Yes, you read the title to this post correctly. I found a very good book on theology titled A Journey Through Christian Theology: With Texts from the First to the Twenty-first Century, by Richard L. Diesslin and William P. Anderson.Here is a brief review I wrote for it on LibraryThing.com:
This is a very good book. While I’m not religious in any way, I enjoyed this book very much. As the title mentions, this book takes the reader through the history of theology beginning with the first and moving to the 21st century. Throughout this time span the author provides historical background information about the over sixty theologians and Christian writers featured along with primary sources from each author. These include Ignatius of Antioch, Justin Martyr, Basil the Great, Gregory of Nyssa, Immanuel Kant, Søren Kierkegaard, Karl Rahner, Mary Daly, Letty Russell, James Cone, and Martin Luther King, Jr. The author seeks to help the reader better understand the texts that were chosen with very good summaries after each section. The author chose passages that dealt specifically with some of the following issues: the relationship of faith and reason, the doctrine of god, the doctrine of the trinity, the doctrine “of the person of Christ,” the doctrine “of the work of Christ,” and theological anthropology.
The way in which this book is laid out it gives you a very good idea of the theological disputes that have taken place throughout history, how different writers sought to minimize or eliminate certain sticky points in the Christian faith, such as the doctrine of the Trinity, and the views of the various Christians down through the ages. This is one of the best references on theology that I’ve read. Several of them have been dry and boring, but this book is written in a very lively, engaging manner, and the funny pictures that often accompany the text are a nice way of breaking up the text, making reading easier and less monotonous.
If you’re someone who is looking for a book on theology that is easy to follow and understand this would be an excellent choice. (5-Stars)
I was particularly interested in the section on the relationship of faith and reason. While this part of the book was very illuminating and educational the book, over all, was very good.
