Written by: Richard Volzke on October 26, 2013

Reading Christian Theology by Alister McGrath’s it reminded me of my theology classes I took at Wesley Biblical seminary. I appreciate McGrath going through the history of Christianity starting from the first century and moving forward. I believe this is very important and every Christian should have some kind of training or education and early church history starting from the time of Christ and moving forward in today’s world. The Christian heritage and faith found throughout the centuries provides each one of us with a clear foundation and understanding of whom we are scripting and why we believe what we believe.

The author points out it highlights several key moments in Christian history that have helped define and shape who we are as a body of believers in Christ. For example McGrath point out that the, “Patristic period is one of the most exciting and creative periods in the history of Christian thought.”[1]
and that, “Every mainstream Christian body – including the Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, Lutheran, Reformed, and Roman Catholic churches – regards the patristic period as a definitive landmark in the development of Christian doctrine.”
[2]
This is just one example of many where the author leads and guides us to an understanding of Christian history with regards to theology and philosophy. I have to say that the part one of McGrath book was my favorite part of the book and I actually read it likes because I thoroughly enjoyed rereading and re-familiarizing myself with a history of the Christian church.

I also appreciated that the author defined terms as he went along such as what was theology as well as defining and explaining different terms and time periods throughout the book. A good illustration of this can be seen in the way that McGrath defines and explains the difference between the theology and Christian theology. The defines theology as, “the systematic study of the ideas of a religion,” including their sources, historical development, mutual relationship, and their application to life.”[3] Christian theology is, “therefore generally understood to mean the systematic study of the ideas of the Christian faith, including the following issues:
source, development, relationships, and applications.”[4]

This is how in my opinion introductory theology books should be written, because it provides structure, background, context, and setting in a format that most individuals will be able to read and comprehend. Often I have individuals come to me with questions about theology and they explain they have been reading on theology and they give me the book name and it would be something I would have trouble understanding.

Understanding theology is an important part of the Christian life and as leaders in the church we should promote material such as McGrath’s book to our people.

About the Author

Richard Volzke