The Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine (5 vols.)

by Jaroslav Jan Pelikan

Publisher:

University of Chicago Press

, 1975–1991

Overview

In this five-volume opus Jaroslav Pelikan traces the development of Christian doctrine from the first century to the twentieth:

• The Emergence of the Catholic Tradition (100-600)
• The Spirit of Eastern Christendom (600-1700)
• The Growth of Medieval Theology (600-1300)
• Reformation of Church and Dogma (1300-1700)
• Christian Doctrine and Modern Culture (since 1700)

These five volumes trace the history and thought of the visible church from 100 AD into the 20th Century. Distinctive in his awareness of both eastern and western traditions, Pelikan draws deeply on primary sources. The result is perhaps the most impressive history of doctrine yet completed. For its scope as well as its depth of research, this is rewarding reading.

Key Features

• Traces the history and thought of the visible church from 100 AD into the 20th Century
• Focuses upon the subtle relation between what the faithful believed and what the church confessed as dogma
• Identifies and describes the development of the distinctive forms taken by Christian doctrine in its early expression

Endorsements

Pelikan’s The Christian Tradition [is] a series for which they must have coined words like ’magisterial’.

—Martin Marty, Commonweal

Pelikan’s book marks not only the end of a dazzling scholarly effort but the end of an era as well. There is reason to suppose that nothing quite like it will be tried again.

—Harvey Cox, Washington Post Book World

Benefits of Logos Edition

With the Logos edition, you can reap the maximum benefit from each volume of The Christian Tradition by getting easier access to the contents of this series—helping you to use these volumes more efficiently for research and sermon preparation. Every word from every book has been indexed and catalogued to help you search the entire series for a particular verse or topic, giving you instant access to cross-references. Additionally, important terms link to other resources in your digital library, including dictionaries, encyclopedias, commentaries, theology texts, and others. Perform powerful searches to find exactly what you’re looking for because in Logos, your titles will automatically integrate into custom search reports, passage guides, exegetical guides, and the other advanced features of the software. You'll have the tools you need to use your entire digital library effectively and efficiently, searching for verses, finding Scripture references and citations instantly, and performing word studies. With most Logos resources, you can take the discussion with you using tablet and mobile apps, providing you the most efficient and comprehensive research tools in one place, so you get the most out of your study.

A History of the Development of Doctrine, Volume 1: The Emergence of the Catholic Tradition (100-600)

• Author: Jaroslav Pelikan
• Series: The Christian Tradition
• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Publication Date: 1971
• Pages: 442

In this five-volume opus—now available in its entirety in paperback—Pelikan traces the development of Christian doctrine from the first century to the twentieth.

A History of the Development of Doctrine, Volume 2: The Spirit of Eastern Christendom (600-1700)

• Author: Jaroslav Pelikan
• Series: The Christian Tradition
• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Publication Date: 1974
• Pages: 358

The line that separated Eastern Christendom from Western on the medieval map is similar to the “iron curtain” of recent times. Linguistic barriers, political divisions, and liturgical differences combined to isolate the two cultures from each other. Except for such episodes as the schism between East and West or the Crusades, the development of non-Western Christendom has been largely ignored by church historians. In The Spirit of Eastern Christendom, Jaroslav Pelikan explains the divisions between Eastern and Western Christendom, and identifies and describes the development of the distinctive forms taken by Christian doctrine in its Greek, Syriac, and early Slavic expression.

A History of the Development of Doctrine, Volume 3: The Growth of Medieval Theology (600-1300)

• Author: Jaroslav Pelikan
• Series: The Christian Tradition
• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Publication Date: 1980
• Pages: 364

In this volume Jaroslav Pelikan continues the splendid work he has done thus far in his projected five-volume history of the development of Christian doctrine, defined as 'what the Church believes, teaches, and confesses on the basis of the word of God.' The entire work will become an indispensable resource not only for the history of doctrine but also for its reformulation today. Copious documentation in the margins and careful indexing add to its immense usefulness.

A History of the Development of Doctrine, Volume 4: Reformation of Church and Dogma (1300-1700)

• Author: Jaroslav Pelikan
• Series: The Christian Tradition
• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Publication Date: 1983
• Pages: 478

This penultimate volume in Pelikan’s acclaimed history of Christian doctrine—winner with Volume 3 of the Medieval Academy’s prestigious Haskins Medal—encompasses the Reformation and the developments that led to it.

A History of the Development of Doctrine, Volume 5: Christian Doctrine and Modern Culture (since 1700)

• Author: Jaroslav Pelikan
• Series: The Christian Tradition
• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Publication Date: 1989
• Pages: 414

Jaroslav Pelikan begins this volume with the crisis of orthodoxy that confronted all Christian denominations by the beginning of the eighteenth century and continues through the twentieth century in its particular concerns with ecumenism. The modern period in the history of Christian doctrine, Pelikan demonstrates, may be defined as the time when doctrines that had been assumed more than debated for most of Christian history were themselves called into question: the idea of revelation, the uniqueness of Christ, the authority of Scripture, the expectation of life after death, even the very transcendence of God.