Includes bibliographical references (pages 319-320) and index.

Introduction -- The patristic period, c.100-451 -- The Middle Ages and the Renaissance, c.500-1500 -- The Reformation and post-Reformation periods, 1500-1750 -- The modern period, 1750-the present day -- Where next?

How to Use This Book xii -- Introduction 1 -- The Concept of "Theology": A Brief Introduction 1 -- The Architecture of Theology 5 -- Biblical Studies 5 -- Systematic Theology 6 -- Philosophical Theology 7 -- Pastoral Theology 8 -- Church History 8 -- Historical Theology: Its Purpose and Place 9 -- The Development of Historical Theology 10 -- Historical Theology as a Pedagogic Tool 11 -- Historical Theology as a Critical Tool 12 -- Historical Theology as a Resource for Systematic Theology 15 -- 1 Early Christian Theology: The Patristic Period, c. 100-451 17 -- A Clarification of Terms 18 -- The Patristic Period 18 -- Patristics 18 -- Patrology 19 -- Difficulties in Approaching Early Christian Theology 19 -- The Historical Background to Early Christian Theology 20 -- The Historical Importance of the City of Rome 20 -- The Problem of Persecution 21 -- The Conversion of Constantine 22 -- The Development of Public Theological Debate 24 -- Centers of Early Christian Theological Reflection 24 -- Key Theologians 25 -- Justin Martyr (c.100-c.165) 25 -- Irenaeus of Lyons (c.130-c.200) 25 -- Origen (c.l85-c.254) 26 -- Tertullian (c.l60-c.225) 26 -- Athanasius (c.296-c.373) 26 -- Augustine of Hippo (354-430) 27 -- Key Theological Developments 28 -- The Relation of Christian Faith and Classical Culture 28 -- The Extent of the New Testament Canon 29 -- The Role of Tradition 30 -- The Fixing of the Ecumenical Creeds 31 -- The Two Natures of Jesus Christ 32 -- The Doctrine of the Trinity 34 -- The Doctrine of the Church 34 -- The Doctrine of Grace 35 -- Key Names, Words, and Phrases 37 -- Case Studies 38 -- 1.1 The Bible and Tradition 38 -- 1.2 The Arian Controversy: The Divinity of Christ 43 -- 1.3 The Alexandrian Christological School: The Apollinarian Controversy 48 -- 1.4 The Antiochene Christological School: The Nestorian Controversy 51 -- 1.5 The Trinity: Early Developments and Controversies 56 -- 1.6 The Church: The Donatist Controversy 66 -- 1.7 Grace: The Pelagian Controversy 71 -- 1.8 Faith and Philosophy 77 -- 2 The Middle Ages and the Renaissance, c.500-1500 83 -- On Defining the "Middle Ages" 84 -- Medieval Theological Landmarks in Western Europe 86 -- The Carolingian Renaissance 86 -- The Rise of Cathedral and Monastic Schools of Theology 87 -- The Religious Orders and Their "Schools of Theology" 88 -- The Founding of the Universities 89 -- Peter Lombard's Four Books of the Sentences 90 -- The Rise of Scholasticism 90 -- The Italian Renaissance 91 -- The Rise of Humanism 92 -- Medieval Theological Landmarks in Eastern Europe 93 -- The Emergence of Byzantine Theology 93 -- The Iconoclastic and Hesychastic Controversies 94 -- The Fall of Constantinople (1453) 95 -- Key Theologians 95 -- John of Damascus 95 -- Simeon the New Theologian 96 -- Anselm of Canterbury 96 -- Thomas Aquinas 97 -- Duns Scotus 98 -- William of Ockham 99 -- Erasmus of Rotterdam 99 -- Key Theological Developments 100 -- The Consolidation of the Early Christian Theological Heritage 100 -- The Exploration of the Role of Reason in Theology 101 -- The Development of Theological Systems 102 -- The Development of Sacramental Theology 102 -- The Development of the Theology of Grace 103 -- The Role of Mary in the Scheme of Salvation 103 -- Returning Directly to the Sources of Christian Theology 103 -- The Critique of the Vulgate Translation of Scripture 104 -- Key Names, Words, and Phrases 105 -- Case Studies 106 -- 2.1 Arguments for the Existence of God 106 -- 2.2 Understandings of the Atonement 112 -- 2.3 The Theology of the Sacraments 117 -- 2.4 The Interpretation of the Bible 120 -- 2.5 Renaissance Humanism and the Bible 123 -- 2.6 Augustinianism and Pelagianism in Late Medieval Theology 127 -- 3 The Reformation and Post-Reformation Periods, 1500-1750 133 -- Reformation - or Reformations? 