Studies in Doctrine

Rating:
Summary: Great presentation of the basics from a Reformed perspective
Review: I would have given this book a 4 1/2 if I could have. The simplicity and clarity of these combined works are outstanding. I highly reccomend it for both layity and clergy.

One thing I really like was instead of just throwing verses around, McGrath presents well reasoned arguments that cause the reader to do more than play hit and miss with proof texts. That is, the reader is taken on a well reasoned journey that draws out logical conclusions.

The first work, UNDERSTANDIND JESUS, is an introduction to Christianity's beginning, and more importantly, to Jesus Himself. It speaks of the early church and how it related to the life, death, and ressurection of Jesus Christ. This helps lead the reader to see that Christianity is more than an abstract set of ideas, but union with the person of Jesus Christ.

The second work, UNDERSTANDING THE TRINITY, is a theological treatise on the Trinity, as well as an apologetic for God's existence.

The third work, UNDERSTNDING DOCTRINE, is an introduction to scripture as a witness to the revelation of God, and as a resource to guide one in the Christian faith. The basic theme is an introduction to doctrine, its importance, its use, and its limitations.

The third book, JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH, seeks to establish and recover the importance of the doctrine of name. The purpose of this recovery is to present the doctrine in contemporary terms because the author believes that many modern Christians feel that this doctrine is irrelevant and out of date.

You get four books for the price of one, and all four are great. Maybe I should have given it five stars, but perfection may just be saying a little too much. Get the book!!!

Rating:
Summary: Good Introductions
Review: Prof. Alister McGrath is a moderately conservative theologian and an ordained minister in the Church of England. He has written a large number of works, some of which are quite technical and others which are more introductory in nature. The best thing about his introductory writings is that they don't presuppose a knowledge of the subject, but at the same time they aren't simplistic.

This work is a collection of four smaller introductory works by Prof. McGrath: (1) UNDERSTANDING DOCTRINE; (2) UNDERSTANDING THE TRINITY; (3) UNDERSTANDING JESUS; and (4) JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. I think UNDERSTANDING DOCTRINE is the best because it makes a persuasive case for why doctrine -- and not just feelings -- matter.

One problem I have with this work, like some of Prof. McGrath's works, is that he frequently discusses Karl Barth (1886-1968) the well-known Swiss Reformed theologian. Barth was the principal player within the school known as "neo-orthodoxy." To some he is a towering writer of a more or less Evangelical bent, to others he is something of a modernist. Some traditional Calvinists, such as Gordon Clark and Cornelius Van Til, wrote works criticizing Barth from the Calvinist perspective. I'm not competent to say how faithful Barth was to the Reformed tradition, but Prof. McGrath owes it to his readers to point out that there is quite a controversy about this. Unfortunately he doesn't. (See, e.g., McGrath, HISTORICAL THEOLOGY, 238-39.) For a discussion of Barth from an admirer of Van Til, see John Frame: CORNELIUS VAN TIL: AN ANALYSIS OF HIS THOUGHT, 353-69.

This book isn't a "mini" systematic theology. There are all sorts of important topics that Prof. McGrath doesn't discuss (such as ecclesiology and eschatology). Nonetheless, taken as a whole, it is a good introduction to Christianity from a Protestant perspective.