Rating: 
Summary: Balanced and Comprehensive
Review: Millard Erickson is one of the most prolific evangelical theologians writing today. His CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY is (from what I've read) the most widely used systematic theology in Baptist seminaries. The doctrinal perspective of this work is premillenial, baptistic and moderately Calvinistic.
One of the advantages of this book is that Prof. Erickson doesn't bombard the reader with a list of theologians who have opined on various topics. He takes a topic, discusses three or four key thinkers and options, analyzes them, and gives his own opinion.
Prof. Erickson discusses most of the major topics of theology, including important background areas such as biblical criticism, the relationship between theology and philosophy, and contemporizing the Christian message. One area that Prof. Erickson skates over is that of women in the ministry. Last I checked, Prof. Erickson is a member of a pro-women's ordination group called Christians for Biblical Equality, but you wouldn't know it from reading this book. The discussion of women implies that he supports it, but he isn't as clear as one would expect. (See p. 565-66.)
For even more conservative protestant works in systematic theology, readers should consider the works of Robert Reymond and Wayne Grudem.
Rating: 
Summary: Rightly Divides Word of Truth
Review: Outstanding effort. Faithful to Biblical text, logical, consise, contemporary, fairly evaluating interpretive options and honestly and humbly coming down on the side of views most persuasive to his research. Hallmarked by clarity and completeness without sacrificing brevity. Balanced and objective doing justice to the Scriptural witness without compromising truth or conviction. What is most admirable is how he masterfully refuses to artificially resolve doctrinal/theological paradoxes, but lets them stand in the hope that they may resolve into a higher, complementary, whole-orbed truth unknowable here and now. He follows the Biblical injunction, "Do not go beyond what is written." As Scripture is not beholden to any doctrinal camp or denominational persuasion, so the author heroically strives to follow suit, producing a truly Biblical theology summation, the finest I have seen of late. See D.A. Carson's Exegetical Fallacies and note how few (if any) are repeated in this excellent volume.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Systematic
Review: This is an excellent systematic theology textbook written by a well-respected evangelical theologian. Erickson writes from a mildly reformed and baptistic perspective. Like most systematics, the book is long and thorough, but Erickson writes in a very readable manner and is generally engaging. He is fair in presenting the major understandings of different issues, and then presents a grounded defense of his own views. A great reference to own.
Rating: 
Summary: For the Layperson
Review: This systematic theology is well suited for someone without any background in Greek or Hebrew or experience in exegesis. I found it simple enough that a reasonably educated person in any field of study should have no difficulty reading it and understanding the subject matter. Its not at a graduate level specialization in theology. I sometimes wonder what has happened to the great scholars such as Barth, K&D, Gesenius, etc. Back in their day and in some European countries you didn't come out of highschool without Latin, Greek and four other spoken languages. Their level of learnedness and scholasticism leaves us trailing behind today and Erickson's book as seminary material is a case in point. A person with no background in theology can pick Erickson's book up and understand it. Try that with a graduate text in mathematics, theoretical physics or chemistry.
Rating:
Summary: Superb resource
Review: This was my textbook for systematic theology at Liberty U. Seminary. It is a highly readable and very solid addition to my library that can benefit both the lay-person and the theologian alike. Erickson treats many topics with surprising detail despite this being a single volume. He discusses different theories and their plusses and minuses. This book has blessed me in its Scriptural rationale and superb guidance.
He begins with a lot of philosophical writing that at first I did not understand, nor did I see the significance of its inclusion. After reading, though, I noticed how it relates when I was talking with others regarding Christianity. It has made me a better apologetic and I understand the way theologies are formed.
Rating:
Summary: Treats many topics superficially
Review: When I bought this book I was hoping to get a thorough and deep treatment of theological issues. I was disappointed by the brief manner most topics were dealt with. What I find is the author presenting various views represented by the most prominent schools of thought and then giving an short evaluation of them. There is no real systematic development of any theory given here, no thorough exegesis of scriptural passages, no profound insights. Read a few chapters of Jonathan Edwards works and you will see the difference.
Rating:
Summary: It's not called the green monster for nothing.
Review: When I had Dr. Erickson for Systematic Theology in seminary the cover of this book was green and it was affectionately referred to as "the green monster." It was big and intimidating. I bought the book and began my forced, daily readings of it. I found that this monster was gentle and fascinating. Dr. Erickson covers all the sides of the doctrines he discusses and yet does not fail to define where he falls on them. His writing style is such that he is able to make the deepest issues understandable for anyone willing to put a little time into the book. While, the book is not the book I would recommend for someone with no previous theological reading, it is one that I would say needs to be in the collection of anyone seriouesly interested in systematic theology.
Rating:
Summary: It's not called the green monster for nothing.
Review: When I had Dr. Erickson for Systematic Theology in seminary the cover of this book was green and it was affectionately referred to as "the green monster." It was big and intimidating. I bought the book and began my forced, daily readings of it. I found that this monster was gentle and fascinating. Dr. Erickson covers all the sides of the doctrines he discusses and yet does not fail to define where he falls on them. His writing style is such that he is able to make the deepest issues understandable for anyone willing to put a little time into the book. While, the book is not the book I would recommend for someone with no previous theological reading, it is one that I would say needs to be in the collection of anyone seriouesly interested in systematic theology.
Rating:
Summary: An indispensable book in your library!
Review: Whether you're a pastor, a student, or simply a lover of the Bible, this book helps you get more out of God's Word by revealing, in a deep and clear way, the real meaning from it that bring depth to your understanding of Scripture. In my opinion, Christian Theology is the most up-to-date and useful book of Systematic Theology we have available (Maybe, best them Grudem's work). It equips every seminary students or even laymen with the necessary skills to understand the conservative view of the Bible. That book has an exceptional value, it was written in a clear and precise way. Indispensable!
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