Rating: 
Summary: Theology Made Simpler
Review: I put off buying a book of systematic theology for years ... the language used in them always put me off! Grudem has the knack of writing profoundly, yet simply. In his book, he discusses most issues an evangelical would be interested in, and he fairly presents the views of those he disagrees with. I like his questions and hymns at the end of each chapter. It is also helpful that he tells you explicitly where he is coming from in his introduction. This book is a terrific start if you want to explore Christian theology. There is also a shorter version of the book, but I think you would be cheating yourself if you didn't buy the whole shebang. [You don't have to read it all!] Although I think Grudem and the Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood are a little astray in their views on bible translation, I am happy to enthusiastically recommend this book, which does not stray into that area.
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Summary: Non-fundamentalists need not buy
Review: Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology will inform many Evangelicals with an interest in theology. It is a scholarly work, comprehensive, and scratches where most Evangelical Christians are itching, covering such topics as Creation, Eschatology (the Last Things), female leadership, and charismatic/spiritual gifts. It is also clearly written and has an unusually devotional style. In short, it is a good summary of contemporary Evangelical Reformed orthodoxy. But unfortunately that's all it is. Any reader hoping for a stretching and illuminating foray into the theological mainstream will be disappointed. Grudem's work is flawed in several respects. Firstly, it presents itself as a pretty authoritative exposition of orthodox Christian belief. But this is misleading. Grudem's theology can be located near the most conservative end of the theological spectrum. As such certain key doctrines, such as the authority of Scripture, are asserted rather that convincingly argued. And many other issues are glossed over as practically self-evident, such as the doctrine of God's nature. It is clear that this theology is written by a man who has either not been exposed to the rigorous questions of theologians who do not share his views, or, which is worse, he simply regards such 'liberal' theologians as irrelevant. The second flaw is related to this, and it is the fact that Grudem's theology is unbalanced. It is true that a systematic theology cannot in practice give equal weight to everything, but Grudem does not even make a laudable attempt. It is indicative of the narrow theological circles in which he moves that he spends pages and pages arguing about peripheral issues while he ignores the central challenges of theology. For example, in turning to Grudem's section on the resurrection, one finds several paragraphs devoted to a (in my view) fairly inconsequential discussion of the nature of Jesus' risen body, while there is hardly a word breathed about what the significance of the resurrection might be, its place in theology, its soteriological value, its relation to history, and its relevance to the believer. Such issues are merely glossed. Grudem is at times painfully pedantic, but at others bewilderingly vague and superficial. The final flaw I will mention is Grudem's theological method. His approach is to practically dismiss philosophical questions from the realm of theological inquiry (though they creep in implicitly through the back door many times throughout his work), and to make Scripture the sole arbiter of theological truth. Grudem fails to realise that 'the truths' of Scripture are not self-evident, but result from interpretation of the text: thus prior assumptions are required in order to make any sense of the text of the Bible whatever. Grudem's lack of interpretative sophistication is never more evident than when he simply asserts a view and then presses a number of biblical texts into his service to back up his point. The manner in which this is done has little regard for the nature of Scripture, and is the kind of proof-texting approach that is both careless and unconvincing to any non-fundamentalist Christian. In short, Grudem's theology would be best employed as a reference point for convinced Reformed Evangelicals; more searching readers ought probably to pick up a more balanced and less officious work such as that of Leo Garrett.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent.
Review: "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and Grudem will be given to him." Okay, that quote is a paraphrase but I have nothing but positive things to say about Grudem's Systematic. It is a wonderful introductory text, covering pretty much every conceivable topic. Additionally, Grudem is faithful in his treatment of Scripture. He succeeds in providing a wonderful overview of Biblical theology and he is not afraid to say that the meaning of a passage is unclear. When there are several viable interpretations he generally explains them both thoroughly, while letting you know where he stands. If you are looking for a book to use in devotions, this can help you. Grudem includes a topical hymn with every chapter. That does not prevent his scholarship, however, from being first rate.
