Beginning January 1, 2011, my new blog series titled “Christian Thought through the Centuries” will explore insights that have emerged from the first century Church to the present. Each post will evaluate a new person or movement, with special attention on one’s view of Christ and his kingdom. Following is a chronological list, but, first, I would like to offer a couple of reasons why such a study is valuable.
The fifth commandment exhorts God’s people to “honor your father and mother.” It’s an imperative that applies to children, even after we have reached adulthood. Furthermore, in addition to guiding family relations, the commandment speaks to the way we view our theological forebears, men and women of God who have gone before us, the ones whom the Apostle Paul encourages us to imitate. And in the case of those who have been bad theological parents—loose cannons, unreliable teachers, even heretics—there are still valuable lessons for us to learn.
We must read about the past to acquire a proper perspective on the present. As historical theologian, Tony Lane, reminds us, “People without a grasp of history are like a person without a memory.” Such people are detached and impoverished, confused about where they are going because they don’t know from whence they have come. Reflection on Christian thought orients us in history, which is a critical step in gaining perspective.
The second reason why we should consider Christian history is to escape from our present. Every generation faces the same challenge of seeing above and beyond obstacles and into blind spots, and we are no different. Our assumptions and contextually conditioned biases lead us to overlook important pieces of truth. Reflection on Christian history is tantamount to cleaning the window with a generous amount of Windex—it removes the smudges and blurriness which inevitably hinder our vision, allowing us to recognize gospel opportunities.
Following are the people and movements that we plan to consider. I hope you’ll join us.
The Church of the Fathers to AD 500
Greek Philosophy
Apostolic Fathers
Justin Martyr
Irenaeus
Tertullian
Clement of Alexandria
Origen
Cyprian
Eusebius of Caesarea
Council of Nicea (325)
Athanasius
Ephrem the Syrian
Cyril of Jerusalem
Cappadocian Fathers
Council of Constantinople (381)
Ambrose
John Chrysostom
Jerome
Augustine
Cyril of Alexandria
Council of Ephesus (431
Theodoret of Cyrus
Leo the Great
Council of Chalcedon (451)
Apostles’ Creed
The Eastern Tradition from AD 500
Dionysius the Areopagite
Council of Constantinople (553)
Maximus the Confessor
Council of Constantinople (680-81)
John of Damascus
Council of Nicea (787)
Simeon the New Theologian
Gregory Palamas
Confession of Dositheus (1672)
Vladimir Lossky
The Mediaeval West (AD 500-1500)
Athanasian Creed
Boethius
Council of Orange (529)
Benedict
Gregory the Great
John Scotus Erigena
Anselm
Peter Abelard
Bernard of Clairvaux
Peter Lombard
Joachim of Fiore
Fourth Lateran Council (1215)
Francis of Assisi
Bonaventure
Thomas Aquinas
John Duns Scotus
William of Ockham
Thomas Bradwardine
John Tauler
Catherine of Siena
John Wyclif
Jan Hus
Council of Florence (1438-45)
Thomas à Kempis
Gabriel Biel
Reformation and Reaction (1500-1800)
Desiderius Erasmus
Martin Luther
Philip Melanchthon
Augsburg Confession (1530)
Formula of Concord (1577)
Philip Jakob Spener
The Reformed Tradition
Ulrich Zwingli
Martin Bucer
John Calvin
Heinrich Bullinger
Heidelberg Catechism (1563)
Jakob Arminius
Synod of Dort (1618-19)
Johnathan Edwards
The Anabaptists
Schleitheim Confession (1527)
Menno Simons
The British Reformation
William Tyndale
Thomas Cranmer
John Knox
Thirty-nine Articles
Richard Hooker
William Perkins
Westminster Confession
John Owen
Richard Baxter
Second London Confession (1677)
John Bunyan
John and Charles Wesley
The Roman Catholic Response
Gasparo Contarini
Ignatius Loyola
Council of Trent (1545-63)
Teresa of Avila
John of the Cross
Robert Bellarmine
Blaise Pascal
The Liberals
Friedrich Schleiermacher
Albrecht Ritschl
Aldolf von Harnack
Rudolf Bultmann
Paul Tillich
John Hick
The Evangelicals
Charles Finney
B. B. Warfield
G. C. Berkouwer
John Stott
Lausanne Congress (1974)
The New Orthodoxy
Søren Kierkegaard
P. T. Forsyth
Karl Barth
Gustaf Aulén
Barmen Declaration (1934)
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Reinhold Niebuhr
Jürgen Moltmann
Wolfhart Pannenberg
Other Developments
Process Theology
Kosuke Koyama
John Mbiti
George Lindbeck
The Roman Catholics
John Henry Newman
Ineffabilis Deus (1854)
First Vatican Council (1869-70)
Munificentissimus Deus (1950)
Second Vatican Council (1962-65)
Karl Rahner
Hans Urs von Balthasar
Hans Küng
Gustavo Gutiérrez
Joseph Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI
And more
The outline of our study comes from Tony Lane’s excellent book, A Concise History of Christian Thought. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2006.
