The Story of Christian Theology

I just purchased a copy of Olson's The Story of Christian Theology, Twenty Centuries of Tradition and Reform and hope to read it from cover to cover. Olson is a pretty good writer - I feel like I am reading a story, and in actual fact, I am.

"While a history is perceived to be as dry as dust by many modern readers, a story is always eagerly welcomed and greeted with interest. And yet history is made up of stories ... (it) is the retelling of stories - narratives that recount (hopefully, as accurately as possible) the events, movements, ideas and lives of people who have shaped cultures, religions and nations." (Olson, p. 13)

And it's what Olson has done. He says that, "the Christian story ... include more than just the biblical narratives ... too many Christians are almost completely ignorant of the continuing secondary narrative of God's work with his people - the body of Christ - after the biblical narrative ends ... What has God been doing for two thousand years to lead his people into understanding of the truth?" (Olson, p.11)

Coming up tomorrow: the Opening Act, what happened to the believers of the second century at the demise of the last of the apostles?

pearlie