Customer Reviews

Pocket History of Theology (The Ivp Pocket Reference)

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For anyone wanting a quick overview of Christian theology through the last two millennia, this condensation of Roger Olson's The Story of Christian Theology hits all the high points. Beginning with the early second century, you'll meet church fathers and apologists Ignatius, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Clement, Tertullian, Origin and Cyprian. On into the turbulent centuries following, you'll learn about the council of Nicaea (and the Nicene creed), the council of Constantinople, of Ephesus and of Chalcedon as controversy in the church escalates. You'll meet St. Augustine, of course, and learn about the division of the church (what we now call the Orthodox church and the Catholic church, when neither are listening; the "Orthodox" hardly consider themselves less Catholic, and the "Catholics" hardly consider themselves less Orthodox).

As we move into the 16th century, division only continues. Luther, Zwingli, and Calvin are highly influential reformers, and a more extreme version surfaces with the Radical Reformers (often labeled Anabaptists, rejecters of infant baptism). Along comes the English reformation and the Catholic counter-reformation. Deism hopes to reconcile with modern science. And on into the 20th century, with the birth of fundamentalism.

This book is dry, but highly informative. An awful lot is packed into 100 pages.

Today, Christian theology is as diverse as ever, and the story of Christianity continues after this book concludes. I find myself reviewing books by Jewish Christians who interpret the life of Jesus within Hebrew roots, liberal Christians who reject anything miraculous, even Pagan Christians. I guess Jesus has something for everyone!

This little book was a quick read at a little over 100 pages. I particularly enjoyed the attention given to the formulation of early Christian doctrine and the development of Orthodoxy. With all the dogmas out there and everyone claiming that thiers is authentic it can be hard to know who's telling the truth. The authors point out that before the council of Nicea church unity was hard to come by, however the fundamnetal doctrines such as the diety of Christ and the nature of the atonement were never in question. The council of Nicea unified the bishops and marginalized the fringes of the faith by identifying heresies such as the Gnostics and Modalists. I recommend this book to anyone and everyone interested in understanding the roots of modern theology.

This is an abridged version of a larger work. Quick read. Gives a good high-level overview of history. Made me interested in getting the unabridged version to learn even more.

Excellent summary of complex issues, and complicate history, and written well, with the non-professional in mind. Footnotes to work - and a good index.

Definitely a good investment of time and money for freshmen theologians!

*** Although the term evangelical can mean a variety of things, there is a branch of Christianity that can be said to use that as a name for its aspect of the church universal. The author traces the Evangelicalistic movement from the late sixteen hundreds to the present, identifying the major influencers of it and the particular disputes under this umbrella. Although the cover blurb calls this a concise, lively, and readable history, the first adjective is the only one that is actually on target. However, since I do not expect such reading to be lively, the concise nature is highly appreciated. The facts given will appeal to anyone wanting a greater grasp of this history, but if you are looking to know exactly how to define Evangelicalism, at the end, the definition will still be somewhat fuzzy. ***