Systematic Theology for the new year
I want to work through a systematic theology next year as part of devotional reading. This will be my first systematic theology. What recommendations can you recommend as a first read.
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That's a great idea!
I'm a former professor of systematic theology and can give some recommendations. A lot depends however on your background (academic and church) and what you already have in your library—you may well already have some suitable options.
A good, newer work I like is:
Although it's labeled an introduction, it's not exactly at a beginning level, though still quite readable, and it does not go into lengthy scriptural exposition. For that you'd need a longer work—it's hard to find a good and complete one that comes in at under 1,000 pages.
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@Sean If its a lengthy one it does not matter, It can take me the full year to work through. But here in South Africa at the shop where we buy our books the Wayne Grudem is very popular even in seminary schools. But they leave the Charismatic section out as the book shop is not charismatic. This is the only charismatic book the keep. Then there is Louis Berkhof, and Erickson, The Reformed one from Beale, Norman Geizler.
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Lukas. I'm quite partial to this one by Michael Bird.
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I like the Bird book. He is engaging and interesting throughout the book and even funny.
👁️ 👁️
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Grudem's is extremely popular. I do not like it for a number of reasons, but it is well-structured and very accessible.
Erickson is good but dry. If you are looking for a classic, biblical introduction to reformed theology, it's hard to beat Berkhof. My theological tendencies lean in other directions, but I use it as a ready reference work when I want to look something up.
I've not read Michael Bird's systematic theology that others recommend, but I have enjoyed other books by him.
Another very good classic reformed theology is Herman Bavinck's Reformed Dogmatics. It's 4 volumes and quite lengthy, but there is an abridged version: which I would assume is also good. (Don't buy it individually; get it in a legacy library for less.) Bavinck really is the basis for a number of other theologians who wrote after him.
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The Bavinck 4 vol took me forever, as I read other books as well.
He goes into philosophy, much of which I skated.
John Frame: 'Systematic Theology: an Intro. to Christian Belief' is Reformed, super-readable. Key terms, study questions + memory verses end each chapter. ~1115 pages of reading. You could look inside to check redability.
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Joel Beeke’s and Paul Smalley’s Reformed Systematic Theology is easy to read. It’s a more modern work, but thorough and appropriate for serious study and/or devotional reading. Have a look at some of the the sample pages in one of the volumes listed on the Logos web site. It’s available as a 4-volume set or each volume can be purchased individually.
Reformed Systematic Theology (4 vols.) | Logos Bible Software
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Grudem, Berkhof, Frame and Calvin's Institutes have all been good for me
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Not my field of expertise but in case you aren't reformed from Perplexity:
Anglican:
- Systematic Theology by Gerald Bray: This is a widely used text that covers a broad range of theological topics. It's known for its clear and concise explanations.
- The Doctrine of God by J.I. Packer: While this book focuses specifically on the doctrine of God, it's a classic and influential work that can serve as a valuable introduction to systematic theology.
Lutheran:
- Systematic Theology by Robert Letham: This comprehensive text covers a wide range of theological topics from a Lutheran perspective. It's known for its rigorous scholarship and clear explanations.
- Luther's Works (edited by Jaroslav Pelikan and Helmut T. Lehmann): While not strictly an introductory text, this collection of Luther's writings provides a firsthand look at the development of Lutheran theology.
Mennonite:
- Mennonite Theology by John Howard Yoder: This book explores the distinctive theological commitments of Mennonites, including pacifism, nonresistance, and community.
- The Anabaptist Vision by Harold S. Bender: This classic text provides a comprehensive overview of Anabaptist theology, including its historical development and contemporary significance.
Wesleyan:
- Christian Theology by John Wesley: This classic text by the founder of Methodism provides a systematic exposition of Wesleyan theology.
- Wesley's Theology by Albert C. Outler: This comprehensive study of Wesley's theology offers a modern interpretation of his thought.
Unitarian:
- A Unitarian Universalist Theology by Forrest Church: This book explores the diverse theological perspectives within Unitarian Universalism, emphasizing the importance of reason, conscience, and the free search for truth.
- The Varieties of Religious Experience by William James: While not specifically a Unitarian text, this classic work explores the psychological and philosophical dimensions of religious experience, which is a central theme in Unitarian Universalist thought.
It's important to note that these are just a few suggestions, and there are many other excellent texts available. The best choice for you will depend on your specific interests and needs.
Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."
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"The Doctrine of God by J.I. Packer" - Does he actually have a book with that title? It would be helpful to see the citation for that one.
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It had a footnote reference of so I didn't double check.
Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."
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He goes into philosophy, much of which I skated.
