Pocket History of Theology

The IVP Pocket Reference Series

by Roger E. Olson

"The story of Christian theology does not begin at the beginning. . . .Theology is the church's reflection on the salvation brought by Christ and on the gospel of that salvation proclaimed and explained by the first-century apostles." Here is a concise and informative guide to the history of Christian theology. This condensation of Roger Olson's widely acclaimed The Story of Christian Theology surveys the events, teachings and challenges to the Christian faith down through the ages. In five acts we are ushered from the second to the twenty-first century following all the twists and turns, wrinkles and rivalries that lay along that wonderful and humble way of Christian faith seeking understanding, articulation and explanation. Crafted for students, pastors and other busy people, this pocket history of theology provides a clear and informed guide to the central tenets of Christian faith and the internal threats and external challenges it has faced and continues to confront even today.

Genres: Theology, Christian, History, Christian History, Reference

112 pages, Paperback

First published October 31, 2005

About the author

Roger E. Olson (PhD, Rice University) is professor of theology at George W. Truett Theological Seminary, Baylor University. He is a prolific author whose volumes include The Story of Christian Theology and The Mosaic of Christian Belief. He is also coauthor of 20th-Century Theology. Olsen identifies as an Arminian and a Baptist.

Reviews

[Nelson Banuchi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very brief, quick read (112 pages) of the history of Christian theology from the early Church fathers to the present. This is a great book to sort of bring together in summary form the basic similarities and differences between varying theological views and a sense of their development through the years.

Olson and English gave a good amount of introduction to Arminius (it seems he is ignored in most Christian history books) covering a little over two pages, and a quite interesting read on Karl Barth, whom is considered neo-orthodox, and his theology, all which covers about five pages. Olson and English also suggest that Calvin borrowed mostly from Luther and Zwingli, quoting Timothy George in his book, "Theology of the Reformers," "on closer examination, on is impressed with the unoriginality of Calvin's doctrine of election" (p.77).

The short section discussing the Catholic church's counter reformation gives a better understanding, although brief, of the basic issues challenging it's theology, especially in light of the Reformation. One interesting piece of information received from the book that I was not aware of, in the call by Romand Catholic leaders for a "new ecumenical council," that is, the Council of Trent in the middle 1500's, the emperor "hoped that Lutheran representative [would] be invited." They were not.

This is a good introduction for those interested in the history of Christian theology, and it might even offer a few little surprises.

[Kathleen Robison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! Concisely packed and well rounded.

I read this book as a quick read for a book club upon recommendation. Although I could have made it a quick read, I found myself re-reading the rich pages of a thorough history of theology. As a lay person, I feel as if I just completed a crash course in Theology, much like the title indicates. Thorough, hitting on familiar (and not so familiar ) themes and doctrines as well as key figures in history, my interest is peeked to study much of what has confounded me. I especially appreciated the modern day explorations into the subject as well. I’ll be reading this again.

[Mark Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The authors do a good job of trying to cover roughly 2000 years of theological changes and disagreements. As expected, for a small pocket edition, they do not go into great depth about everything. But they do select particularly prominent ideas and trends and explain them with good thoroughness. Overall, this is a good book for introducing one to the various theological ideas in Christian history.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Olson and English do a fantastic job of sketching the major theologies of the past 2000 years in an accessible and engaging manner. The entire IVP Pocketbook series has been very helpful for me in understanding basic church history and historical theology. I was intrigued and saddened to see that much of theology has been tainted by politics and quests for power.

[Christopher Strahan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Irenaes was greatly flustered by the Gnosticism of his contemporaries. He sought stability in a world that seemed so unstable, from which his theory of atonement known as the re-heading, or recapitilation, came forth.

Karl Barth, firstly the great reformed liberal swiss theologian of the early 20th century, but foremostly the bane of liberals and a wolf in sheeps clothing to fundementalist. Perhaps the central tenant of his neo-orthodoxy was that Christ was supremely the Word of God. For Barth, Christ was more the word, than the bible was the word, than church tradition was the word. To the dismay of the fundementalists he strongly disagreed with biblical inerrancy and yet, suprisingly for some, he had a high view of scipture. When asked to sum up his lifes work in a sentence, no mean feat, he replied simply "Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so."

The infamous story of Abelard and Heloise, the lovers bridled by the halls of the Notre-dam and the unaccepting onlookers, has tamed many hearts. Peter Abelard was a womaniser of unique quality; a high scholastic theologian in the 12th century and responsible for crafting the moral example theory of the atonement.

On the highest seat in Canterbury sat Anslem, a Benedictine monk and philosopher. His outstanding contribution to theology is known as the satifaction theory of atonement, and posits that God needs to be honoured. This debt of honor was satisfied in Christ which brought us near to God.

Erasimus of Rotterdam, and his doctrine of free will, was drawn into a pot of controversy, stirred thoroughly by Martin Luther. Erasmus was a prince, or at least the hailed 'prince of the humanists,' and fought the devil plundering Luther on the grounds of free will against predestination. He translated the works of St Augustine of hippo and yet he was Pelagius in the great Augustinian-Pelagian controversy of the 4th century.

[Lee Harmon · Rating 4 out of 5]

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!

[Rod White · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was not encouraged by this book. So often the history of theology is the history of accomodating Christianity to the powers that be. This nice summation points that out again. Read it to find out where you come from and maybe find out what you should be doing to think straight right now. Be warned, however, you may need to google a lot of stuff with which you are unfamiliar to keep up with the story. It is condensed.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would recommend this little book to anyone who wants an introduction to or review of Church history and theology. It's intelligently but accessibly written and brief enough that one could easily get through it in a day.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book title seems boring, but no, at 108 pages it covers key theological developments since the apostles died. I found it quite interesting. I think knowing the history of christian thinking is helpful to understanding the Bible and our place in history.