Historical Theology : An Introduction to the History of Christian Thought

by McGrath, Alister E.

• ISBN13: 9780470672860
• ISBN10: 0470672862
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-07-23
• Publisher: Wiley

Summary

Freshly updated for this second edition with considerable new material, this authoritative introduction to the history of Christian theology covers its development from the beginnings of the Patristic period just decades after Jesus's ministry, through to contemporary theological trends. A substantially updated new edition of this popular textbook exploring the entire history of Christian thought, written by the bestselling author and internationally-renowned theologian Features additional coverage of orthodox theology, the Holy Spirit, and medieval mysticism, alongside new sections on liberation, feminist, and Latino theologies, and on the global spread of Christianity Accessibly structured into four sections covering the Patristic period, the Middle Ages and Renaissance, the reformation and post-reformation eras, and the modern period spanning 1750 to the present day, addressing the key issues and people in each Includes case studies and primary readings at the end of each section, alongside comprehensive glossaries of key theologians, developments, and terminology Supported by additional resources available on publication at www.wiley.com/go/mcgrath

Author Biography

Alister E. McGrath is the Head of the Centre for Theology, Religion Culture at King's College London, having previously been Professor of Historical Theology at the University of Oxford. He is one of the world's leading Protestant theologians and has long been involved in theological education. McGrath is also the author of some of the most widely used theology textbooks, including the bestselling Christian Theology: An Introduction (2010, Wiley-Blackwell), now in its fifth edition. He is in constant demand as a speaker at conferences throughout the world.

