Historical Theology: An Introduction

“An ideal historical theology, or even an introduction to it,” says Geoffrey Bromiley, “lies beyond the limits of human possibility.” And, indeed, he does not intend this volume to be an all-inclusive theological study about everybody and everything. Rather, this work is composed for beginners, for inquirers, for those who know nothing or very little of the history of theology, but who want to know something, or something more. / The approach here is theological rather than strictly historical. Among the implications of this approach are an acknowledgement that God has really spoken to the church, a genuine and specific Christian commitment on the part of the historical theologian, the belief that historical theology is a discipline of the church, and the view that historical theology serves the mission and ministry of the church. / Bromiley maintains that the student learns theology best by reading the words and thoughts of theologians, rather than by reading their biographies. Thus, in selecting those theologians included in this volume, he has considered not only their representativeness in the total flow of historical theology, but also the availability of their work in English. Likewise, his bibliographies concentrate on primary sources.