134 -- A Clarification of Terms 135 -- The German Reformation - Lutheranism 136 -- The Swiss Reformation - The Reformed Church 137 -- The Radical Reformation - Anabaptism 138 -- The English Reformation - Anglicanism 139 -- The Catholic Reformation 140 -- The "Second Reformation": Protestant Orthodoxy 140 -- Post-Reformation Movements 141 -- The Consolidation of Catholicism 142 -- Puritanism 143 -- Pietism 144 -- Key Theologians 145 -- Martin Luther 145 -- Huldrych Zwingli 146 -- John Calvin 146 -- Teresa of Avilà 147 -- Theodore Beza 147 -- Johann Gerhard 148 -- Roberto Bellarmine 148 -- Jonathan Edwards 148 -- Key Theological Developments 149 -- The Sources of Theology 149 -- The Doctrine of Grace 150 -- The Doctrine of the Sacraments 150 -- The Doctrine of the Church 150 -- Developments in Theological Literature 151 -- Catechisms 151 -- Confessions of Faith 152 -- Works of Systematic Theology 154 -- Key Names, Words, and Phrases 155 -- Case Studies 156 -- 3.1 Bible and Tradition in the Reformation Debates 156 -- 3.2 Justification by Faith: Protestantism and the Council of Trent 164 -- 3.3 The Nature of the Real Presence: Luther, Zwingli, and the Council of Trent 175 -- 3.4 The Debate over Infant Baptism 179 -- 3.5 The Doctrine of the Church: Trends Within Protestantism 183 -- 3.6 Theology and Astronomy: Copernicus, Kepler, and Galileo 189 -- 4 The Modern Period, 1750-The Present Day 196 -- A Cultural Watershed: The Enlightenment 198 -- The Enlightenment Critique of Traditional Theology 199 -- The Notion of Revelation 200 -- The Status and Interpretation of the Bible 200 -- The Identity and Significance of Jesus Christ 200 -- The Doctrine of the Trinity 201 -- The Critique of Miracles 201 -- The Rejection of Original Sin 202 -- The Problem of Evil 202 -- Romanticism and the Critique of the Enlightenment 203 -- The Crisis of Faith in Victorian England 204 -- The Crisis of the First World War 205 -- Postmodernism and a New Theological Agenda 207 -- Key Theologians 209 -- F. D. E. Schleiermacher 209 -- John Henry Newman 210 -- Karl Barth 210 -- Paul Tillich 210 -- Karl Rahner 211 -- Hans Urs von Balthasar 211 -- Jürgen Moltmann 212 -- Wolfhart Pannenberg 212 -- Some Recent Western Theological Movements and Trends 212 -- Liberal Protestantism 212 -- Modernism 215 -- Neo-Orthodoxy 216 -- Ressourcement or la Nouvelle Theologie 218 -- Feminism 219 -- Liberation Theology 222 -- Black Theology 223 -- Postliberalism 224 -- Radical Orthodoxy 227 -- Key Names, Words, and Phrases 227 -- Case Studies 228 -- 4.1 The Quests of the Historical Jesus 228 -- 4.2 The Basis and Nature of Salvation 240 -- 4.3 The Debate over the Resurrection 253 -- 4.4 The Trinity in Twentieth-Century Thought 261 -- 4.5 Twentieth-Century Discussions of the Doctrine of the Church 269 -- 4.6 Natural Theology and the Rationality of Faith 275 -- 4.7 The Feminist Critique of Traditional Christian Theology 280 -- 4.8 Christian Approaches to Other Religions 283 -- 4.9 Postcolonial Theology: Indigenous African Christologies 292 -- 4.10 Suffering: Theodicy in a Darwinian World 295 -- Where Next? 300 -- A Glossary of Theological Terms 302 -- Sources of Citations 314 -- Suggestions for Further Reading 319 -- Index 321.

"This book aims to introduce you to historical theology as an important and interesting subject. It is also a very large topic; to do justice to it, at least five substantial volumes would be required. This book is an introduction to its aims and themes. It aims to pack as much useful information into a single volume as is realistically possible, using approaches which have been tried and tested in classrooms in Europe, North America, and Australasia. The book makes use of some material already presented in the best-selling work Christian Theology: An Introduction, which has been reconfigured for the specific purpose of introducing students to the discipline of historical theology. Although much new material has been added and some existing material rewritten, the basic approach and some contents of this earlier work have been retained. The guiding principle which lies behind this volume is selective attention. It is like a map, giving you a good idea of the landscape, filling in enough detail to help you make sense of things, and making it easier to move on to a more detailed engagement with any of its features. It is assumed that you do not have the time to become familiar with every aspect of the history of Christian thought, but want a general familiarity with its most important aspects. The approach adopted is to begin by painting a scene using some very broad brush strokes, and then filling in the fine detail in selected areas of importance (the 30 "Case Studies). This will allow you to come away from reading this book with a good general understanding of the development of Christian theology. Despite its brevity, however, the work includes a lot of material - considerably more than is included in most introductions of this kind"-- Provided by publisher.