Both Christian Theology: An Introduction and Theology: The Basics are widely used throughout the world because they are accessible, user-friendly, and unbiased in their presentation of basic Christian theology. However, it is important for students to learn to interact with texts, rather than simply be told about them. The Christian Theology Reader was developed in response to this need, based on McGrath’s experience of teaching students to engage with primary sources in Oxford and the United States. This ground-breaking volume was widely praised on its introduction in the 1990s because of its innovative pedagogical approach and its rich selection of texts. The work is now in its fifth edition, and has been improved and extended at each revision in response to student feedback.
This book provides its readers with about 350 short readings, drawn from 250 different sources, spread throughout the two thousand years of Christian history, each illustrating a key doctrine, point of view, intellectual development, or theological landmark. Each reading is carefully introduced, telling readers what they should look out for, and explaining the importance of the ideas being set out in the reading. The readings are taken from a wide variety of theological genres – works of systematic theology, conciliar pronouncements, confessions of faith, catechisms, sermons, biblical commentaries, poems, hymns, and letters. Each reading is followed by a set of questions to help readers check that they have understood the main points.
Although this collection of readings is very easy to use, it has become clear that readers value additional help. For this reason, a series of video and audio material is being developed, in which McGrath introduces and explains a representative set of readings, both helping readers to understand them and develop the skill of reading primary sources. These resources will be free to use and share, and details will be published on this website as they are produced.