The History of Christian Thought

This book was immensely helpful for me to understand the course of Christian doctrines and thought over the centuries. With a brief synopsis of the life and thought of the main contributors to Christian thought, this is an excellent book to track the progress of Christian doctrines since the dawn of the Church. The book often pauses to give relevant historical backgrounds in which the thinkers in question were writing. Of course, the scope of the book prevents the author from dwelling on any of the Christian thinkers in a great deal of depth, but it was a great way for me to identify the writers who I now want to read-up on further. Very well-written, and even funny at times, Jonathan Hill makes the history of Christian thought very interesting and accessible.

I really enjoyed reading this book as there is much in it that is not found in any primary book on Christian history. It is truly a fascinating book worthy of anybodys library.

This book enlightened me. I graduated from seminary illiterate on the topic. Hill is one gifted guy to present the whole evolution of Christain thought in one readable book. I thought the book would be a chore to finish, and that it would be either liberal or dry. I could not put it down. As a Christian, Hill maintains a tone of spiritual passion. As a scholar, he fairly discusses the material and leaves the reader curious to learn more. This book provides a frame of reference to keep learning.

When an author undertakes to cover 2,000 years in under 400 pages, inevitably something or someone is going to be left out or neglected, and cognoscenti are going to be disappointed that their own pet subjects were given short shrift. I, on the other hand, brought a wealth of ignorance to the subject and was consequently well-satisfied with the work. Hill begins his survey with the closing of the New Testament canon and tries to address the biography, career, thought, and impact of every major Christian theologian from that day to this. The reader may quibble over some of his omissions, but cannot argue with his inclusions. Hill also attempts to outline various movements and schools of thought that have arisen and flourished during the long history of Christianity. The reader will meet many admirable men, many strange ideas, and much convoluted thought between the covers of this book.

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.