Older version

Since it took me 10 years to read this book cover to cover, I hardly can remember how it began. I think this was a "first" read, and I will be better able to review it after a second go. "I am glad I read it" and "I plan to read it again" perhaps says enough ( )

From beginning to end, this book is a masterpiece of Christian intellectual history. Tillich's insights into the minds and works of the greatest thinkers of Christian history, especially Origen, Augustine, and Kant, are not to be missed for anyone who has a serious interest in the history of Christian thought. The depth of his insight and the breadth of his knowledge are stunning. There is a hardly a page in this book from which I did not learn something that will stick with me for the rest of my life.

My only complaints are hardly complaints at all. The first is that Tillich, being a Protestant, has a decidedly Protestant outlook on the history of Christianity. This is, of course, something I knew going into it and so, again, is not something that I can complain about but only warn potential future readers of. The other is that I do wish that the lectures of Fr. George Florovsky which represent a lacuna in the chronology of this book had been included. But, again, this is hardly something I can complain about, given that this is Tillich's book and not Florovsky's.

I recommend this book for anyone interested in the history of Christianity, in the intellectual history of the West, and in the thoughts of the greatest minds the world has yet produced as examined by one of the greatest minds of the twentieth century. ( )

Paul Tillich was perhaps the most important and influential 20th Century theologian writing in English. His books, however, are tough slogging--especially for those who haven't read all the many continental philosophers and theologians with whom Tillich was arguing. This book, which consists of transcriptions of lectures Tillich gave on the history of Christian thought, is, besides being a wonderful introduction to the subject matter, the best possible introduction to Tillich's own thinking. Wonderfully accessible, engaging and lively, this book is thoroughly readable. If only more of his lectures on other topics were available! ( )