Table of Contents

How to Use this Book	p. xii
Introduction	p. 1
The Concept of "Theology": A Brief Introduction	p. 1
The Architecture of Theology	p. 4
Biblical studies	p. 5
Systematic theology	p. 6
Philosophical theology	p. 7
Pastoral theology	p. 7
Church history	p. 8
Historical Theology: Its Purpose and Place	p. 8
The development of historical theology	p. 9
Historical theology as a pedagogic tool	p. 11
Historical theology as a critical tool	p. 12
Historical theology as a resource for systematic theology	p. 14
The Patristic Period, c. 100-451	p. 16
A Clarification of Terms	p. 17
Difficulties in Approaching Patristic Theology	p. 17
The Historical Background to Patristic Theology	p. 18
The historical importance of the city of Rome	p. 19
The problem of persecution	p. 19
The conversion of Constantine	p. 20
The development of public theological debate	p. 21
Centers of Theological Reflection	p. 22
Key Theologians	p. 22
Justin Martyr	p. 22
Irenaeus of Lyons	p. 24
Origen	p. 24
Tertullian	p. 24
Athanasius	p. 25
Augustine of Hippo	p. 25
Key Theological Developments	p. 26
The relation of Christian faith and classical culture	p. 26
The extent of the New Testament canon	p. 27
The role of tradition	p. 28
The fixing of the ecumenical creeds	p. 29
The two natures of Jesus Christ	p. 30
The doctrine of the Trinity	p. 32
The doctrine of the church	p. 32
The doctrine of grace	p. 33
Key Names, Words, and Phrases	p. 35
Questions	p. 35
Case Studies	p. 36
The Bible and tradition	p. 36
The Arian controversy: The divinity of Christ	p. 41
The Alexandrian Christological school: The Apollinarian controversy	p. 46
The Antiochene Christological School: The Nestroian controversy	p. 49
The Trinity: Early developments and controversies	p. 53
The church: The Donatist controversy	p. 62
Grace: The Pelagian controversy	p. 67
Faith and philosophy	p. 73
The Middle Ages and the Renaissance, C.500-1500	p. 77
On Defining the "Middle Ages"	p. 78
Medieval Theological Landmarks in Western Europe	p. 80
The Carolingian renaissance	p. 80
The rise of cathedral and monastic schools of theology	p. 80
The religious orders and their "schools of theology"	p. 82
The founding of the universities	p. 82
Peter Lombard's Four Books of the Sentences	p. 83
The Rise of Scholasticism	p. 84
The Italian Renaissance	p. 84
The Rise of Humanism	p. 85
Medieval Theological Landmarks in Eastern Europe	p. 86
The emergence of Byzantine theology	p. 87
The iconoclastic controversy	p. 87
The hesychastic controversy	p. 87
The fall of Constantinople (1453)	p. 88
Key Theologians	p. 88
John of Damascus	p. 88
Simeon the New Theologian	p. 89
Anselm of Canterbury	p. 90
Thomas Aquinas	p. 90
Duns Scotus	p. 91
William of Ockham	p. 92
Erasmus of Rotterdam	p. 92
Key Theological Developments	p. 93
The consolidation of the patristic heritage	p. 93
The exploration of the role of reason in theology	p. 94
The development of theological systems	p. 95
The development of sacramental theology	p. 95
The development of the theology of grace	p. 95
The role of Mary in the scheme of salvation	p. 96
Returning directly to the sources of Christian theology	p. 96
The critique of the Vulgate translation of Scripture	p. 97
Key Names, Words, and Phrases	p. 98
Questions	p. 98
Case Studies	p. 98
Arguments for the existence of God	p. 98
Understandings of the atonement	p. 104
The theology of the sacraments	p. 109
The interpretation of the Bible	p. 112
Renaissance humanism and the Bible	p. 115
Augustinianism and Pelagianism in late medieval theology	p. 118
The Reformation and Post-Reformation Periods, 1500-1750	p. 124
Reformation - or Reformations?	p. 125
A Clarification of Terms	p. 126
The German Reformation - Lutheranism	p. 127
The Swiss Reformation - the Reformed church	p. 128
The radical Reformation - Anabaptism	p. 129
The English Reformation - Anglicanism	p. 130
The Catholic Reformation	p. 131
Protestant Orthodoxy	p. 131
Post-Reformation Movements	p. 133
The consolidation of Catholicism	p. 133
Puritanism	p. 134
Pietism	p. 135
Key Theologians	p. 136
Martin Luther	p. 136
Huldrych Zwingli	p. 137
John Calvin	p. 137
Teresa of Avilà	p. 138
Theodore Beza	p. 138
Johann Gerhard	p. 138
Roberto Bellarmine	p. 139
Jonathan Edwards	p. 139
Key Theological Developments	p. 139
The sources of theology	p. 140
The doctrine of grace	p. 140
The doctrine of the sacraments	p. 141
The doctrine of the church	p. 141
Developments in Theological Literature	p. 141
Catechisms	p. 142
Confessions of faith	p. 143
Works of systematic theology	p. 144
Key Names, Words, and Phrases	p. 146
Questions	p. 146
Case Studies	p. 146
Bible and tradition in the Reformation debates	p. 146
Justification by faith: Protestantism and the Council of Trent	p. 154
The nature of the real presence: Luther, Zwingli, and the Council of Trent	p. 164
The debate over infant baptism	p. 167
The doctrine of the church: Trends within Protestantism	p. 171
Theology and astronomy: The Copernican and Galileian debates	p. 177
The Modern Period, 1750 to the Present Day	p. 182
A Cultural Waterrshed: The Enlightenment	p. 184
The Enlightenment Critique of Christian Theology	p. 184
The notion of revelation	p. 185
The status and interpretation of the Bible	p. 185
The identity and significance of Jesus Christ	p. 185
The doctrine of the Trinity	p. 186
The critique of miracles	p. 186
The rejection of original sin	p. 187
The problem of evil	p. 187
Romanticism and the Critique of the Enlightenment	p. 187
The Crisis of Faith in Victorian England	p. 189
Postmodernism and a New Theological Agenda	p. 190
Key Theologians	p. 192
F. D. E. Schleiermancher	p. 193
John Henry Newman	p. 193
Karl Barth	p. 193
Paul Tillich	p. 194
Karl Rahner	p. 194
Hans Urs von Balthasar	p. 194
Jürgen Moltmann	p. 195
Wolfhart Pannenberg	p. 195
Some Recent Western Theological Movements and Trends	p. 195
Liberal Protestantism	p. 196
Modernism	p. 198
Neo-orthodoxy	p. 199
Ressourcement, or, la nouvelle théologie	p. 201
Feminism	p. 202
Liberation theology	p. 204
Black theology	p. 206
Postliberalism	p. 209
Radical orthodoxy	p. 209
Key Names, Words, and Phrases	p. 209
Questions	p. 210
Case Studies	p. 210
The quests of the historical Jesus	p. 210
The basis and nature of salvation	p. 221
The debate over the Resurrection	p. 233
The Trinity in twentieth-century thought	p. 239
Twentieth-century discussions of the doctrine of the church	p. 245
Natural theology and the rationality of faith	p. 252
The feminist critique of traditional Christian theology	p. 256
Christian approaches to other religions	p. 259
Where Next?	p. 269
Details of Theologians	p. 271
A Glossary of Theological Terms	p. 276
For Further Reading	p. 288
Sources of Citations	p. 292
Index	p. 297
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