We just ordered and will be digesting The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims on the Way by Dr. Mike Horton.
Michael S. Horton (Ph.D., University of Coventry and Wycliffe Hall, Oxford) is the J. Gresham Machen Professor of Systematic Theology and Apologetics at Westminster Seminary California. He is the president of White Horse Media, for which he co-hosts the White Horse Inn, a nationally syndicated, weekly radio talk-show exploring issues of Reformation theology in American Christianity. The editor-in-chief of Modern Reformation magazine, Horton is the author of more than 20 publications. His most recent book, People and Place: A Covenant Ecclesiology was awarded the 2009 Christianity Today Book Award for Theology and Ethics.
Product description from www.amazon.com.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0310286042/ref=ox_ya_os_product
Michael Horton's highly anticipated The Christian Faith represents his magnum opus and will be viewed as one of---if not the---most important systematic theologies since Louis Berkhof wrote his in 1932. A prolific, award-winning author and theologian, Professor Horton views this volume as 'doctrine that can be preached, experienced, and lived, as well as understood, clarified, and articulated.' It is written for a growing cast of pilgrims making their way together and will be especially welcomed by professors, pastors, students, and armchair theologians. Features of this volume include: (1) a brief synopsis of biblical passages that inform a particular doctrine; (2) surveys of past and current theologies with contemporary emphasis on exegetical, philosophical, practical, and theological questions; (3) substantial interaction with various Christian movements within the Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodoxy traditions, as well as the hermeneutical issues raised by postmodernity; and (4) charts, sidebars, questions for discussion, and an extensive bibliography, divided into different entry levels and topics.
Review by Douglas VanderMeulen:
This work by Michael Horton may be the finest systematic theology since Berkhof's classic which I believe was written in the 1930's. Clear, insightful and what I would call a page turner. It is so full of theological jewels I often found myself excited to turn the page or anxiously wanting to get back to reading it after a short break.
Written in a style that is easily reachable even for the common layman, Horton weaves historic, biblical and systematic theology in a way that highlights not only the truth of Scripture but why and how the Christian world-view is necessarily antithetical to pagan and atheistic world-views. Horton has written his text in a manner much different than many systematics. He writes in a style almost like telling a story. His writing style definitely holds the readers attending is not the dry technical style found most systematic theologies.
Dr. Horton, writes from a consistently reformed and covenantal perspective. That said, the author understands covenant not to be a system forced upon the Bible but raises from text itself. The Bible, as a record of the covenant making-keeping God's redemptive drama from eternity to eternity, is inherently covenantal. Therefore, covenant becomes the motif for properly understanding God's redemptive purpose and the Biblical doctrines that reveal it. The author interacts with "past and current theologies with contemporary emphasis on exegetical, philosophical, practical, and theological questions".
There are three very helpful tools at the end of the hard copy for the new or not highly trained theology reader. The first is a glossary of terms. The author has given short definitions to key theological terms, Latin phrases and historical events, theological systems and theological movements. This will prove to be very helpful for someone just beginning their dive into serious theological reading. The second tool Dr. Horton's annotated bibliography of recommended reading. This list is broken down by doctrine and each work is listed as beginner, intermediate, and advanced. With this reading list, the student is directed into a lifetime of great theological reading. Finally, the author has supplied not just a scripture index but on for the reformational creeds and catechisms sited in this work. This could prove to very helpful for the teacher seeking to cross-reference this systematic theology and the creeds and confessions.
It is a rare systematic theology that can prove to be helpful to both the pastor-teacher and the layman. I can't wait to get this into the hands of our congregation. Dr. Horton's, "The Christian Faith" is written not just to promote sound theology, but consistent thinking and living pilgrims growing in faith in Christ.
A must have for anyone seriously interested good theology. Makes a great gift for your pastor, Bible school student or anyone interested in mastering the great truths of the Bible
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