Historical Theology

"HISTORICAL THEOLOGY is a great book for seminary students or any just interested in theology. McGrath covers a lot of material in a relatively short book, and he keeps it interesting throughout." (Tom-farr.blogspot.com, 1 August 2013)

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 ???fth edition. He is in constant demand as a speaker at conferences throughout the world.

How to Use this Book xii Introduction 1 The Concept of "Theology": A Brief Introduction 1 The Architecture of Theology 4 Biblical studies 5 Systematic theology 6 Philosophical theology 7 Pastoral theology 7 Church history 8 Historical Theology: Its Purpose and Place 8 The development of historical theology 9 Historical theology as a pedagogic tool 11 Historical theology as a critical tool 12 Historical theology as a resource for systematic theology 14 1 The Patristic Period, c.100-451 16 A Clarification of Terms 17 Difficulties in Approaching Patristic Theology 17 The Historical Background to Patristic Theology 18 The historical importance of the city of Rome 19 The problem of persecution 19 The conversion of Constantine 20 The development of public theological debate 21 Centers of Theological Reflection 22 Key Theologians 22 Justin Martyr 22 Irenaeus of Lyons 24 Origen 24 Tertullian 24 Athanasius 25 Augustine of Hippo 25 Key Theological Developments 26 The relation of Christian faith and classical culture 26 The extent of the New Testament canon 27 The role of tradition 28 The fixing of the ecumenical creeds 29 The two natures of Jesus Christ 30 The doctrine of the Trinity 32 The doctrine of the church 32 The doctrine of grace 33 Key Names, Words, and Phrases 35 Questions 35 Case Studies 36 1.1 The Bible and tradition 36 1.2 The Arian controversy: The divinity of Christ 41 1.3 The Alexandrian Christological school: The Apollinarian controversy 46 1.4 The Antiochene Christological school: The Nestorian controversy 49 1.5 The Trinity: Early developments and controversies 53 1.6 The church: The Donatist controversy 62 1.7 Grace: The Pelagian controversy 67 1.8 Faith and philosophy 73 2 The Middle Ages and the Renaissance, c.500-1500 77 On Defining the "Middle Ages" 78 Medieval Theological Landmarks in Western Europe 80 The Carolingian renaissance 80 The rise of cathedral and monastic schools of theology 80 The religious orders and their "schools of theology" 82 The founding of the universities 82 Peter Lombard ' s Four Books of the Sentences 83 The Rise of Scholasticism 84 The Italian Renaissance 84 The Rise of Humanism 85 Medieval Theological Landmarks in Eastern Europe 86 The emergence of Byzantine theology 87 The iconoclastic controversy 87 The hesychastic controversy 87 The fall of Constantinople (1453) 88 Key Theologians 88 John of Damascus 88 Simeon the New Theologian 89 Anselm of Canterbury 90 Thomas Aquinas 90 Duns Scotus 91 William of Ockham 92 Erasmus of Rotterdam 92 Key Theological Developments 93 The consolidation of the patristic heritage 93 The exploration of the role of reason in theology 94 The development of theological systems 95 The development of sacramental theology 95 The development of the theology of grace 95 The role of Mary in the scheme of salvation 96 Returning directly to the sources of Christian theology 96 The critique of the Vulgate translation of Scripture 97 Key Names, Words, and Phrases 98 Questions 98 Case Studies 98 2.1 Arguments for the existence of God 98 2.2 Understandings of the atonement 104 2.3 The theology of the sacraments 109 2.4 The interpretation of the Bible 112 2.5 Renaissance humanism and the Bible 115 2.6 Augustinianism and Pelagianism in late medieval theology 118 3 The Reformation and Post-Reformation Periods, 1500-1750 124 Reformation - or Reformations? 125 A Clarification of Terms 126 The German Reformation - Lutheranism 127 The Swiss Reformation - the Reformed church 128 The radical Reformation - Anabaptism 129 The English Reformation - Anglicanism 129 The Catholic Reformation 130 Protestant Orthodoxy 131 Post-Reformation Movements 133 The consolidation of Catholicism 133 Puritanism 134 Pietism 135 Key Theologians 136 Martin Luther 136