HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN THOUGHT (Touchstone Books (Paperback))

Rating:
Summary: A wonderful, if somewhat subjective history!
Review: Paul Tillich is one of the most influential theologians of the twentieth century. This book, a study of the history of Christian thought, is an excellent introduction to the developement of Christian thought. However, because Tillich is a theologian in his own right, he approaches the thought of others from his own theological contruciton. However, he is still fare to all his predecessors. Furthermore, the book is well written from the point of view of both academician and lay person. Both will find it insightful and useful.

Rating:
Summary: Tillich's Most Accessible Work
Review: Paul Tillich was perhaps the most important and influential 20th Century theologian writing in English. His books, however, are tough slogging--especially for those who haven't read all the many continental philosophers and theologians with whom Tillich was arguing. This book, which consists of transcriptions of lectures Tillich gave on the history of Christian thought, is, besides being a wonderful introduction to the subject matter, the best possible introduction to Tillich's own thinking. Wonderfully accessible, engaging and lively, this book is thoroughly readable. If only more of his lectures on other topics were available!

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant and scholarly, but a bit dry.
Review: These lectures clearly reveal Paul Tillich as one of the greatest, most brilliant, theologians of the 20th century. The book summarizes and critiques the entire history of Christian thought (with special emphasis on German theologians). Tillich's appraisals of others are completely fair. His own insights that he shares along the way are those of a devout and brilliant liberal Christian. He summarizes his approach as follows: "Theology must see both sides, man's essential nature, wonderfully and symbolically expressed in the paradise story, and man's existential condition, under sin, guilt, and death."

I have only one reservation. This may well be Tillich's most accessible work, as one reviewer states. But that speaks more to the difficulty of Tillich's other works than to the ease of working through this treatise. It is brilliant, it is beautiful, but it is tough going. I had to reread many passages two or three times to understand them (and a few I simply had to give up on). The book is absolutely worth the effort, but for anyone looking for a somewhat simpler (but excellent) introduction to Christian thought, I would recommend Alister McCrath's "Christian Theology, an Introduction."