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Summary: the best introduction to Biblical Doctrine available
Review: For those that would spend the time to study theology in an orderly manner, Wayne Grudem's "Systematic Theology" is the best that I have yet seen. He examines both the traditional view as well as gives the scriptural basis for each doctrine and teaching. This leaves us with the Scripture as the basis for our belief system. The book is clearly written and easily understood both by the layperson as well as the scholar of theology. Provided at the end of each chapter is a "Questions for Personal Application" which makes the book very suitable for both group and individual studies. There is also a listing of special terms used, a bibliography followed by a listing of "Other Works" that may be applicable, an applicable scripture memory passage, and a Hymn that often pertains to the subject of that chapter. Grudem in his presentation often examines the historical or traditional viewpoint of the topics being presented; as such he is not a follower of the latest theological fade despite the fact that he does quote Berkhof fairly often. For instance, he points out in his chapter on eschatology - the study of future events - that the theory of a "secret" rapture of the church and a following "millennium" is a fairly recent viewpoint; that the traditional or historical church had much differing viewpoints on these subjects. "The problem with this solution is that it is hard to derive two separate comings of Christ from the passages that predict his return." ("The Return of Christ: When and how?" -page 1100). This book is some 1221 pages long and is not the book that one would read during a Sunday afternoon. It is a book that requires much thought and study if one is to really gain any insight into Christian doctrine. I would recommend it as a course book either in a formal or informal environment guided by someone that is fairly knowledgeable in theology. It took me over 6 months to fully study and digest its contents and even today, wish to find the time to go back and study certain key sections.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Theology Text
Review: This textbook is very solid and thorough. All major theology questions are addressed with scriptural examples. The is book is great for confirming what you believe. Many Christians believe things yet are not quite sure why they believe them or where they are in scripture, this book is a remedy for that. My only complaint with this book is that there isn't quite enough scripture used to prove the points the author presents. Though there is much written about issues it would be nice to have some scripture to go with the writing.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent introduction to the subject
Review: Others have already written satisfying reviews for this text, so I would just like to respond to the review by "Peter Rohloff". He seems to have totally ignored the STATED intent of the text set forth at the beginning of this book. EVEN IF theology ought to do what Rohloff claims it ought to do, should not the BEGINNER (Grudem's intended audience) know what the Bible says FIRST before interacting with historically significant theologians and our current culture? Otherwise, how will the reader know with what we should interact with them? Thus, even if theology should be as Rohloff says, Grudem is providing the prerequisite knowledge to the reader so that the latter may indeed do it. However, it is to be questioned whether theology should do what Rohloff says in the first place. And by interacting with the Bible, we are interacting with Paul, Isaiah, Matthew, etc. What about them? People seem to think that when you put all these documents written by these biblical authors together, suddenly the Bible becomes a non-historical, mythological, fictional text -- how come? This is pure unsubstantiated bias, and reflects a failure to really deal with the theological and historical issues involved. To say what Rohloff says is a mark of a novice in theology, and does not indicate that he knows what he is talking about. I would also recommend books by Gordon Clark and Vincent Cheung. Search the web for "trinity foundation" and "vincent cheung", and I think you will find them. Cheung's books are free for download. He has the best beginning/intermediate systematic theology I have seen.
