The History of Christian Thought: The Fascinating Story of the Great Christian Thinkers and How They Helped Shape the World As We Know It Today

Rating:
Summary: An excellent, highly readable survey
Review: Unclear just what Arianism was, or what the Monophysites were upset about, or exactly why the Eastern church split from the Western? Not quite sure about the difference between liberal theology and liberation theology? Here's the book for you. This is an extremely well-written survey of Christian thought from Justin Martyr and the early church fathers through contemporary theologists, like Moltmann and Pannenberg. That's a lot of ground to cover in less than 350 pages, but Hill does about as good a job as I can imagine anyone doing. The background theological, philosophical, and cultural issues are clearly described, the key ideas of the particular theologian or thinker are carefully presented, and brief evaluations are provided. The book is published by InterVarsity Press, which might indicate a strong Evangelical bias, but Hill is scrupulously fair throughout; in fact, if anything, he leans in a moderately liberal direction. There is no lack of seriousness here, but lots of interesting anecdotes enliven the text and show the decidedly human side of men more known for weighty ideas and arduous prose. For one example, it is interesting to contemplate the teen-aged Aquinas brandishing a smoking log from the fireplace to chase a naked prostitute out of his room, a woman sent by his family to seduce him in a more worldly direction. Later, he got so fat a semicircle had to be cut from the front edge of his desk so he could sit close enough to do his writing. John Henry Newman, in contrast, was so skinny and bony he had trouble getting comfortable enough lying down to get a good night's sleep. Albert Schweitzer worked all night, with his feet in a tub of cold water and drinking black coffee to ward off sleep. The ideas are interesting, and so were the people who produced them. I had never heard of this book, which I picked up on a whim, and I'm very glad I did. It does exactly what it sets out to do, and does it in a consistently interesting and entertaining fashion, while never losing focus on the intellectual issues under consideration. What more can you ask? Highly recommended.