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A review by josiahdegraaf
Systematic Theology by Wayne A. GRUDEM
5.0
Grudem provided excellent insight to many "basic" areas of Christian theology.
Pros:
Grudem's chapter on the canon and how the early church decided which books to recognize (not choose) as part of the canon was really excellent.
His thoughts on the meaning of the term "baptism of the Holy Spirit" were really, really good. I came to the chapter thinking that it meant something else, but he completely convinced me of his position. He viewed it as referring to more of a step in the conversion process than a term that should be connected to spiritual gifts, and used a lot of biblical evidence to back his position off.
Grudem generally gave a balanced treatment to all sides of the issue before providing his own. I disagreed with a fair number of his opinions in the last two parts (such as his view of spiritual gifts, church government, and eschatology) but felt that, for the most part, he presented the best arguments of the sides involved.
Cons:
The one exception to his above point was that he failed to deal with partial-preterism in his chapters on the millennium: what it was and when it occurred. As a result, I didn't feel like he fairly represented the strength of the a-mil/post-mil position, since he used passages against their positions without explaining how a-mils/post-mils might interpret them within a partial-preterism framework.
Overall:
Really good read that was easy-to-understand while thoroughly looking at the different issues involved. Recommended to anyone interested in taking a closer look at the different areas of Christian theology and doctrine.
Rating: 4.5 Stars. (Excellent)
Pros:
Grudem's chapter on the canon and how the early church decided which books to recognize (not choose) as part of the canon was really excellent.
His thoughts on the meaning of the term "baptism of the Holy Spirit" were really, really good. I came to the chapter thinking that it meant something else, but he completely convinced me of his position. He viewed it as referring to more of a step in the conversion process than a term that should be connected to spiritual gifts, and used a lot of biblical evidence to back his position off.
Grudem generally gave a balanced treatment to all sides of the issue before providing his own. I disagreed with a fair number of his opinions in the last two parts (such as his view of spiritual gifts, church government, and eschatology) but felt that, for the most part, he presented the best arguments of the sides involved.
Cons:
The one exception to his above point was that he failed to deal with partial-preterism in his chapters on the millennium: what it was and when it occurred. As a result, I didn't feel like he fairly represented the strength of the a-mil/post-mil position, since he used passages against their positions without explaining how a-mils/post-mils might interpret them within a partial-preterism framework.
Overall:
Really good read that was easy-to-understand while thoroughly looking at the different issues involved. Recommended to anyone interested in taking a closer look at the different areas of Christian theology and doctrine.
Rating: 4.5 Stars. (Excellent)