Customer Reviews

The Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine, Vol. 1: The Emergence of the Catholic Tradition (100-600)

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This book is probably, page for page, the most scholarly and readable of all the history of doctrine books about the early Church (although Kelley's "Early Christian Doctrines" comes close). Pelikan's style is concise, but also detailed, in that on every page he provides references for just about every important thing he says. Pelikan has a take on doctrine that is shared by most scholars and clergy, which is that doctrine developed, and that what the apostles believed was less defined and cloudier than what the later Church believed. In other words, from studying the Bible and the early writers, we see that their formulations and emphases often differed from later generations. For instance, the doctrine of original sin is rarely spoken of before Augustine, and early creeds were less clear about the Son's full equality with the Father, even though they called the Son "God." For those unfamiliar with Christian history, to see important doctrines develop might be troubling, although as many Christians already know, the development and clarification of a doctrine does not make it less true.

Pelikan covers all of the major figures and controversies, looking at orthodox and heretic arguments. He explains why orthodox doctrine prevailed, geographically, politically, and philosophically. The major chapters are, 1. Preparatio Evangelica, 2. Outside the Mainstream. 3. Faith of the Catholic Church, 4. Mystery of the Trinity, 5. Person of the God-Man, 6. Nature and Grace, and 7. Orthodox Consensus. Each is then broken down to several sub-chapters.

Do not expect a Biblical defense of the Trinity or any other doctrine from this book. Pelikan clearly explains that catholic belief came after a long and hard consideration of biblical concepts, with many dissenters who interpreted the Bible differently. The chapter on the Trinity for instance focuses on the varying ways of interpreting the relationship of Jesus to the Father. This includes heretic doctrines of Modalism, and Adoptianism, as well as proto-orthodox Logos-Theology, and the Nicene Trinity. While he explains the views of those outside the catholic mainstream, even often arguing on their behalf, he (and most scholars outside of a few in the 1800s) does not believe that the heretical groups throughout history agreed on doctrine and practice (they did not) and formed an underground church.

Overall, this is a fine book that I use as a reference quite often. His whole series, of which this is the first, is very useful. Another reviewer below, Alan Wong, provides the ISBN numbers of the other books. For anyone wanting to dig deeper in his or her study of Christian doctrine and history, I would suggest this book. It is not for beginners though. He often uses Greek and Latin terms, as well as other "churchy" terms that are probably unfamiliar to most people. Chadwick's "The Early Church" and Reader's Digest's "After Jesus," which is co-edited by Pelikan, are the best places to start. However, after those have intrigued you, move on to Pelikan and you won't be disappointed.

Volume 1 of Dr. Pelikan's 5 volume magnum opus is a breathtaking panorama of the development of Christian doctrine over the course of its first 6 centuries. Dr. Pelikan tells us what the infant Church taught, and the fascinating process by which it came to those conclusions, introducing us to the specific arguments of the various positions regarding issues like the relationship of the Old Covenant to the New, the Trinity, the nature of Christ, the question of Christian authority, predestination, grace, salvation, etc. This book is a sumptuous feast for the theologically-oriented mind and an intellectual achievement for the ages.

Two words in the book's subtitle should be emphasized to clarify the book's purpose; firstly, that this is a study of Christian_doctrine_, not a history of Christianity per se. The mention of dates and years is rare, and indeed, this book seems to operate in a world outside of time, where spiritual ideas are debated by disembodied theologians unmoored from any earthly context. As a history-buff, that lack of chronological perspective sometimes grates, but I came to accept that this is a historical study of ideas, not events, and the book is made stronger by its single-minded focus on that area. Secondly, the starting point of this book that has to be accepted is that the basics of Christian doctrine have come down to us by a_process_of revelation, development, evolution, and scholarly dialectics, not from the self-exegesis of Scripture Alone. Pelikan himself once sarcastically asked what human being could sit in a room with the New Testament and come up with the idea of the Trinity without the benefit of Tradition. That kind of thinking is no obstacle to those sectors of Christianity which believe that the Holy Spirit works through properly appointed authority (Eph 4:11-14) to ensure that Christ's one Church will never err in doctrine, but it might be a stumbling block to those Christians (particularly religiously anarchic Americans) who think that the whole of Christian doctrine, history and devotion is, and was intended to be, contained in and clearly spelled out in the pages of the New Testament, which fell from the sky on Good Friday 33 A.D. leather-bound, annotated and translated into the King James Version, ready-made to be individually interpreted anew by every generation of average Joe-Christians. As a previous reviewer said, this book is an antidote for ahistorical Christians.

