Olson is strongest in his area of expertise, namely 20th century theology. In the area of patristics he relies on the outdated notion of an Antiochene and Alexandrian school of exegesis. Moving to the later Middle Ages he breezes through Medieval Scholasticism, only covering Aquinas. When getting to the Post-Reformation period, Olson gives an excellent overview of Arminius, but fails to give appropriate attention to the Reformed Scholastics. He relies on outdated scholarship such as the idea of predestination as the core of Reformed thinking and a definition of scholasticism as a a certain collection of theological content, rather than simply as a method of inquiry shared by varied theological groups. All in all, one would do better to use a different textbook and supplement it with Olson's full volumes on Arminian and 20th century theologies. ( )

In his book, poised to become a standard historical theology textbook, Roger Olson takes us on a journey of events ranging from the apostolic fathers to the Reformation to the present.

At first glance this appears to be a balanced and well written history of the development of Christian Theology. Unfortunately like most written histories of christian doctrine it is written entirely from
a western point of view with very little coverage of the the east. In fact the east is forgotten after 6th or 7th century. if you are looking
for the history of christian doctrine go to Pelikan, McGrath, or Gonzalez. ( )

As in all the books I've read so far by Olson, he is consistently precise while at the same time concise and clear. This book maintains that consistency and offers readers interested in the story of how we attained to our present and varied theological systems. He doesn't waste words or jumble around his take on history. The line of the development of Christian theology is easy to follow amid it's own tangles. This book maintains that consistency and offers readers an interesting story of how we attained to our present and varied theological systems.

In his introduction, Olson lays out an interesting fact that I have never even realized were he reminds us that, "What people in North America today call ethnic minorities were well represented in the early church and its theology...Anthanasius, for example, was known to his contemporaries without insult as 'the black dark' due to his stature and skin color. He was African, as were many other great thinkers in the early church. Many others were Semitic - of Arabic or Jewish ancestry and ethnic identity...most formative and influential thinkers of early Christianity - both heretical and orthodox - lived and worked in Egypt and other parts ofNorth Africa. They certainly could not rightly be considered 'dead white males'!" (p.19).

Olson begins by lining up the "troublers of Apostolic Christianity in the second century"; that is, the heretical notions that prompted the Church Fathers to provide a theological understanding of the Christian faith that would dispel erroneous notion of God, Christ, and salvation. He continues on with the story up to the present time (at least, until 1999 when the book was published) noting the historical development of Christian theology, the divisions and schisms it produced by competing theologies, and the main players, along with a few minor notables, whose influence continues to affect how we view the Christian faith today.

What I found helpful was that there were some Christians and lines of thought that I hardly knew about or had an erroneous notion of, e.g. the Pietists, of whom I've heard very little about and had no exposure. Reading Olson's book brought to light a better understanding of not only their theology but also its influence in Christian thought today, which gives me a better grasp of where others are coming from who think a bit differently and, at the same time, also helps to see where our similarities lie.

This is a read that not only helps me understand how we got to where we are today in Christian theology, but also helps me to identify and understand the influences of what and why I think theology the way I do. ( )

Includes bibliographical references (p. [615]-641) and indexes. ( )