Story of Christian Theology: Twenty Centuries of Tradition & Reform, The

The Story of Christian Theology: Twenty Centuries of Tradition & Reform. By Roger E. Olson. Downers Grove; InterVarsity, 1999, 652 pp., $34.99.

With the growing loss of interest in the history of the Church and its doctrines, it is refreshing to receive a new overview of the history of Christian thought written from an evangelical perspective. Roger Olson has presented us with a clearly written and helpful introduction to the subject and states its limitations. Briefer than Pelikan's or Harnack's multi-volume works, it is more detailed than other one-volume handbooks. Like many textbooks, it grows out of his experience of teaching the subject on the undergraduate level. It is suitable as a textbook in such a course and, with certain supplementations, in a seminary-level survey course. Written clearly and with a minimum of analytical complexity, it will also serve as an excellent introduction for non-specialists.

A unique feature of this volume, as compared with earlier historical theologies, is Olson's intention of treating the subject as an unfolding story. A major benefit of this approach is that the history flows as a connected account, rather than choppy and isolated units. After a brief introduction, in which he states some of his presuppositions, Olson traces in nine parts and 35 chapters the entire history from the earliest critics to the contemporary period.

Olson gives indication of having worked through the primary sources in each period. The pedigree of the book in undergraduate lectures can be seen in his relating ancient movements such as Gnosticism and Arianism to contemporary reappearances such as New Age and Jehovah's Witnesses. He commendably includes some movements, such as the Anabaptists and Arminianism, that sometimes get slight if any treatment in histories of Christian thought. He is aware of the charge that such history is simply the story of dead white males, but counters that some such as Athanasius were black and that opportunities to do theology were simply not available to women in the early period.

Olson's explanations of doctrines and historical developments are clear and generally well developed. He takes note of differing interpretations that have been given of these. He frequently offers illustrations to give lucidity to complex ideas. His employment of anecdotes is interesting. He calls "probably apocryphal" (p. 165) one for which there is some historical documentation, then feels free to embellish it with his own details. He takes pains to refute a caricature of a familiar story (pp. 20-21). On page 15, he declares irrelevant to his point the truth of a legend that the bishops at Constantinople during the Saracen invasion were discussing the number of angels that could dance on the head of a pin. Whether there is evidence that this topic was debated on that occasion (or, we might add, on any other), Olson uses it nonetheless.

The major virtues are those that I have described: continuity, clarity, reliance upon primary sources, reliability, and fairness of treatment. Typographical errors are at a minimum, although German purists will flinch at the spelling of Barth's early treatise on Romans as Romerbrief, rather than Romerbrief or the transliteration Roemerbrief. Important notes are placed following the final chapter. The index is thorough and useful, although the references are sometimes off by one page. The bibliographical suggestions are helpful, but one would hope that a contemporary book would mention non-print editions of the Fathers (e.g. www.ageslibrary.com).

While generally recommending this text for the uses mentioned above, certain reservations need noting. These relate primarily to the allocation of space among subjects. Some traditions will question covering the 900 years from Gregory to Luther in 80 pages in a book of this size. In his desire to give all sides, Olson commendably includes Anabaptists and Arminians, but it is questionable whether the former have had a theological impact equal to that of Calvin and Zwingli, which the similar length of chapters would suggest. In the twentieth century, he devotes an entire chapter to Barth and neo-orthodoxy yet never mentions Bultmann and demythologization, and the only mention of Tillich is a one-sentence comparison to Clement (p. 85).

Most disappointing is his concluding chapter. One finds there no mention of postmodern, postliberal, narrative, or religiously pluralistic theology. Gustavo Guttierez, James Cone, and Rosemary Ruether are given one paragraph each and must alone speak for Latin American, Black, and feminist theologies, obscuring the complexities of these movements. Although Olson speaks of the future influence of third-world theologians (p. 612), one gets the impression that there have not yet been any significant African or Asian theologians.

This will serve as a useful introduction to Christian thought, especially if supplemented at the points indicated.

Millard J. Erickson

Truett Seminary, Baylor University, Waco, TX

Copyright Evangelical Theological Society Jun 2000
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