Best Systematic Theology

Best Systematic Theology?

  • Louis Berkhof

    Votes: 24 19.0%
  • John Calvin

    Votes: 25 19.8%
  • WGT Shedd

    Votes: 3 2.4%
  • Charles Hodge

    Votes: 5 4.0%
  • Robert Reymond

    Votes: 23 18.3%
  • Robert Louis Dabney

    Votes: 4 3.2%
  • John Gill

    Votes: 3 2.4%
  • Wayne Grudem

    Votes: 12 9.5%
  • Francis Turretin

    Votes: 13 10.3%
  • Wilhelm a Brakel

    Votes: 13 10.3%
  • John Brown of Haddington

    Votes: 1 0.8%

  • Total voters
    126
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Reymond? Unless you want to be wrong on the doctrine of the Trinity.:worms:

Brother, be careful in accusing a man of heresy. You simply do not know what you are talking about. Robert Reymond is strongly trinitarian. You obviously have not ready his systematic theology.

I have read it and I could be wrong but isn't his view of eternal generation of the Son a little off?

No, I do not think he is off on this issue. He is arguing against Origen's position and takes issue with the language of the Nicene Creed. His view is consistent with Calvin and he certainly upholds the doctrine of the Trinity and full deity and humanity of Christ. This has not been dealt with in much systematic theology. If you had the privilege of sitting under his teaching he brings out in his discussion more detail on his position.
 
A number of folks have found Reymond to be in error WRT his understanding of the eternal generation of the Son.

Refer to the previous threads on this matter:

http://www.puritanboard.com/f15/eternal-generation-son-22040/

http://www.puritanboard.com/f18/nicene-christology-21767/

A reminder per the above link: To deny the doctrine of the eternal generation of the Son is an error per the standards of this board.

Let me make some points of clarification:

1. I am well aware of the standards of PuritanBoard and take no exception. I am clearly Trinitarian and hold to the confessional standards.

2. Robert Reymond has never denied Christ's pre-existence or His eternal existence. He affirms that Christ was with the Father from all eternity (John 1:1; 3:13; 17:1,5). He denies as a heretic position the Arian position of the JW's.

3. His systematic theology clearly states that He believes that all three persons are distinct and yet fully and equally God. He affirms with the council of Nicea the doctrine of the trinity.
 
BTW, I just counted and found that there are 31 Systematic Theologies on my laptop (including the 14 vols. of Berkouwer, 7 vols. of Bloesch, 7 vols. of Chafer, 6 vols of Henry, and most of the classics listed above in the list. Many of these were available for free or pennies on the dollar. Additionally, thanks to the good Reformed folks at Doxa, you can have the "complete works" of people like Kuyper, Berkoff, and Boettner for as little as $10! Those with budgetary restrictions should really consider the option of building part of their library with electronic books. They don't look as "impressive" as a wall full of books. But, you can build a library worth tens of thousands of dollars for a little bit of nuthin' :think:

Links?
 
Doxa Digital Press Downloads
They only publish Calvinist (Reformed and Reformed Baptist) stuff.

Bible Explorer - Free Bible Software
FREE copy of the Bible Explorer/WordSearch/Bible Navigator engine and LOTS of free books

http://www.stilltruth.com/category/technology/libronix-downloads
JCM's PBB Page
The first reference is to a site with lots of PBB format materials to run on the Libronix platform, including links to get the engine for the Logos Libronix.

e-Sword - the Sword of the LORD with an electronic edge
David Cox's E-Sword Resource Page
E-Sword Modules Locator Database
The main site and a couple of other locations for LOTS of free books to run on the excellent (free) e-Sword enginge.

Here are the only sites in this list that cost money:
Welcome to Rejoice Christian Software!
Discount prices with pre-pub sales that beat almost everyone.

AGES Library - Christian Bible Studies, Commentaries, Reference, Sermons, and more
Lots of classics, including loads of Puritans and Reformed writers in PDF format.

Plus, you can use Google books to get PDF classics for free. And, if you google "PDF AND [whatever name you are looking for]" you can often find things published on the Net for free.
 
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I've heard Grudem is working on an ESV study Bible that will be Calvinist, charismatic and premil

He is amil.

I don't care for Grudem so much. He is very superficial for me. I like systematics which are more indepth.
 
I've heard Grudem is working on an ESV study Bible that will be Calvinist, charismatic and premil

He is amil.

I don't care for Grudem so much. He is very superficial for me. I like systematics which are more indepth.

Woah, did he change his views in the new edition? In the one I have, he states in the introduction that he holds a post-trib premil view.
 
He is amil.