I assume you don't consider philosophy a prerequisite for theology?
Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."
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I'm in agreement with Tertullian on this one. I read thousands of pages of theology every year; my eyes glaze over whenever they dip into philosophy. It's been this way my entire career.
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- What you would get the most out of reading would depend on your theological leanings. You mentioned a bit of an aversion to charismatic theology so some of my favorites may not float your boat, but I'll list them either way:
Renewal Theology: Systematic Theology from a Charismatic Perspective, Williams 1996. To my knowledge this is the only non-Pentecostal charismatic systematic theology in print. It's super accessible, but also thorough and respectable. The bibliography alone makes it a great buy. He pulls from a wide range of respectable sources, so you may find yourself going on bibliographic rabbit trails with it.
Christian Theology, 3rd ed., Erickson 2013. Broadly evangelical. Well written. Includes some study questions, but they're more "recap" questions, but still nice. Not the most robust in terms of citations (in fact, my 2nd ed. doesn't even have a bibliography, I can't speak to the 3rd ed. though). As I read him, he has a tendency to not really lean too much on either side of the aisle in most issues which can lead me to end a chapter thinking "well what is he actually advocating for?". This can be either a good or bad thing depending on how you're looking at it, personally I can appreciate it.
Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine, 2nd ed., Grudem 2020. A few people mentioned this one, and frankly it's probably my favorite. The way each section is broken up is coherent and he gives a fair treatment to most theological views. There's applicational questions after each chapter, unlike Erickson who essentially just prompts you what to look out for in the chapter (Erickson's questions are in the beginning of each chapter, Grudem's are at the end). One of the best features in Grudem's (especially in Logos) is the bibliography included in every chapter. Literally every single chapter has a section in which Grudem cites different systematic theologies from different traditions and includes a section of Roman Catholic theologies pertaining to the content in that chapter (many times he's just quoting the catechism, but it's really nice in Logos to be able to just click and open a window that brings you right to that section in a separate systematic theology). This feature alone is worth buying Grudem's work for. A couple other cool features is scripture memory verses, hymns, and a contemporary worship song in every chapter, which are also even cited. Idk, maybe it's just me, but I think it's pretty cool. It also includes many of the historic creeds and confessions (and even the Chicago Statement on Inerrancy), which is IMO the best way to reference these within Logos (I have each of them in a favorites folder for quick access).
- Historical Theology: An Introduction to Christian Doctrine, Allison 2011. This is a companion volume to Grudem's work. I have it in print, but I think it'd be valuable to have in Logos as well. Each chapter has a parallel or "companion" chapter with Grudem's and they're meant to be read alongside each other. I'd like to read them in that order at some point, and I think it'd be easy to make a Logos reading plan to do so. Everything I said about Grudem's (aside from the extra features) would also be true about Allison's volume. It's just as accessible, well written, and thoughtful. As the name implies, the focus of the volume is to trace theological developments throughout history, so by design you won't really get the same type of citations that you'd get in Grudem's, you get a lot more Church Fathers and historical theology in this one. The downside to this one, is it never really goes on sale on Logos but the physical copy can be found for around $30 every so often.
Reformed Systematic Theology, Beeke; Smalley 2019-2024. I can't really give much of my opinion on this one as I only own two volumes, and I haven't given them much time. I will say, both of the authors are great, but they're both very Reformed and the purpose of these works is to advocate Reformed Theology and you won't get much in terms of treatment of other theological standpoints. I say this, but to be fair I've really only read the few chapters on God's foreknowledge, the rest of the volumes may be different, so take that with a grain of salt. From what I did read, there's a really short strawman objection to each theological viewpoint followed by the author thoroughly blowing down the strawman he just built. I say this as a huge fan of Beeke (and even his other systematic theology). I add this one only because many seem to love it very much, so I'm sure when you start digging in it's worth the effort.
A Puritan Theology: Doctrine for Life, Beeke; Jones 2012. This one I do really enjoy. It's much more practical than other systematic theologies in my opinion. As the title suggests, the treatment is mainly Puritan theology, though it does have more value than just being a Puritan systematic theology. There's a lot of practical and applicational theology contained in it (which would make sense considering it's literally a Puritan Theology). It'd be nice if Logos linked the works cited the same way it does with Grudem's, but the citations can help track down some works that you may not otherwise read. All in all, it serves its purpose very well and does exactly what the authors intended for it to do.
