous Diet of Worms)... That's before you even get to the Middle Ages and all those infamous philosophical arguments for the existence of God, let alone the Protestant Reformation.
If you're going to be working with McGrath, you can relax. The structure of the book is ideal. Each major period begins with a gently-paced and highly readable narrative which for many readers' purposes will be all that is required. But each such chapter is followed by one or more "case studies" in which the principles and arguments of each of the major theological issues of the period are analyzed in greater depth.
A key strength of the book is that the main characters (Jerome, Augustine, Luther and the like) are allowed to speak in their own words - just enough to introduce you to the real spirit of their thought but not enough to bog you down in archaic language. In fact most of them come across as far more lucid and down to earth than you might expect.
Another useful technique is the way tiny boxed biographies of the major players are repeated when their names come up. It saves the reader flicking back and forth to refresh his or her memory, and thus greatly speeds up the assimilation of knowledge.
The downside of this method is that you tend to get a feeling of "deja vu" from time to time, as the same explanation may turn up in longer or shorter forms two or three times, as you move from the general background to the specific case-study and onto the biography. However this is not a serious objection, and it is simply the inevitable by-product of a highly effective teaching technique.
A more serious issue is that the author has drawn large sections of this book from his larger overview of Christian Theology. This was evidently a deliberate policy, but if you have the original book you will not find sufficient new material to justify the purchase price.
Finally this is not a general church history - this is an important distinction - but in the area of Christian doctrine it ranks as an outstanding resource for the serious student or for the general reader...
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Title: Christian Theology: An Introduction by Alister E. McGrath ISBN: 0631225285 Publisher: Blackwell Publishers Pub. Date: March, 2001 List Price(USD): $39.95 |
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Title: Jonathan Edwards: A Life by George M. Marsden ISBN: 0300096933 Publisher: Yale Univ Pr Pub. Date: April, 2003 List Price(USD): $35.00 |
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Title: The Story of Christianity: Volume 1 : Volume One: The Early Church to the Reformation by Justo L. Gonzalez ISBN: 0060633158 Publisher: Harper SanFrancisco Pub. Date: 18 July, 1984 List Price(USD): $22.95 |
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Title: Calvin's Institutes by Jean Calvin, Donald K. McKim ISBN: 0664222986 Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press Pub. Date: December, 2000 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
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Title: Religion and the People of Western Europe 1789-1989 by Hugh McLeod ISBN: 0192892835 Publisher: Oxford University Press Pub. Date: January, 1998 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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