Derek Johnston is a retired teacher. He was Vice-Principal of Midleton College, Co Cork, Ireland, where he taught for over 30 years.

ABrief History of Theology presents a fun, concise and informative introduction to a fascinating and challenging subject. This is the ideal book for students coming to theology for the first time, or anyone who just doesn't know where to start. The book examines 16 key thinkers and concepts, from the New Testament to Feminist Theology. It starts by considering some of the authors of New Testament writings and then focuses on thinkers of the western tradition of theological speculation, and devotes a significant amount of thought to consider 20th century thinkers and problems. This book puts all thinkers in their historical, social and cultural settings, emphasizing that theology is as much a reflection on the world we live in as it is on God.

Introduction 1. The First Christian Theologians: St Paul 2. The First Christian Theologians: the Gospel Writers 3. St Augustine of Hippo: a Father of the Church 4. St Thomas Aquinas: Revelation and Reason 5. Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation 6. St Ignatius Loyola and John Calvin: The two sides dig in 7. John Wesley and Evangelical Revival 8. The Contexts of Modern Theology 9. Friedrich Schleiermacher and Religious Feeling 10. John Henry Newman and Catholic Renewal 11. Karl Barth and a Theology of the Word 12. Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Cost of Discipleship 13. Karl Rahner and Human Transcendence 14. Rosemary Radford Ruether and Women-Church 15. Walter Brueggemann and the Biblical Imagination 16. Don Cupitt and being Adrift Conclusion Further Reading