Unlike his predecessor Harnack, Pelikan doesn't take the historical development of doctrine as a justification for religious relativism. Pelikan always approached his subject from the perspective of a believer, and even though he wrote this book as a Lutheran and later converted to Eastern Orthodoxy, I-as a Catholic- find no cause for any accusation of sectarian bias in his work. This is a work of impartial scholarship through and through, on a subject which is ripe for the insertion of denominational proclivities. My criticisms are minor: as far as I can recall, this book barely touched on the questions of Biblical canon and pre- 5th century Roman claims of primacy, two subjects I would describe as "doctrinal" but of which Dr. Pelikan apparently disagreed. In his section on infant baptism, he apparently neglected the testimony of St. Polycarp (died ca 155-167- a self-described "Christian for 86 years") as an additional buttress to the tradition. And there are stray sentences which could have been rendered with less theological opacity. But these are minor. This is the standard reference work for any serious student of Christianity, and will likely remain so for many decades to come.

The general academic consensus on Pelikan's magisterial and encyclopedic work is that it has become the Harnack of the 20th century. The comparision to Harnack's _History of Dogma_ is not a denigration of either of these two works. It simply states the monumental importance of this work.

Pelikan writes in a readable and engaging style. He has clearly grasped all the subtleties in the development of the "Christian Tradition" (his oft-quoted phrase is that tradition is the living faith of the dead but traditionalism is the dead faith of the living), but yet he can summarize the essence of a position in one sentence. The real meat of this set is the references in the margin, where one can go directly to the sources. Anyone studying theology must have this on their bookshelf.

As a public service, here are the ISBN numbers so that one can purchase the entire set ... ISBN v1 0226653714 v2 0226653730 v3 0226653757 v4 0226653773 v5 0226653803

"The Emergence of the Catholic Tradition" (and the "Christian Tradition" series as a whole) is among the most useful books I have ever come across.

Mr. Pelikan has focused like a laser on what was TAUGHT (as in "the stuff we have actual historical documentation for") by the church throughout history. This is most refreshing. No pet theories or speculation taint this book (I guess this means Mr. Pelikan won't be asked to work with A&E or Bill Moyers any time soon.)

This book can be dry in spots. This probably speaks more to my distaste for "scholarly works" than any deficiency in Mr. Pelikan's writing style. However, most readers will probably find this book both captivating and edifying. I recommend it.

This book is the first of a series of five books that covers the historical development of Christian doctrines from the second until the 20th century.

In this book, Mr. Pelikan covers the development of Christian doctrines from the second until the seventh century which essentially was a crucial period in history of Christianity where early Christians struggled to formulate key doctrines, e.g. the Trinity, Christology, Anthropology, etc, that would ultimately shape the development of Christianity.

Mr. Pelikan has rendered the Christian community a great service through this book as it document the landmarks of the faith once delivered.

I highly recommend this book to any Christian who wishes to deepen his/her understanding of how and why Christians hold to certain teachings. This book is a welcome relief for any Christians who seeks to understand the historical dimension of the faith, thus enabling them to view how they are connected to the living apostolic Church from the early believers to today.

This book reviews the different doctrines and beliefs of the earliest Christians. Pelikan discusses each doctrine and shows the evolution of the Christian (and Heretical) beliefs. This book is not for a beginner. I think you need to have a good grasp of church history and the major theolgians' core beliefs. This book (part 1 of a series) is invaluable for the theologian or student of church history.