Systematic Theology (3 vol.), Oden 1992. This is much like Erickson's theology, but much more emphasis on historical theology. Possibly one of the best theologies you can get from an Arminian perspective, though I don't know that I'd call it an "Arminian" theology. It's much like Erickson's where he doesn't necessarily advocate too hard for any position, actually he doesn't even really give any treatment to some of the framework doctrines. It's almost like assumes the reader to already be in agreement on the core doctrines as he explores them a bit deeper. It's definitely not written in as accessible language as some of the others, but I don't find it as hard to read as Beeke's 4 volume.
Some other mentions that may not classify as a "Systematic Theology" but may be of interest nonetheless are:
- A Shorter Summa: The Most Essential Philosophical Passages of St. Thomas Aquinas’ Summa Theologica, Kreeft 1993. Essentially an abridgement of Aquinas' Summa. But Kreeft does give insight via footnotes or annotations. Many people would say that Summa Theologica is one of the most valuable theological works of all time. It's also found in Verbum 9 Starter which as a huge bonus gives you Augustine's Confessions and Letters, so you really can't beat it in terms of bang for your buck. Kreeft also has A Summa of the Summa which I'm fairly certain is the unabridged version, but I can't say for certain… maybe one of our Catholic friends could chime in on that.
- Biblical Doctrine: A Systematic Summary of Bible Truth, MacArthur; Mayhue 2017. I'm not a huge fan of MacArthur, but I do enjoy some of this volume. If you're a fan of MacArthur I'm sure you'd enjoy it. If Erickson is too charitable toward other theological views, you'll find MacArthur is on the polar opposite side of the spectrum. In my opinion, it's the dispensational version of Beeke's work. MacArthur is great when you want to read about the person and work of Christ, Trinity, etc. But if you're trying to get a fair treatment of every argument, you won't find it here. Obviously at one volume, it's much less thorough than Beeke and would be much less an undertaking to read in one year (in fact, a local church near me has a reading plan and they all work through it in a year). I don't have the Logos version, so I can't speak to how it's linked and whatnot, but it's not very source heavy either way.
Plain Theology for Plain People, Boothe, 1890. Boothe was a slave in Alabama and wrote this which for all intents and purposes is a Systematic Theology. I've only ever read the chapter on the Bible which was beautiful. I happened across in some Logos search, and I'm not sure what package I got it in. I intend to read it fully soon. It's very practical, and while the backdrop doesn't apply to me ethnically, I can see a lot of value in it.
Tolkien Dogmatics: Theology through Mythology in Middle-Earth, Freeman 2022. A bit of a stretch to call this a "systematic theology", but it's structured like one and how cool is it that someone actually systematized Tolkien's theology with a ton of source material? Unfortunately, it's not linked like Grudem's, which would be cool, but I don't even think Tolkien's works are in Logos.
- Concise Theology, Packer 1993. As the name implies, this certainly wouldn't take a year to read. Probably one of the better systematics in terms of accessibility and brevity. There's a very short (usually a few paragraphs at most) section on the major theological topics. It never feels like someone trying to add extra words to meet a specific word count. Every word counts. This is actually one of my favorites overall, pretty awesome if you do topical studies in groups. I know a few Bible colleges actually use it as a text book, but I think it's better suited for a small group study. There's almost more scripture references than there are original words. I'm sure if you took out the reference scriptures this book would be under 150 pages.
- Basic Theology, Ryrie 1999. Is another one of my favorites. This one is also often use as an introductory text in Bible studies and classes. Ryrie was the father of modern dispensationalism and his dispensational bias shines through in much of his writing. It's much like Packer's Concise Theology in that it doesn't feel like he's trying to meet a word count quota with the publisher, but it's certainly not as short as Packers. Not much in terms of citations, but he does cite some modern sources.
1 - What you would get the most out of reading would depend on your theological leanings. You mentioned a bit of an aversion to charismatic theology so some of my favorites may not float your boat, but I'll list them either way:
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- A few historical systematics (I won't say much, because I've seen a few of these already mentioned and I'm sure there's others that have more experience with all these… I'm not a very historical guy)
- Institutes of the Christian Religion, Calvin a long time ago. You can find a ton of reviews on this, and I can't tell you anything you probably don't already know. Systematic Theology, Berkhof 1932. Aside from Calvin, probably one of the most respected Reformed systematic theologies of all time. Reformed Dogmatics, Vos 1896. One of my favorite formats for a systematic, I reference it fairly frequently but I've never spent too much time sitting down and reading it cover to cover (the format itself doesn't really lend itself to devotional reading). It's written in a Q&A format, so it has it's uses. It's ridiculously long, so I'd be interested in how much you'd have to read daily in order to finish it in a year.
