Know the Truth: A Handbook of Christian Belief

Rating:
Summary: A must-read for all serious Christians
Review: In our pragmatic, outcomes oriented age, the church has begun to lose its way. "Theology" and "Doctrine" are considered too theoretical and impractical for the needs of today.

Milne reminds us that at the source of all practice is belief. He also reminds us that any movement away from basic Christian belief is to court disaster. Those who deride theology need to re-examine their hearts and submit to God's view of the world, rather than our own.

This book is fairly simple in its layout, and is valuable as a reference book for basic Christian beliefs - you can easily turn to one section and consult it without having to have read the rest of the book. It does not go into unnecessary detail, and reflects a conservative, evangelical and reformed position.

Part one examines authority - how do we know what is true and how can know what God is saying to us? Part two looks at God - his characteristics and his works. Part three examines humankind - what our nature is and how sin has affected us. Part four examines Jesus - who he was and why he came to die on the cross. Part Five looks at the Holy Spirit - who he is and what his role is in the Christian life. Part Six examines the Church - its identity, function and life. Finally, part Seven looks at the future - the return of Jesus and eternal life.

If you are a serious Christian who loves the Lord with head and heart, this book is invaluable.

Rating:
Summary: Crucial
Review: Know the Truth is a great volume to work through, or consult from time to time as needed. It covers so much ground, and in areas of contention presents the options clearly and with biblical faithfulness. One of the first books I turn to whenever I have a theological or practical question about Christianity.

Rating:
Summary: A balanced, biblical introduction to Christian truth!
Review: Milne has produced a fine introduction to Christian truth (i.e. theology) and I found this book very useful. I think Milne was wise to begin with, "The final authority in matters of faith," namely the Bible. Milne says that there are two sources of special revelation: The Incarnate Word (i.e. Jesus Christ Himself) and the Word (which is the Bible). Milne then examines what Jesus said about the Bible, what the Apostles said about it, inspiration, and the ideas of infallible vs. inerrant and so on.

I particularly liked his section on ecclesiology (the doctrine of the Church); it is a field that I have not studied much and it was good to get a biblical introduction to it. The section on the Person and Work of Jesus Christ was very good as well; Milne affirms the orthodox position that Christ is 100% man and 100% God. Milne also examines many of the historical heresies that were advanced against this (e.g. the Doetic heresy; that Jesus was God and merely appeared to be human or the Ebionite heresy; that Jesus was just a human being and was not God) and how they fail to agree with the Bible. Milne addresses the most sensationalized of doctrines "the last things," (i.e. eschatology; especially in the Book of Revelation); he outlines what we know for certain from the Bible and what is less clear. He also examines different perspectives on the Millennium.

To comment on the approach the Milne uses throughout the book, I would have to say that he is very balanced and sober. Often, he will briefly look at a few views on an issue and consider the biblical texts cited in support. Milne is also cautious; he is not dogmatic on issues where the Bible is not dogmatic. Also, throughout the book, there are end of section review questions (if you wanted to lead an intensive series of Bible studies, these questions could be used), all the various Scriptures cited (and arranged by topic e.g. Atonement in the Old Testament, Christ the prophet, Christ the priest and justification) are helpful as well. Milne also has mini-Bibliographies at the end of every section. My only possible criticism is that many of the works he cites in his Bibliography are old, likely out of print books (i.e. from 1960's or 1970's). There is also an Index at the end of the book, which gives the book a ready-reference function. However, I am reading the 1982 edition of the book (ISBN 0-87784-392-9), so that "problem" might have been addressed in this new 1999 edition.

I would very much recommend this book to all new Christians to get a firm footing in Christian doctrine. The book could also be described as the Bible doctrinally arranged; Want to know who God is? Want to know the nature of humanity? Want to know what the Church is supposed to be?