Takeaway: Ways of reading scripture that we take for granted as today were revolutionary in the past.
Short histories, like the Armchair Theologian series or the Very Short Introduction series are hit or miss. Because the author usually has wide latitude to emphasize what they want and organize the books on their own, reading one book is not a good introduction to series.
Aquinas for Armchair Theologians gave a decent biography of Aquinas but focused on how Aquinas changed the nature of philosophy for the modern world. It as very focused on explaining how to read Aquinas as a modern reader.
John Calvin for Armchair Theologians was very sparse on biography and mostly focused on walking through the structure of Calvin’s Institutes as an organizational structure for Calvin’s theology and thought process. In the process, it seems to not do a very good job introducing Calvin or his theology.
John Knox for Armchair Theologians is mostly a history of the Scottish Reformation and John Knox’s role in that. While there are several interludes discussing Knox’s writing, there are only a handful of short quotations. So if you are looking for an introduction to Knox’s theology, this is not it.
