Great Christian Thinkers Book

This was a hard book for me. I don't think it was a bad book by any means, so don't misunderstand the 3 star-rating. It just felt advanced. The uninitiated reader isn't left with much sure ground to proceed on in certain spots. This is because Kung engages critically with each theologian. Kung's writing here is dense and for someone not well-versed in the writings of these seven "great Christian thinkers" you will feel over your head at times, or at least not sure whether to bite hook, line, and sinker into Kung's analysis. I read this contemporaneously with the matching chapters in Roger Olson's, The Story of Christian Theology. I did that mainly to provide counterpoint. Olson is a lot more easy to read and certainly more objective. Kung's writing here is far from indifferent or detached. His aim is not merely to provide a congenial, impartial summary. Each chapter basically breaks down into two parts: description and criticism (this is Kung's own description, p. 12). Certainly Kung excels at critical reflection and seems to always aim at provoking thought rather than accepting the status quo. So the analysis is penetrating at times. I didn't agree with all the conclusions Kung reaches but I did enjoy Kung's use of paradigm evaluation, i.e. how he considers these great Christian thinkers as the initiators of paradigm changes in theology. Specific highlights were the comparisons between Origin and Augustine, and Augustine and Aquinas (however, the 2 chapters in Paradigm Change in Theology by Kannengiesser and Pfurtner on Origin and Augustine, and Aquinas and Luther were more thorough).