In this new textbook, Alister McGrath utilizes the successful historic chapters from Christian Theology: An Introduction, Second Edition and builds on them to provide all the material that students will need to understand the development of Christian theology from its beginnings. No previous knowledge of any aspect of Christian theology is assumed.
A substantial introduction by McGrath explains the importance of historical theology and its place within the study of Christian theology as a whole, and outlines some of the best ways of studying it. Numerous case studies of relevance to the subject have been added to each section to allow the reader to engage fully with a particular topic of historic debate, and each section is cross-referenced with McGrath's Christian Theology: An Introduction, Second Edtion and with primary texts included in his Christian Theology Reader. Historical Theology also provides its readers with full glossaries of key theologians, key theological developments and key names, words and phrases together with an extensive bibliography.