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Summary: Not your normal systematic theology
Review: I love this Systematic Theology. I, in general, am not a big fan of systematic theology in its commonly understood sense. Well, I better restate that. I am not a big fan of the results of systematic theology. It often makes for Christians who feel that they know everything and then begin to interpret the Bible to match their theology, instead of growing in knowledge through Bible reading and changing their theology to match the Bible. The only other systematic theology books that I have read with any amount of thoroughness would be Berkhof's and Calvin's. So I'm not claiming to be a top notch theologian. But I do want to grow to more thoroughly understand God's revealed truth in his word, and then obey it. Wayne Grudem's book is every bit as thorough as those others, maybe even more so. He takes time to explain differing views, defining which are major and minor doctrines, giving thorough histories of the different views of the issues, and then ending each of the 57 chapters with a section title "Questions for Personal Application." This application is what I have found extremely helpful. They questions aren't anything that you couldn't think up on your own with a little thought. It basically helps to guide you in your meditation and prayer over the Biblical truths just presented. It helps get the focus back where it should be, God. Instead of the goal being theology for theology's sake, the goal is the glory of God through a changed, obedient life, that then in turn changes other lives. A changed life, changes lives. I am considering using this book, even though it is 1290 pages for the small group Bible study that we have. This has been a beneficial reference to me as I have been studying.
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Summary: Systematic theology at its worst
Review: What is a systematic theology? Well, apparently that depends. To an Augustine, or an Anselm, or a Luther, or a Barth, it is a critical reflection on the content of the Christian message with a particular view toward realizing the implications of that message in a culturally relevant fashion. For a Grudem, systematic theology is merely an outlining of everything the Bible has to say about everything in a hopelessly dull and useless fashion. It should not be suprising that Grudem's text has in recent years becomes so popular throughout American evangelical circles. Because he represents only the latest and most visible in a long, dreary line of American theologians whose ability to do theology is fatally impaired by their radical Biblicism (aka Bible-olatry) and sociopathic evangelical conditioning. As such, his text displays the classical evangelical symptoms of extreme insularity, isolationism, and ahistoricity. This allegation can be confirmed by preparing a list of 'significant' theologians and theologies of the twentieth century from traditions other than American evangelicalism (not that there actually is such a thing as 'significant' American evangelical theology) and then scanning the text and index to see if they are discussed. They are not; or if they are they are treated cursorily and derisively. Barth, for instance--who is widely regarded as the most significant Protestant theologian since Luther and whose own systematic theology reaches to thousands of pages in fourteen volumes--receives a single one-sentence treatment IN A FOOTNOTE. Nor is there serious treatment of Tillich, Kung, Bultmann, Rahner, Moltmann, Kierkegaard, liberation theology, feminist theology, black theology, political theology--in short, no serious treatment of any theologian or theology that has done anything significant in the last century to shape world-wide the Christian consciousness. Avoid this book at all costs.
Rating: 
Summary: well written but...
Review: The reasoning here is WEAK. At long last, I thought I had found it--a reliable, evenhanded systematic that still remains true to evangelical Christianity. Alas, it is not as it seemed. Everything was going swimmingly until page 662...then WHAM! I struck over the head by Grudem's attempt to deal with 1 Timothy 4:10 (which says that God is "the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe.") Grudem's reaction reads as follows: "Here 'Savior' cannot be restricted in meaning to one who forgives sins and gives eternal life," because these are not given to those who do not believe; Savior must have a more general sense here, namely, "one who rescues from distress, one who delivers." No elaboration is given. If, as C.S. Lewis said, Christianity is a fighting religion (he meant intellectually--not the Crusades), then it is hard to swallow a whimpering piece of argumentation like this passage. Are we all to interpret scripture with such broad super-suppositions? We should hold out theology up to the scrutiny of the Biblical text, not the other way around. This particular claim (which stands unwarranted because of Grudem's lack of explanation and support) could have been given some basis if the author had taken more time on writing about it. As it stands, it seems an unnecessary attempt to set oneself up as gatekeeper to salvation. Strikes me as a bit pharisaical in its cool calculating discussion of those who will be damned. Instances like this (there are a few more) are the fly in the ointment of an otherwise likable book.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding Exploration and Reasoning
Review: Wayne Grudem has done an incredible job of exploring historical theological ideas, as well as evaluating modern theological issues. I was extremely impressed with his reason, his integrity, and exhaustive research. He has had a tremendous influence upon my thinking.
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