I don't care for Grudem so much. He is very superficial for me. I like systematics which are more indepth.

1. Grudem is not amil, he is premil

"I believe that Christ’s second coming could occur any day, that it will be premillennial—that is, that it will mark the beginning of his thousand-year reign of perfect peace on the earth—but that it will be post-tribulational—that is, that many Christians will go through the great tribulation (chapters 54, 55)."

2. His Sys Theo is not intended to be an advanced text. The primary use that has led to 200,000+ being in print relates to its use in Bible colleges, Christian liberal arts schools and the like. Pursuant to his primary demographic, he eschews technical jargon in favor of plain English. Why say "perspicuity" when "clarity" will serve just as well?

3. I don't agree with lots of his stuff (e.g., some of his views on NT prophecy). However, who does a better job of summarizing the scope of theology in such readable, clear language? Plus, his education was top rate (Harvard, Westminster, Cambridge).

4. He handles the Greek with exceptional skill for someone claiming to be a systematic theologian. Indeed, much of what some feel to be "shallow" in Grudem is simply the preference for building one's theology on the exegesis of the biblical text rather than the using the seedbed of the latest trends in philosophy. This gives his book more of a textbook feel, granted. However, it also makes it more "classic" and less time-bound. Try reading some of the theology of Tillich, written during the fad of existentialism -- yech! Rather than locking his theology into a time capsule of a particular decade, it will probably wear rather well over time.
 
I must admit I have never been tempted to buy Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology, but the comments on this thread are persuading me otherwise. While he might have some views I disagree with, nonetheless, it would be good to see these presented in such a format.
 
Daniel,

I still prefer a couple of others to Grudem. However, given the wide hearing he has been given and his essentially Reformed orientation, it would be a mistake to discount him. It is kindof weird to see everyone from Pentecostals (Hayford) to dispensationalists to Asbury Arminians to Southern Baptists (Patterson) to Westminster Calvinists all swearing by him.
 
I must admit I have never been tempted to buy Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology, but the comments on this thread are persuading me otherwise. While he might have some views I disagree with, nonetheless, it would be good to see these presented in such a format.

Daniel, if you would like to borrow my copy of Grudem for a few months I would be very happy to let you have it. It would give you time to see if it would be worth buying. Personally, I have not used it that much probably because I know and like several others better - Berkhof, Shedd, Dabney and recently Bavinck.

Yours in Christ,
 
Why has no one mentioned Finney's?:eek:

I could mention my very first ST which I doubt anyone here has even heard of...Henry Thiessen. It was before I knew what an ST really was.

I remember Henry Clarence Thiessen's book. He was Professor of New Testament Literature and Exegesis at Dallas Theological Seminary (1931-1936) and Chairman of the Faculty of the Graduate School at Wheaton College, among other posts, presumably. I had to read parts of it as an undergrad. Originally published back in the 1940s, I think.

That is precisely the one! I lost interest when it became obviously Dispensational.
 
I must admit I have never been tempted to buy Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology, but the comments on this thread are persuading me otherwise. While he might have some views I disagree with, nonetheless, it would be good to see these presented in such a format.

Daniel, if you would like to borrow my copy of Grudem for a few months I would be very happy to let you have it. It would give you time to see if it would be worth buying. Personally, I have not used it that much probably because I know and like several others better - Berkhof, Shedd, Dabney and recently Bavinck.

Yours in Christ,

I may hold you to that. :think:
 
I just started reading Frame's, Salvation Belongs to the Lord, and I've been enjoying it so far. Later on in the year, I will start to read Boice's, Foundations of the Christian Faith, which is required for the lay ministry class that I'm going through.

From time to time, I'll read McGrath's, Christian Theology, to see what the various Christian thinkers thought about different doctrines.

Do you read every one of your systematic theology books from cover to cover or are there some books that you use for reference when you are teaching a class or when a certain doctrine comes up in Bible study?
 
Yeah, I was wondering that too. I have heard so much about him and want to read it so much. Come on, he was 89 when he wrote it, how awesome is that?

Well, he was 89 when he published it. He's probably spent the last 40 years working on the thing.

Robert Duncan Culver was born in Harrah, Washington, in July, 1916. So, he'll be 92 this year.
 
Culver is an eleventh generation descendent of American Puritans.

His theology represents an attempt to deal with the exegetical issues honestly and biblically.

One curiosity comes in his handling of eschatology. When he gets to the issue of tribulational speculations among evangelicals, he demurs.

Premillennial Views of the Millennium.

One matter of importance has been excluded from discussion: the precise time-relation of the resurrection and translation of believers (the so-called rapture of the church ) to the coming great tribulation, for two reasons.

