Christian Thinking through the Ages

Written by a historian and lifelong Christian in the Church of England, this informative book takes readers through 2,000 years of Western Christian theological thinking, starting with the original teachings of Jesus of Nazareth and the early apostles, followed by the early fathers and an account of the seven ecumenical councils in the East. From there, it moves on Augustine, then Benedict, Anselm and Peter Abelard, Thomas Aquinas, William of Ockham and John Wycliffe; Erasmus and Martin Luther, followed by an account of Calvinism, Methodism and the effects of the scientific revolution. The 20th century is represented principally by German theologians such as Barth, Bultmann, Bonhoeffer and Moltmann – also Paul Tillich and Reinhold Niebuhr (I would have liked to see Hans Kung). There is very little coverage of mysticism (neither Eckhart nor Hildegard is in the index). In looking forward, the author identifies the teaching of Jesus and his self-sacrifice on the cross as the essence of Christianity, emphasising how he broke the destructive cycle of recurring violence, to which we are still only too subject, as Tolstoy already lamented 150 years ago.