This is a fantastic work of historical synthesis. Pelikan has a difficult task set for him, but handles it very well.

One big caveat: Pelikan assumes that you're bringing a lot to the table with you, and thus the prose is as far from a "for Dummies" as is possible. If you don't already know what docetism (for example) is, think twice before buying.

It should also be noted that Pelikan is Lutheran, so don't let the title mislead you. Neverhteless, his perspective seems to be very intellectually honest and free from sectarian slant.

Pelikan's "The Christian Tradition" is a remarkable series that describes the manner in which Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox christians have interpreted the teaching of Jesus and the manner in which the doctrines of this "one, holy, catholic and apostolic" faith developed and diverged over twenty centuries. Thus, one learns not only what the various christian churches teach today but how and why these teachings differ. While scholarly, "The Christian Tradition" is clearly written and readable. Highly recommended.

Dr. Pelikan takes the jumble of early Christian writings, both orthodox and heterodox, and weaves from them a sensible history of the development of Christian Tradition. This is not a "history" as such in which game pieces move here and there along a strict chronology; Pelikan is less concerned with the Church councils than what people professed before and after the councils. This is also not recommended as an introductory text to the history of theology. I'd recommend first Henry Chadwick's "The Early Church" (a more accessible and linear history), then J.N.D. Kelly's "Early Christian Doctrines." Pelikan's is a much more detailed work.

In this first volume, Pelikan sets the stage by describing the religious and philosophical milieu into which Christianity was born, and from which Christianity inherited so much. Anyone who believes that the history of Christian doctrine is a thick, black, straight line may be suprised at the nuances and odd directions that doctrine took among some persons in some places at some times. Also, to what degree did eventually heterodox persons play in the development of orthodox doctrine? Example: Pelikan has some interesting observations of Tertullian's proto-Montanism vis-a-vis the personality of the Holy Spirit and the development of trinitarian thought. And while not a major criticism, Pelikan is a little weak when it comes to the Aramaic influences in very early Christian thinking; check out Fr. Joseph Fitzmyer's various Dead Sea Scrolls studies for that important aspect.

Pelikan's strengths, and they are significant, are in the tracking the development from Paul and other early Christians of the separation of Christians from "law" into "grace," and the effects of that movement with regard to salvation. He also tracks the development of Christology, stopping along the way to examine variant thinking (such as "angel Christology") that reflected other competing traditions. How was Christ divine? How was Christ human? Pelikan examines how early Christians answered these questions and reconciled the apparent paradox.

Of tremendous interest to me was the section on "Nature and Grace." What is "sin"? And how does the Christian reconcile his responsibility to live *as* a Christian and also acknowledge God's sovereignty? Pelikan steps through the written deposit of early Christian thinking of the first 600 years - some calm, some polemical and filled with the hyperbole that comes in the struggle to be heard - and organizes it for both the scholar and the enthusiastic and somewhat informed ordinary reader.

Pelikan also retains a delightful balance, always knowing what the value of his work is. Before launching into this five volume work that will occupy so much of his professional life, he observes in the first lines of this volume that "doctrine is not the only, not even the primary, activity of the church. The church worships God and serves mankind, it works for the transformation of the world and awaits the consummation of its hope in the next. 'Faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love' - love, and not faith, and certainly not doctrine." Amen, Dr. Pelikan. Still, this *is* a work on the development and history of doctrine. I accept it for what it is, and, that, it does very, very well.

Jaroslav Pelikan has a superb skill for presenting the history of doctrine in a readable, comprehensive format. It is especially valuable that he treats issues as a whole, showing varied points of view, rather than using a strictly chronological format.

The patristic era is fascinating, and the more so with Pelikan's setting the developments forth in a fashion which makes all the "pieces of the puzzles" come together. I found it extremely enlightening, and would highly recommend this and the other books in the series.