- Reformed Dogmatics, Bavinck 1895. I can't afford this one, so I can't rightly give you a review. It's beloved by many though. If I recall correctly it assumes the reader has a working knowledge of Latin and the original languages though, but I could be wrong on that, I'm sure someone will correct me if I am. Also, I can't go without mentioning a couple unreleased volumes:
- Systematic Philosophical Theology, Volume 1: Prolegomena, On Scripture, On Faith by William Lane Craig is supposed to be released mid 2025. I'm sure that one will be great. As you may know Craig's emphasis is mainly the intersection of philosophy and theology, but he's not the lightest read and sometimes he can use some unnecessarily awkward wording, most either love or hate him. I personally like him. Until that releases, you can become acquainted with him by checking out Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview which he coauthored with J.P. Moreland. And one that I can't link, because it was only announced on a third party YouTube channel is Heiser's Handbook to the Unseen Realm which I'm sure will not be a "systematic" per se, but very exciting nonetheless.
- All this to say, in Logos you probably have the Systematic Theologies interactive, which will help you get acquainted with systematic theologies that you already own. It will list the author, denomination, era, and type. It's insanely useful and one of my favorite features. As for your original question, I would suggest you read a systematic that is outside your comfort zone, there's a lot off good ones out there and it's always good to stretch.
EDIT: Apparently my comment was too long, so I had to split it into two comments
EDIT 2: IDK why my comment has bullet points, but I don't have the patience to fix it.
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Here’s one that gives a different perspective:
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I know this is much shorter and condensed, but I've always loved this one from R.C. Sproul
Pastor, Mt. Leonard Baptist Church, SBC
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This is a very good one. I always recommended it to those scared away by the overly technical and scholastic works.
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Thank you all for feedback. I see in my Library I have the following.
1.Reformed Systematic Theology vol 1-3
2. Systematic Theology (Louis Berkhof)
3. Institutes of Christian Religion
4. Systematic Theology (Charles Hodge)
5. A Puritan Theology: Doctrine for Life
6. Reformed Dogmatics (Gerhardus Vos)
7. Concise Theology: A Guide to Historic Christian Beliefs (J.I. Packer)
Should I consider the Wayne Grudem?
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You have gotten a lot of suggestions. Everyone is going to have their own opinion. Frankly, I would not go with Grudem. You have Berkhof already. Start reading Berkof now and see if it fits with your level of understanding and his approach. Then I would adjust taking into account the fine suggestions.
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[I quoted MJ within Sean's. I see here the system only quoted Sean. I wanted both.]
I had said I skated on the philosophy. Sean seems doubtful on philosophy, as above.
Philosophy is mankind's efforts to simulate God's truth. Some people are excellent at delving into philosophy and exposing the holes in its socks. I believe God has set out certain people to live in certain tasks [as we all benefit the body].
John Frame does this with philosophy [+ sys. theology]. Me, I have an affinity for systematics of the Reformed persuasion. Herein I pursue the truth; I am getting an education. If a writer modestly mentions philosophy, I read it. Too much philosophy + I start to feel tired. I believe this is God's signal to stick with my knitting.
Philosophy, for me, is not the gateway to the Bible. I see philosophy as 100 zillion words of ramble tamble divised by the world to simulate truth and subvert it. So I duck the acid rain.
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The second one by Kevin DeYoung is interesting: Daily Doctrine: A One-Year Guide to Systematic Theology
Having read The Hole in Our Holiness: Filling the Gap between Gospel Passion and the Pursuit of Godliness , I would anticipate this theology devotion to be good as well.
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I enjoyed Wayne Grudem's book, but in my opinion he's controversial regarding the Trinity - particularly in the original edition, but even still in the revised edition.
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I agree with this recommendation. Berkhof is a good starting point and a very standard presentation of conservative reformed theology—and I make this recommendation as someone who is not. It's neither too long nor too short and gives plenty of biblical explanation of doctrine.
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Yes @Lukas
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before the year ends you can purchase it, convert it to a docx, and add date milestones and make it one?
or you could set up a one year reading plan and do it that way?0 -
@Frank Hodges I have purchased it that is how I saw that its not able to be added to dashboard screen as a devotional. Is this something that you can help me with. I mainly use Logos on Ipad so not very knowledgeable on the desktop version, as I don't own a desktop or laptop. My Son has desktop for school, so what ever must do on the desktop app I make use of his desktop.
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I am quite disappointed that the Kevin one is not designed to be added to dashboard as a devotional, as that is how it was designed, but not the logos version.
Logos dashboard is designed for calendar devotionals. This resources is simply divided into 365 parts to start anytime. It would be worth seeing if it divides correctly in a 365 day reading plan starting on day 1 rather than page 1
Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."
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