If one is looking to access a broad swath of thought and theology over the course of church history, Dr. William Placher's two-volume Readings in the History of Christian Theology may well fit the bill.
For a two-volume survey of thought over the past two millennia, Placher keeps the work very trim - each volume weighs in at just around 200 pages. Volume One opens with material contemporary with the very early church, (Gnosticism, etc.) and concludes with content gathered from the late Middle Ages. Volume Two begins with Reformation writings and concludes with twentieth century theologies of liberation (feminism, race). While each book touches briefly on significant points of contact with the various authors and thinkers it seeks to represent, Placher does a fairly reasonable job of representing each movement/author with representative excepts. Further, Placher provides some context to introduce the authors presented, in case the reader is not familiar with the author or vein of thought.
Dr. Placher's personal theological convictions are well-tempered, for the most part, throughout the works. Some introductions to thinkers seem tilted one way or another; e.g., calling Rudolf Bultmann the "greatest New Testament scholar of his generation." While these assessments are debatable, Placher's comments are relatively constrained by a desire to simply present the thinker, the bulk of the material being select excerpts.
While some material may be a reach (particularly the concluding bizarre theologies of liberation and culture), the selection is appropriate for an ecumenical survey. I would certainly disagree greatly with a number of those included by Placher, yet it is important for the serious student of theology and church history to have a rudimentary understanding of those who have figured into the making and marring of theological culture.
If desiring a broad (and again, ecumenical) survey of thought in the history of the church, Dr. Placher's work is certainly worth a glance, both in terms of scope and the relatively low page count it takes up in the process.
I received both volumes from the publisher, Westminister John Knox, as complimentary review copies without expectation of a positive review.
