Christian Theology: An Introduction (4th Edition)

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 568 pages
• Published by: Wiley-Blackwell
• Edition: 4th Edition November 10, 2006
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 1405153601
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-1405153607
• Book Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.4 x 1.4 inches
• Weighs: 2.2 pounds

Product Review



Of the previous edition


"This book is an extraordinary achievement, a tour de force which will introduce thousands of students to theology as a discipline with a rich heritage, a clear sense of its own methods and norms, and an elusive yet articulate understanding of Christian language." Reviews in Religion and Theology


"This publication is a seminal text for the student or teacher of Christian Theology. Its readability and general presentation make it a very accessible text for those with a general interest in this area of academic endeavour. In essence this is a text which would be a useful and valuable resource for the teacher or student of theology. For school-based practitioners it is a very sound teacher reference text. It contains in one volume a very thorough treatment of the key developments in Christian Theology over the past 2000 years." Religious Education Journal of Australia


new


"This is one of the most easy to use textbooks I have come across drawing attention to important connections between different histories and human attempts to give expression to Christianity. I highly recommend this edition of McGrath's book to anyone looking for a place to begin the study of Christianity as a major World Religion." Dr Isabel Mukonyora, Western Kentucky University


"I have successfully used, over a decade, the earlier editions of McGrath’s strikingly clear and astonishingly comprehensive Introduction in helping students to be historically grounded in classical theological heritage and to engage with its contemporary developments. I consider this fourth edition, more concise and impressively more accessible, as a ‘must’ for theological students and pastors." Prof. Christopher Duraisingh, Episcopal Divinity School, Cambridge, MA


“This revised and expanded edition of a popular textbook has several features geared toward making it an accessible introduction and a useful reference tool. “
Religious Studies Review

Of the previous edition "This book is an extraordinary achievement, a tour de force which will introduce thousands of students to theology as a discipline with a rich heritage, a clear sense of its own methods and norms, and an elusive yet articulate understanding of Christian language." Reviews in Religion and Theology "This publication is a seminal text for the student or teacher of Christian Theology. Its readability and general presentation make it a very accessible text for those with a general interest in this area of academic endeavour. In essence this is a text which would be a useful and valuable resource for the teacher or student of theology. For school-based practitioners it is a very sound teacher reference text. It contains in one volume a very thorough treatment of the key developments in Christian Theology over the past 2000 years." Religious Education Journal of Australia new "This is one of the most easy to use textbooks I have come across drawing attention to important connections between different histories and human attempts to give expression to Christianity. I highly recommend this edition of McGrath's book to anyone looking for a place to begin the study of Christianity as a major World Religion." Dr Isabel Mukonyora, Western Kentucky University "I have successfully used, over a decade, the earlier editions of McGrath's strikingly clear and astonishingly comprehensive Introduction in helping students to be historically grounded in classical theological heritage and to engage with its contemporary developments. I consider this fourth edition, more concise and impressively more accessible, as a 'must' for theological students and pastors." Prof. Christopher Duraisingh, Episcopal Divinity School, Cambridge, MA "This revised and expanded edition of a popular textbook has several features geared toward making it an accessible introduction and a useful reference tool. " Religious Studies Review

Product Description
Alister McGrath’s internationally-acclaimed Christian Theology: An Introduction is one of the most widely used textbooks in Christian theology. Fully revised and featuring lots of new material, this fourth edition provides an unparalleled introduction to 2,000 years of Christian thought.

• A fully revised new edition of the bestselling introductory textbook in Christian theology
  
• Features new sections on monastic schools of theology, the English Reformation, and Radical Orthodoxy
  
• Includes increased discussion of women in the early Church, feminist theology, Eastern Orthodox theology and history, and Catholic teachings on the Doctrine of the Church
  
• Incorporates easy to use key terms sections, and study questions
  
• Supported by a website at www.blackwellpublishing.com/mcgrath, containing additional lecturer resources.

Reader Reviews
This review is from: Christian Theology: An Introduction 3rd Edition (Paperback) Alister McGrath has become a publishing industry. He churns out books and articles, popular as well as scholarly, at a dizzying pace. His outpouring of words speaks to his evangelical zeal. He's a man on a mission, intent on revitalizing Anglicanism in particular and Christianity in general. Whether one totally agrees with his own theological perspective, this is an admirable aim. Moreover, he carries around an incredibly wealth of theological knowledge. But the swiftness with which he publishes also makes for a certain amount of sloppiness. His books tend to be poorly proofed and highly repetitious. The third edition of McGrath's _Christian Theology_ reflects all of these characteristics. McGrath's target audience is clearly seminarians, the very people he hopes will evangelically enliven the Church. It is breathtaking in its sweep. One can't but admire the incredible learning displayed by McGrath. And it is poorly proofed and at times tediously repetitious. In all fairness to McGrath, the book really does fill a much-needed need for a single-volumed overview of Christian theology that isn't overtly sectarian. McGrath's book is roughly divided into two sections: historical and systematic theology. In the first section, he gives an overview of the historical roots and development of Christian doctrine. In the second section, he systematically discusses all the topics one would expect, ranging from the Trinity to eschatology. As an Anglican evangelical, McGrath has obviously been terribly influenced by the Reformed tradition, and the authors he most frequently cites in the book are in that camp, from Luther and Calvin to Barth and Moltmann. But in this edition, he's gone out of his way to also discuss Roman Catholic and Orthodox perspectives. Granted, the Orthodox perspective is still minimal. But it is represented. There are some interesting holes in the overview: for example, process theology is scarcely mentioned, existential theology is limited almost exclusively to Bultmann (Macquarrie and Tillich both receive short shrift), and postmodern theologizing is absent. These omissions may reflect McGrath's own theological perspective, but they also could reflect the fact that no single person is an authority on everything, and that only so much can be crammed into a single book. The repetitions are less forgiveable. McGrath prefaces the text by admitting the redundancies, claiming that he's repeated himself at times for those persons who choose to selectively read in the book rather than going straight through it from beginning to end. But these deliberate pedagogical repetitions to one side, the book is filled with clearly unintended ones. McGrath will repeat himself not only on the same page, but even in the same paragraph. But one of dozens of examples: on the bottom of page 172, McGrath lists the Quadriga, the fourfold mode of interpreting Scripture that was popular in the Middle Ages. Then, at the top of p 173, he lists them again. It should also be noticed that the first section of the book that deals with historical theology is basically an abridged repetition of a smallish book on historical theology published in 1998 by McGrath. The book is still in print, and so McGrath is, in a sense, going for a twofer here. Proofing is also sloppy. Page references are frequently incorrect and there are numerous typos. All of this suggests that McGrath writes at such whitehot speed that he doesn't edit as well as he might. And if sloppiness from speed is present in the composition, one worries about parallel sloppiness in the ideas. Still, these are minor caveats. McGrath has offered a good overview of Christian theology for those who which to learn something about the subject.