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Robert Duncan Culver was a Calvinistic Baptist. He was Dispensational, but as far as I can gather, he was Progressive Dispensational before it became the thing that it is today. I have had his ST for a while now, and it is very, very good. It is very readable, and ridiculously comprehensive. You bought it for a steal.
An interview with Culver about this volume (and his life) can be found here.
It really should have been a multi-volume set. And not only this, but, even though the print is tiny, the book is still huge. Any other publisher would have immediately said, "This needs to be divided up." Just as a comparison, I have in my Google Docs a list of all my systematic theological works organized by estimated word count. Here is where Culver falls:I have it, also. The print is frighteningly tiny.
It really should have been a multi-volume set. And not only this, but, even though the print is tiny, the book is still huge. Any other publisher would have immediately said, "This needs to be divided up." Just as a comparison, I have in my Google Docs a list of all my systematic theological works organized by estimated word count. Here is where Culver falls:
Culver is the only one of this top 11 in my list that is not multi-volume. It really is, in my opinion, a publishing mistake. Even Thomas Oden's work, which is 23.5% smaller, was published in three volumes originally!
- Morecraft - Authentic Christianity: 1,580,000
- Turretin - Institutes of Elenctic Theology: 1,203,000
- Brakel - The Christian’s Reasonable Service: 1,107,000
- Bavinck - Reformed Dogmatics: 1,077,000
- Dwight - Theology Explained and Defended: 1,050,000
- Ridgley - A Body of Divinity: 1,005,000
- Charles Hodge - Systematic Theology: 935,000
- Culver - Systematic Theology: 841,000
- Various - Contours of Christian Theology: 813,000
- Dick - Lectures on Theology: 734,000
- Oden - Systematic Theology: 643,000
Yes, I had read about that in a thread on Puritan Board a while back. Very interesting indeed.I read Dick's Lectures some years ago. Did you know he allows for the possibility of conscious life existing elsewhere in the universe?
I read Dick's Lectures some years ago. Did you know he allows for the possibility of conscious life existing elsewhere in the universe? As far as I know, his is the only ST that mentions that topic. Especially interesting, considering his time period (1st quarter of the 19th century, if memory serves.
For what it's worth, that article was the reason I bought the book. And from what I have read so far, your assessment of his theology and the contents of the book are correct.Robert Duncan Culver was a Calvinistic Baptist. He was Dispensational, but as far as I can gather, he was Progressive Dispensational before it became the thing that it is today. I have had his ST for a while now, and it is very, very good. It is very readable, and ridiculously comprehensive. You bought it for a steal.
An interview with Culver about this volume (and his life) can be found here.
Which ones do you most recommed?I am increasingly of the opinion that it is a waste of time for me to read yet another modern systematic theology. I recently sold Robert Letham's as I was thoroughly unimpressed by it. R. D. Culver's is the only one that I own which I have not read. Similar to Wayne Grudem's ST, it seems like a useful source to have in order both to see a defence of his positions and his areas of agreement with Reformed theology.
I am increasingly of the opinion that it is a waste of time for me to read yet another modern systematic theology. I recently sold Robert Letham's as I was thoroughly unimpressed by it. R. D. Culver's is the only one that I own which I have not read. Similar to Wayne Grudem's ST, it seems like a useful source to have in order both to see a defence of his positions and his areas of agreement with Reformed theology.