1. While the millennium rests on what most millenarians hold to be clear Scripture texts, the 'Rapture debate' depends on inferences from Scripture passages which primarily treat other subjects. Some supposedly direct affirmations of a pre-, post- or mid-tribulational rapture are irrelevant.

2. Though the firmness with which competing views (pre-, mid- and post-tribulational) of the coming resurrection and translation of believers is sometimes advocated suggests otherwise, the Scriptures indicate that God may have rendered this problem incapable of full solution until He gives more light. There is always danger in going beyond that which is written, especially in speculative matters and in biblical prediction.
(from Systematic Theology © 2005 by Robert Duncan Culver. All rights reserved.)

BTW, Culver is available as an add-on to the Biblesoft software system.
 
Doxa Digital Press Downloads
They only publish Calvinist (Reformed and Reformed Baptist) stuff.

Bible Explorer - Free Bible Software
FREE copy of the Bible Explorer/WordSearch/Bible Navigator engine and LOTS of free books

http://www.stilltruth.com/category/technology/libronix-downloads
JCM's PBB Page
The first reference is to a site with lots of PBB format materials to run on the Libronix platform, including links to get the engine for the Logos Libronix.

e-Sword - the Sword of the LORD with an electronic edge
David Cox's E-Sword Resource Page
E-Sword Modules Locator Database
The main site and a couple of other locations for LOTS of free books to run on the excellent (free) e-Sword enginge.

Here are the only sites in this list that cost money:
Welcome to Rejoice Christian Software!
Discount prices with pre-pub sales that beat almost everyone.

AGES Library - Christian Bible Studies, Commentaries, Reference, Sermons, and more
Lots of classics, including loads of Puritans and Reformed writers in PDF format.

Plus, you can use Google books to get PDF classics for free. And, if you google "PDF AND [whatever name you are looking for]" you can often find things published on the Net for free.

I am going to have fun when I get broadband.
 
Yeah, I was wondering that too. I have heard so much about him and want to read it so much. Come on, he was 89 when he wrote it, how awesome is that?

Well, he was 89 when he published it. He's probably spent the last 40 years working on the thing.

Robert Duncan Culver was born in Harrah, Washington, in July, 1916. So, he'll be 92 this year.

That is impressive; a fine example of perserverance.
 
Although not a full blown systematics, I find Richard Muller's Post Reformation Dogmatics extremely useful. My votes are for Brakel and then Calvin and Bavinck.
 
Although not a full blown systematics, I find Richard Muller's Post Reformation Dogmatics extremely useful. My votes are for Brakel and then Calvin and Bavinck.

I have always used Reymond and Berkhof, but started using Brakel within the last year, and really like him. He has a real pastoral approach and is not difficult to follow.
:offtopic: I really like your avatar, brother. I voted for him and think he will do better than most people think. I really fear the outcome of this election.
 
Although not a full blown systematics, I find Richard Muller's Post Reformation Dogmatics extremely useful. My votes are for Brakel and then Calvin and Bavinck.

I have always used Reymond and Berkhof, but started using Brakel within the last year, and really like him. He has a real pastoral approach and is not difficult to follow.
:offtopic: I really like your avatar, brother. I voted for him and think he will do better than most people think. I really fear the outcome of this election.

In my humble opinion the pastoral approach should by definition be the best. ;)

And as far as the election is concerned...take comfort in Psalm 146 today.
 
I don't care for Grudem so much. He is very superficial for me. I like systematics which are more indepth.

I stand corrected. My systematic theology teacher from New Orleans was amil. I must have associated Grudem with my teacher.
 
Best Systematic

Sorry everyone, but it has to be...Louis Berkhof's work followed very closely by Dr. Grudem's, albeit I would take variance on his views of the charismata
 
The ones I own are Charles Hodge, Berkhof, Calvin, Erickson, Thiessen, Chafer, Grudem, J. P. Boyce, Ryrie and McGrath. I think Grudem or Erickson would be what I recommend for a beginner because they more accessible and flow well.

Alister McGrath does a fantastic job of covering all the doctrines from an historical Christian perspective instead of the typical polemics on why the author's view is correct that has become part and parcel of Reformed systematics.

No one has mentioned Paul Enns' Moody Handbook of Theology, which also avoids the polemics but is concise, precise and very comprehensive and is one of my favorites when supplemented with something more devotional like Grudem.
 
I voted for a Brakel: theological precision and pious warmth. Calvin would come a close second though.

As for the others I have read small(er) portions of their work so when I get around to reading them I may change my mind but I doubt it.

Where can I find Wilhelm a Brakel?
 
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