Abstract
This wide-ranging edited collection contains fifty-eight purpose-written essays, each one introducing a particular work of a significant theologian. The book consists of five chronological parts: (1) The Early Church, (2) The Medieval Period, (3) The Reformation Period, (4) The Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, and (5) The Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries. Each part contains a helpful contextual introduction and an extended list of classic theological works from the period, as well as about twelve essays. The essays themselves do not follow a uniform structure, but most include a biographical and contextual introduction, a summary of the work or works considered, and an assessment of their significance and impact, followed by notes and a select bibliography. The volume as a whole concludes with a helpful section of ‘essay abstracts’, useful either for review or a more serendipitous approach to the book.
Except in Part I on the early church, all of the works considered are from the western theological tradition. There are some potentially surprising inclusions, such as the historian Venerable Bede, and the poet Anne Bradstreet. The editors have clearly—and commendably—aimed to redress the typical underrepresentation of women in theological textbooks, with chapters on (besides the one on Bradstreet) Madame Guyon, Sallie McFague, and a composite chapter on ‘Women Writers of the Sixteenth Century’. Luther is the only theologian to get two chapters!
The works chosen are not limited to those by Protestant writers, but the focus of the book is on reading in the ‘Protestant tradition’, and each essay comments on the work under consideration from a specifically Protestant point of view. For earlier (pre-Reformation) works this comment usually refers to reception history within Protestant churches, or influence on later Protestant theology. For post-Reformation works, attention is paid to the place of the work in question in (or in contrast to) the developing Protestant tradition. Some of the most helpful comments refer to the ongoing relevance of traditional texts for today: occasionally these comments represent a challenge to Protestant churches to expand their theological horizons.
There is a small problem with the illustrations in this book: several are of poor image quality, and at least one (p. 200) is wrongly captioned. This minor issue aside, the editors and contributors should be commended for producing a volume of this scope and accessibility, which will surely find a ready audience among both undergraduate and graduate students.