Reviews for The Spiritual Journals of Donald G. Bloesch, Vol. 20

The average rating for The Spiritual Journals of Donald G. Bloesch, Vol. 20 based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2012-03-12 00:00:00 James Panagoulias This book has many strong points and if one wants to be introduced to the most influential theologians of the Middle Ages then of course this is an excellent starting point. Although, I think it has some considerable weak points too. First of all, I'm not quite sure that this way of structuring a book on Medieval theology is very successful. My understanding of the Middle Ages is that there were controversies that drove the discussion forward rather than theologians. The focus is the somewhat unclear in this book because for most part the chapters deal with a theologian, but what they write about is many times what controversies they were involved in, and then, of course, also their theology. In contemporary theology the debate is of course also driven forward by particular issues, but they might not be as universal as those in the MIddle Ages? Any way, one or two of the chapters are genuinely badly written and makes slow reading and one or two chapters feel like the authors are far too "close" to their theologian and it feels like it is written a little too uncritical.

Review # 2 was written on 2013-03-21 00:00:00 Shawn Samuel Another one of those books that I like reading but do not enjoy reading. Incredibly dry and requires a familiarity with the trajectory of medieval philosophy and metaphysics. I only have the contours of that, so it was tricky. Still, insanely thorough in its study of Gabriel Biel in his context. Makes the Reformation make more sense.