Synopses & Reviews
The German Romantic theologian and philosopher Schleiermacher wrote, "The virtuosity (or special calling) of a person is at the same time the melody of that person's life, and it remains a simple, meager series of notes unless religion, with its endlessly rich variety, accompanies it with all notes and raises the simple song to a full-voiced, glorious harmony." It is around this melody that Jaroslav Pelikan, a great theologian of our own day, weaves the polyphonic threads of philosophy, theology, morals, history, and personality to create a singular portrait of his life and work.
The Melody of Theology is really two books in one: a dictionary in which a reader can browse through piquant explorations of some of the most interesting topics in Christian theology, and an intellectual autobiography in which Jaroslav Pelikan has used those topics to give an account of the traditions to which he owes the formation of his own mind and spirit. As he says, "An intellectual autobiography in the format of a 'philosophical dictionary' permits the self-indulgence of employing the seeming objectivity of some eighty-two entries, arranged in the impersonal sequence of alphabetical order, to express a completely personal set of prejudices."
Among the large topics addressed in this volume are the Bible, Faith, Grace, Reformation and Renaissance, and Sin. Among the towering figures of religion and theology are Dante, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Erasmus, Gibbon, Martin Luther, Paul the Apostle, and Schleiermacher. Among the technical topics analyzed are Apocatastasis, Christian Creeds, the term "Ecumenical," Eschatology, Patristics, and the Trinity. The Melody of Theology belongs on the bookshelf of anyone who wants to study a history and tradition that precede us and will continue after us, and also of the reader who would like to make the acquaintance of a subtle analytic mind and a generous open heart.
Review
"This is the ultimate bedside book. Replete with sinuous, compact discussions of first and last things--sin, faith, grace and John Henry Newman--it reflects Jaroslav Pelikan's life-long commitment to what he calls 'the great new fact of Christianity'...This book works like a tuning fork for the mind. With it, the harmony of Pelikan's thought and life has itself become part of the great Christian tradition."
--Thomas D'Evelyn, Christian Science Monitor"This is a rewarding and exciting book, from beginning to end. It shows the reflections of a master on his work, where the work continually reveals the author's enjoyment, both exemplifying and satisfying the Horation utile dulci. Packed with knowledge and insight, it informs, stimulates, and delights. It also corrects, or at least reproves, some vulgar errors...A valuable book."
--Roland M. Frye"[Pelikan] has assembled some 82 gleanings from the rich surplus of his scholarship into a readable, informative, and delightful dictionary of theology...[which is] literate rather than technical in style, and good-humored rather than solemn in tone...[Pelikan's] presentation is always balanced, comprehensive, ecumenical, and thought provoking."
--M. Edmund Hussey, Antioch Review"Reflecting on 82 theological/philosophical topics (e.g., atonement), movements (e.g., Enlightenment), and persons (e.g., Augustine), renowned Christian historian and theologian Pelikan deals with 'major themes of scholarship in the history of the Christian theological tradition.' The result is a personal work...A though-provoking glimpse into the mind of a mature scholar, this book should be read, not just referred to."
--Library JournalReview
This is the ultimate bedside book. Replete with sinuous, compact discussions of first and last things--sin, faith, grace and John Henry Newman--it reflects Jaroslav Pelikan's life-long commitment to what he calls 'the great new fact of Christianity'...This book works like a tuning fork for the mind. With it, the harmony of Pelikan's thought and life has itself become part of the great Christian tradition. Thomas D'Evelyn
Review
This is a rewarding and exciting book, from beginning to end. It shows the reflections of a master on his work, where the work continually reveals the author's enjoyment, both exemplifying and satisfying the Horation utile dulci. Packed with knowledge and insight, it informs, stimulates, and delights. It also corrects, or at least reproves, some vulgar errors...A valuable book. Christian Science Monitor
Review
[Pelikan] has assembled some 82 gleanings from the rich surplus of his scholarship into a readable, informative, and delightful dictionary of theology...[which is] literate rather than technical in style, and good-humored rather than solemn in tone...[Pelikan's] presentation is always balanced, comprehensive, ecumenical, and thought provoking. Roland M. Frye
Review
Reflecting on 82 theological/philosophical topics (e.g., atonement), movements (e.g., Enlightenment), and persons (e.g., Augustine), renowned Christian historian and theologian Pelikan deals with 'major themes of scholarship in the history of the Christian theological tradition.' The result is a personal work...A though-provoking glimpse into the mind of a mature scholar, this book should be read, not just referred to. M. Edmund Hussey - Antioch Review
Review
Objective, accurate, awesomely informed, and just plain useful--and regularly on the target that each heading indicates. It is thoroughly ecumenical in a delightful sense although it does not neglect to note doctrinal differences... This is an extraordinarily informative and readable book, its subjects very alive today in theological, philosophical, and historical circles. Library Journal
About the Author
Jaroslav Pelikan is a theologian and Sterling Professor of History at Yale University.
Table of Contents
Preface
Angel
Apocatastasis
Apophatic
Atheist/Agnostic
Atonement
Augustine of Hippo
Authority
Baptism
Bible
Byzantium
Canon of Hebrew Scripture (the Old Testament)
Canon of the New Testament
Cappadocians
Church
Continuity
Creeds of Christendom
Dante Alighieri
Development of Doctrine
Dictionary
Dogma
Dostoevsky, Fyodor Mikhailovich
Duty
Ecumenical
Emerson, Ralph Waldo
Enlightenment
Erasmus, Desiderius
Eschatology
Eucharist
Evil
Faith
Filioque
Friendship
Gibbon, Edward
Gifford Lectures
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von
Gospel
Grace
Harnack, Adolf von
Hellenization
Heresy
Hermeneutics
Historiography
Holy Spirit
Icons
Image of God
Incarnation
Justification by Faith
Languages
Libraries
Luther, Martin
Mary
Medieval
Melody
Mystery
Mystical
Natural Theology
Newman, John Henry
Origen of Alexandria
Orthodoxy
Patristics
Paul the Apostle
Reformation
Renaissance
Revelation
Rome
Sacrament
Sacred Science
Schleiermacher, Friedrich Daniel Ernst
Scholarship
Sermon on the Mount
Sin
Slays
Sobornost'
Söderblom, Nathan
Solitude
Text of the New Testament
Thomas Aquinas
Tradition
Trinity
University
Worship
Zion
Index