Customer Reviews

A History of Christian Thought: Volume 1: From the Beginnings to the Council of Chalcedon (Revised Edition)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

In this first volume on the development of Christian thought, Gonzalez outlines the main currents of theology and how they progressed during the first ~450 years after Christ. He begins with an interesting look into the religious culture of the Jews and the Graeco-Romans around the time when Jesus Christ came into the world. He moves on to describe the writings of the "Apostolic Fathers," some of the oldest Christian literature written after the New Testament, and then progresses into the main stream of the book. The main course of the book is devoted to discussing the thought of the major theologians in the first 5 centuries, and how various controversies circulated through the church. Gonzalez explains how the church handled these issues, and the resulting theology that came from responding to various heresies. A great deal of emphasis is placed on the development of trinitarian doctrine and the corresponding refutation of Arianism, and then the later Christological controversies enter in during the latter portion of the book. There is certainly a great deal that the church today can learn from looking at its past, and this book offers a good overview of the main issues in Christianity during those early years. One might find themselves surprised that some of the same issues are still discussed today, reminding us that Solomon was right when he said "There is nothing new under the sun."

Justo Gonzoles' comprehensive perspective on the historical development of doctrine can be both inspiring and overwhelming. His attempt to summarize the major movements and developments in the first four centuries of the church in Volume one was more successful than the following synthesis of a thousand years in fewer pages. The early church and ecumenical councils develop in a manner linear enough that are amenable to this sort of treatment. Gonzales' text is readable and could, at times, even be classified as fun (rare for a history of doctrine text). He does a particularly good job with the Apostolic Fathers and the early heresies.

I found this book to be enlightening on the early Christian years. It seems to be an excellent summary of documentation that is currently available on the early church. Particularly interesting to me were the discussions on early schisms -- particularly with the gnostic movements. The book does well describing the issues that led to the many councils that defined the course of Christianity.

This series of books does an excellent job of laying out the issues that confronted Christianity during the first few hundred years. Gonzalez writes in a very accessible style, and tries to keep the technical language to a minimum.

No matter what your exposure to the issues, this book provides an excellent summary and introduction, and is one that I recommend to friends who need a basic grounding in eary Christian thought.

Gonzalez presents a generally balanced view, though it seems that the "orthodox" position is generally portrayed in the best light in most cases, though not to such an extent that the book is heavily biased.

Overall, an excellent introduction and summary. I strongly recommend it.

Justo Gonzalez demonstrates his breadth and depth of the source materials by summarizing the main writers and themes of the early church in a readable translation. Further, he includes other historians' comments in the footnotes on the same page, giving readily available references to more in depth areas if needed. I have used it as the background text for the adult class at my church with great success. I recommend it without qualification.

Christian Thought is a necessary text that every seminarian and lay person needs to have on their book shelf. It would not hurt journalists who cover religious issues either. This text does not take any particular bent favoring one demonimation or another, it only describes the chain of events, the actors, and their rational for advancing their particular school's theological thinking discussing the Trinity and Christology. It also demonstrates that the Council of Nicea was in fact an unsettling but pivitol event in the history of the christian church. Clearly, issues of the Western and Eastern churches are illuminated and one discovers the clear difference between the two camps that in some cases are driven by the Roman Emporers. While not a novel, and intended to be a text book, it does however, read like a novel with political and spiritual intrigue that make one want to move on to the next chapter. Excellent, well written and easy reading for layiety and pastoral communites alike.

This book is a good introduction to the great theological issues which arose during the first 4 1/2 centuries of Christianity. The material is offered in a balanced, non polemic fashion, and would be useful for Catholics and Protestants alike.

The book is useful for the college undergraduate and for the informed layperson seeking deeper information. It is probably not a good choice for graduate level or seminary studies.

First I wish to say that my one star rating is very generous and is only due to the fact that the ratings do not go any lower. Gonzalez's book at times is nothing short of an attack on Catholic doctrine: which is fine if that is what you want to do, but please, at the very least, do not attempt to hide this behind a facade of an honest discourse on the history of Christian thought.

I find it ironic that a Protestant can analyze Catholic history and put Protestant spins on what is clearly Catholic doctrine. The book is filled with tons and tons of sourced references in his footnotes, but there are few qoutes; many times he makes statements that are either twisted to suit his own point of view, which he admits in the preface, or flat out lies. For instance, he states that there is no reference to the Church of Rome as the pre-eminent Church of the Christian faith until the third or fourth century--at the earliest; but he is mistaken; if one turns to the "so-called Apostolic Fathers," (his term, not mine), we see that as early as the second century other Churches were writing to the ROMAN CHURCH for questions and clarifications concerning doctrine. Though there may be no mention of the Church in Rome as first among equals, the very fact that other bishops were writing to Rome for clarification is evidence enough as to its position in the early Church. Furthermore, his animosity towards the Catholic Church is evidenced by his refusal to call the bishop of Rome "Pope." True enough, the Pope is in fact the bishop of Rome, but let's call it like it is: before the Reformation there were no protestants, the honest historian cannot deny this; needless to say, Gonzalez is not an honest historian: he predicates Protestant and heretical interpretations upon a time when this type of "theology" did not exist--an anachronism.

If you really want to know what the early Church and its doctrines and problems was really like, the honest reader would be better of with William Jurgens "The Faith of the Early Fathers." This text will help you judge for yourself as to the beliefs and doctrines of the early Church. Also, Copleston's (sp?) "A History of Philosophy" in 9 volumes will be very helpful. Here is a true historian. Volumes 1 and 2 deal with philosophers beginning with the pre-Socratics and going through Duns Scotus. Unlike Gonzalez, Copleston does not interpret the writings and beliefs of these philosophers unless necessary, that is, when there is perhaps some debate on the issue, and even then, he admits, unlike Gonzalez, that this is his interpretation and even presents you with other interpretations that may be just as viable given the evidence the scholar is basing his interpretation on. Also, Copleston's sources are very accessible, 90% of the time or better, they come from the philosopher he is presenting. Gonzalez on the other hand rarely sources the philosopher or theologian, but will use some obscure text in Spanish, French, Russian, German, or what have you (some of this is understandable considering he was originally writing in Spanish).

Nonetheless, this text is lacking and many times misrepresents or flat out twists the beliefs of the early Church to suit Sr. Gonzalez's own view of the way things were, or more accurately, the way things should have been.