An Introduction to Christian Theology
Anthony Towey
New York: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2018
Anthony Towey’s massive An Introduction to Christian Theology consists of twenty-six chapters purporting to take the reader chronologically through a survey of historical theology from Genesis to the present. Each chapter comprises several subsections covered in one to three pages. The cursory treatment of each topic becomes evident from a quick glance through the table of contents. The Council of Nicaea, for instance, occupies all of three pages; the Great Schism, two pages; the Reformation and Counter-Reformation, ten pages covering four subsections. Towey writes in an informal style which I find at times engaging, at times off-putting, at times painfully unserious—as when he says that Adam’s exclamation in Gen 2:23 makes him “the original rap artist” (p. 25).
This edition differs from the original version (2013) mainly in the inclusion of a chapter on prayer—in order to add “conversation with God” to a book on “Theology as thoughtful conversation about God” (p. xxii; second emphasis mine)—and in the creation of supplementary electronic media accessible on Bloomsbury’s website. Read More
