Theology and Christian History

 “Theology is like a map. Merely learning and thinking about the Christian doctrines, if you stop there, is less real and less exciting than the sort of thing my friend got in the desert. Doctrines are not God: they are only a kind of map. But that map is based on the experience of hundreds of people who really were in touch with God–experiences compared with which many thrills of pious feelings you and I are likely to get on our own are very elementary and very confused. And secondly, if you want to get any further you must use the map.” – C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

FCD uses the standard seminary textbook for systematic theology, Alister McGrath’s, “introduction to theology.“ It presents clearly the primary themes and debates of Christian theology in historical context. It also covers contemporary theology, including non-western and feminist voices. McGrath is famous for explaining difficult concepts in an interesting and easy to understandable way.

 The history of Christianity covers the growth of the faith from a few dozen disciples to a major, worldwide religion. Consider how Constantine established Christianity as the official Religion of nations, but watered it down in the process, and thus inspired the monastic movement for the seriously devout. Study how Martin Luther and other reformers created a whole new branch of Christianity, and stimulated the Roman Catholic Church to undergo its own reform. See how Christianity spread from the old world to the new. As we reflect on how the Church has taken different forms over the years, we speculate on what the church of the future will be like.