The historical presentation of any subject is a difficult task. The subject in question can be presented in one of three ways. The first is simplified; the subject is presented as a collection of facts, with little or no connection between them. The second is more complex; the subject is explored, eviscerated, and placed within a larger context, from which the reader can gain a firmer grasp of the subject. The third, and most useful, is a synthesis of the previous two. All of the relevant facts are preserved and are then placed within a larger critical historical evaluation.
If the above is true of any historical phenomenon, it is true of Christianity as well. A reader can be told any number of facts concerning the foundation, development, and current manifestation of historical Christianity. But this presentation would be bereft of any explanation as to why these events were necessary. Or a reader could be presented with an abstruse historical critique which attempts to demonstrate why these events were necessary and how they are related both to one another and to other historical events and movements. The danger of this approach is that the singular event is lost in the grand sweep of historical movements, and the reader may emerge knowing less about his subject and more about historical evaluation.
In "A History of Christian Thought" Paul Tillich attempts to present this subject with the third method, that of factual-critical synthesis. Tillich hopes to describe the important events in the history of Christian thought as well as the underlaying philosophical, cultural, and theological currents which gave birth to these events. Originally developed and delivered as two sets of lectures, A History of Christian Thought begins by describing the Kairos, or roughly, "correct historical time", into which Christianity was born and ends by speculation about the "new ways of mediation" in our modern time.
This work is divided into two sections, each representing a different series of lectures. The first section, originally delivered as "A History of Christian Thought" at Union Theological Seminary in New York, begins with the historical preparation for Christianity. This includes the scope of the Roman Empire, the attitudes of Hellenistic Philosophy, and the inter-testament period in Judaic culture. This section ends with an exploration of the thought of the Protestant Reformers, including Luther and Calvin, and the consequences of their thought for what would become Protestant Orthodoxy. The second section, originally delivered as "Perspectives on Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Protestant Theology" at the Divinity School at the University of Chicago, covers the modern period, from the Enlightenment challenge to Orthodoxy to the rise of existential theology in our own time.
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