The History of Christian Theology

Scope:

T

his course surveys major developments in the history of Christian
theology, which is the tradition of critical reasoning about how
to teach the faith of Christ. Taking the centrality of Jesus Christ as
the distinctive feature of Christianity, it focuses on theological concepts by
relating them to Christian life and experience, including especially practices
of worship.

The course begins with the ¿ rst Christian theological writings, the books
of the New Testament, the earliest of which, the letters of Paul, reÀ ect a
worship of the exalted Christ at the right hand of God, in light of which later
documents, such as the Four Gospels, tell the story of the historical Jesus,
his earthly life, death, and resurrection. The course proceeds to examine the
theology of the early church, how it read the Jewish scriptures and how it
used Greek philosophy, as well as how the very idea of of¿ cial Christian
doctrine and its opposite, heresy, arose in response to the large variety of
early Christianities. The survey of ancient Christian theology concludes in
Part I by presenting three key doctrines: Trinity, Incarnation, and grace.

Part II covers medieval and Reformation theology. The distinctive features
of Eastern Orthodox theology are discussed, including the use of icons, the
theology of the Trans¿ guration, the distinction between divine essence and
energies, and the disagreement with the Western churches about whether the
Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father “and the Son.” Key developments in
medieval Catholicism are examined, including scholastic theology, the use of
logic and analogy, the seven sacraments, and the soul’s existence in heaven,
hell, or purgatory in the time between death and resurrection. Reformation
theology begins with the doctrine of justi¿ cation by faith alone and the
Lutheran distinction between Law and Gospel, followed by the Reformed
tradition and the development of Calvinism, with its distinctive commitment
to the knowledge of eternal salvation, from which À ows its embrace of the
doctrine of predestination. The Anabaptists, such as the Mennonites, form a
third and radical wing of the Reformation, while the Anglican tradition of