Historical Theology for the Church

by Jason G. Duesing (Editor), Nathan A. Finn (Editor)

In Historical Theology for the Church , editors Jason Duesing and Nathan Finn bring together top contributors to survey key doctrinal developments in every era of church history. They not only trace the development of various doctrines within historical congregations; they also provide a resource for contemporary congregations. Steered by the conviction that historical theology serves the church both local and global, each chapter concludes with an application section that clarifies the connection between the historical doctrine being covered and the Christian church today.
 

Genres: Theology, History, Church History, Nonfiction

416 pages, Hardcover

Published February 15, 2021

About the author

Serving Christ at the end of all things (1 Peter 4:7) for the glory of God (1 Peter 4:11) and the joy of all nations (Psalm 67:4), Jason G. Duesing is the academic Provost and Professor of Historical Theology at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary & College. Duesing earned his Ph.D. in Historical Theology and Baptist Studies from Southwestern Seminary in 2008. He also holds a M.Div. from Southeastern Seminary and a B.A. in Speech Communications from Texas A&M University in College Station.

Duesing is married to Kalee, and together they have two sons of Adam and two daughters of Eve.

Jason G. Duesing can be reached via email at jduesing [at] mbts [dot] edu, on Twitter at @JGDuesing, on Instagram at @JGDuesing, and on Facebook.

Reviews

[Kendall Klein · Rating 4 out of 5]

I often roll my eyes when a professor insists on using their own book in the class, but this book was wonderful! The book was structured in an easily followed timeline that divided theological issues into logical pieces. Each chapter contained a historical overview, particular case studies, and finally a “for the church” section that related the theological instance to the body of Christ now. I really enjoyed this book and would easily point someone to it as a reference or intrigue read.

[Kyle Kelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tempted to give this a five star but decided not to. This would probably be my go to book for church history. I also read Shelley's church history in plain language but that got into the weeds for me to understand the grand scope of it all. I love church history and am excited to read more about it in the future.

[Bennett Cox · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is not an exhaustive or comprehensive work. Rather, it hits on major historical theological developments and invites the reader to ponder what to do with what they’ve read, in their church setting. There are more complete and deeper works out there, but for getting people to engage with HT for the first or second time, I recommend it.

[Drew Brads · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a solid read at an introductory/textbook level. The chapters follow a format of giving an overview of a particular doctrine during a particular era (e.g. “salvation in the medieval period”). This is followed by “case studies,” deeper dives into individuals or movements that were formative in that doctrine and era. Each chapter concludes with some thoughts “for the church,” explaining how the chapter’s content is relevant for christian life and discipleship. This book did have some weaknesses related to the coherence of the chapters (which are all written by different authors). You tend to get introduced to the same figures repetitively. For example, the chapters on the Reformation inevitably introduce “Martin Luther, a 16th century monk who experienced sparked a radical change following his reading of the book of Romans…” and so on. Nevertheless, it would be a valuable source for quick and accessible reference to the development of doctrine throughout the Christian era.

[Benjamin · Rating 3 out of 5]

For school. Decent to good content in here, the book seeks to trace the theological developments throughout Church history. I appreciated the formatting of each chapter. There was a brief history of the era given focusing on Scripture, the Trinity, etc. Strengthen with specific case studies of the that particular time frame, and a section addressing the church today.

[ECORN · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this for seminary. I highly enjoyed this book as my first taste of historical theology and would recommend it to anyone interested in the subject. Not too academic in tone but still very well categorized and detailed.

[Donald Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is a decent survey of historical theology. It is an anthology of essays by different authors, so that always leads to a certain discontinuity and often to a variation in quality. In this case, most of the chapters were well done. Only one chapter, Creation and Humanity, in the Modern Era, by John Mark Yeats was really inferior. It read like a list of names, without much development of the thought of the theologians mentioned.

The authors are all Southern Baptists, and the book takes a Southern Baptist approach. That is to say, the last six chapters on the Modern Era of theology tends to end up with SBC views and emphases. There are two weaknesses with this section, in my opinion. The authors note the importance of fundamentalism to theology, but really don't understand fundamentalism. They make errors here that seemed quite avoidable. When I say they "note" the importance of fundamentalism to theology, I get the sense that they don't grasp the weight of fundamentalist views, both in the fundamentalist-modernist controversy and in shaping the emerging evangelical theology that came after this period.

The other weakness is giving too much credibility to liberal theology as part of the overall development of theology. As evangelicals, I think they are more open to liberals as "learned fellows who ought to have a voice at the table," rather than pernicious corrupters of theology. It is hard to see how liberals really advance theology, except insofar as Bible believers have to counter their persistent and loudly proclaimed errors. This is probably a mistake common to all historical theologies, but it makes the "Modern Era" confusing and harder to follow.

I suppose I am too negative, as overall I think the book is good and a decent introduction. The basic plan of the book is good and the overall survey covers most of the most important developments of theology through history. The person with little knowledge of historical theology will profit from this book.

I plan to write a more extensive review for Proclaim & Defend, will publish hopefully sometime between Aug 17-20, 2021.

[Derek Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Christian History is extensive, running 2000+ years. For this reason, it is difficult to write a book on Christian History that is faithful to key persons and works in time. Furthermore, Christian theology is an infinitely expanding topic that continues to develop over new repackaged questions that cultures and tribes throw at Christianity. To cover the history of Christian theological developments as concisely and as well as this particular book has done is an achievement that is both helpful and needed for today’s historically skeptical culture. I highly recommend this book for any Christian scholar, pastor, or anyone interested in the history of Christian theological development.

[Luke Seibert · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this for school, and I look forward to using it as a reference work in the future. The chapters are written by a variety of well-known scholars who do an excellent job at covering the material. While it is helpful to have a general familiarity with some topics beforehand, each chapter provides a good overview of the key issues and figures on theological developments. I found this quite useful in seeing the history of certain views today and what shaped their current form. Knowing this background material is important for engagement with various aspects of theology and provides a framework for reading past authors.

[Denis Antonio · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5

I found some aspects of this book to be unsatisfactory. Firstly, the format that suggests multiple authors tends to compromise the quality of the information being repeatedly presented. Secondly, the concept of "historical theology" seemed vague since every author wrote around ~20 pages, which made the information appear very compressed. As a result, many chapters looked like a Wikipedia article. However, I must say that almost every chapter on soteriology was outstanding, tracking every significant move in this field. Also, the main focus was on the historical personalities and their influence, not as much on the development of the doctrine.

[Kevin Gray · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a solid introduction to and survey of historical theology. Each topic has so much more to explore, but the contributors did not overwhelm the reader. At times, topics, names, or terms were thrown out without explanation. It’s an overall helpful book.

[Derek VanRoekel]

I learned a lot of historical theology and church history from reading this, but I would hesitate to recommend it to most readers as it’s written in textbook style and is primarily intended for theologians, ministry leaders, and pastors.

[J.T. · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little more academic than needed...

[Evan Cruse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Repetitive at times, but overall clear and helpful. Appreciate all the extra recommended reading and resources.

[Cale Fauver · Rating 4 out of 5]

Concise and accessible overview of historical theology. I particularly enjoyed the early church section, as well as the ecclesiology formations from the Reformation onward.

[Josh · Rating 1 out of 5]

Writing a book about historical theology and covering *almost* exclusively the Western church deserves negative stars.