History of Theology, 4th Revised edition

by Bengt Hägglund, Gene J. Lund (Translator)

This book traces the movements and counter-movements of theological thought through the centuries from the New Testament to the present.

Genres: Theology, Church History, History, Christian

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1968

Reviews

[Seth Kasten · Rating 2 out of 5]

The start of this book made me want to give a single star. His portrayal of the apostolic fathers and some of the early fathers is half-baked, underdeveloped, and over-reliant on the opinion's of secondary sources, which are now quite dated and have been rightly challenged. He nearly concedes the period to his theological opponents (particularly the Roman Catholics). His portrayal of Augustine's eucharistic theology is misinformed and again over-reliant on secondary sources of his era. He lacks insight into Augustine's philosophical presuppositions, and does not read him carefully. The section on the middle ages is a marked improvement, but is nothing to write home about. He broadly covers topics with accuracy, with the occasional misstep, again especially around eucharistology. The Reformation and post-Reformation era are relatively well done, though without enough material covering proto-Protestant figures, and without enough in-depth coverage of post-Reformation controversies. The 18th-19th century is covered far too in-depth for the size of the volume. He wastes ink covering innumerable figures who do not even believe the Bible, apart from seeing it as useful for morals, philosophy, social cohesion, or archetypes. Yet he totally skips over figures from this era that were faithful, such as Hamann, Herder, Pontoppidan, Loescher, Walther, Loehe, etc. His coverage of Christianity outside Europe is abysmal and only gets passing mentions. Overall, a poor treatment of the history of theology. Below a passing grade, though not an absolute failure.

[Einar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Denna bok är en bra sammanfattning om teologins historia från ett lutherskt perspektiv. Tyvärr är inte skrivstilen den mest intressanta. Jag tycker också att 40 sidor (dvs. 10% av boken) om Luther är för mycket även om det måste erkännas att han var inflytelserik. Men var han 10 gånger så inflytelserik som grekisk orthodox teologi som fick 4 sidor? Kanske inte.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

A decent, single volume introduction to historical theology. It's most helpful contribution in my mind is in its summary of doctrinal developments during the first several hundred years of the church. It betrays a typical Protestant devaluing of the Middle Ages, covering that 1000 year period in about 70 pages, while over 130 pages are devoted to the first 400 years of the church and a further 210 or so to post Reformation developments. Since Hägglund was a Lutheran, it also shows far more interest in Lutheranism and the German speaking world; if you are only familiar with English speaking theologians, the latter half of the book may be a bit esoteric. My main complaint is that it can't really serve as a reference book, as the edition I read (4th) contains no footnotes/endnotes, giving it limited value in researching primary sources. In all, it is still helpful and relatively brief considering the breadth of theological development covered.

[Joseph Sverker]

Det här är en verkligen god översikt på teologins historia. Jag läste nu enbart delen om den tidiga kyrkan upp till Reformation, men den täcker perioden väl och det är ett bra urval. Språket är egentligen enkelt, men det finns många teologiska begrepp som på många sätt är nödvändiga i en sån här bok. Det enda som gör den svårläst för mig som inte kan latin är att det nästan förutsätts att man kan latin. Det finns många relativt långa citat inbakade som jag väldigt gärna skulle vilja kunna veta vad det står. Det är en utmärkt källa till ursprungsreferenser!

[Andrew Canavan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good overview until you get to Martin Luther. Everything from then on is related back to Martin Luther as the pinnacle of all theological thought. The chapter on John Calvin, for instance, is pretty paltry. This was just a little idiosyncratic for my taste.

[Kevin Chu · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good general overview of church history especially the early church fathers until the Luther section. Book has a bias towards Luther and what happens in Germany theologically so I personally found the later portions harder to read through.

[Eric Chappell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A readable, concise history from the Apostolic Fathers to trends in 20th c. theology, with slight emphasis on Lutheran theology.

Great resource.

[Leandro Dutra · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great overview of þeological developments.

[Joseph Greenmyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book does an excellent job of explaining the ideology behind some of Christianity's most famous names of old in a comprehensive and thorough manner.

[Bauer Evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

A one volume, one stop resource for church leaders and church member, who want to trace the history of theology. Highly recommended!