Theology

"For my own part I tend to find the doctrinal books often more helpful in devotion than the devotional books, and I rather suspect that the same experience may await many others. I believe that many who find that 'nothing happens' when they sit down, or kneel down, to a book of devotion, would find that the heart sings unbidden while they are working their way through a tough bit of theology with a pipe in their teeth and a pencil in their hand."C. S. Lewis

The word theology brings certain images to mind—aged scholars in tweed jackets with leather elbow patches and thick glasses reading enormous dusty tomes in chilly rooms accessed only by a stone spiral staircase, or young university students smoking pipes and drinking black coffee while discussing the influence of Tillich on the doctrine of the hypostatic union of the the anthropic person. Academic theologians are seen as studious, patient, intellectual. . . boring.

In our postmodern culture, ideas are expressed not held. Since we can't know anything for sure, why try? Life is busy and stressful enough; we'd prefer to spend our free time doing something fun instead of poring over hard-to-understand books. And tweed passed out of fashion a long time ago (though pipes and black coffee are making a come-back).

But academic theologians aren't theology. Theology—from the Greek theos (God) and logos (to know)—is the study of God. In a broad sense we are, every one of us, theologians. Paul said even unbelievers have knowledge of God (Rom. 1:18-23). As Christians we have definite beliefs about God. Sometimes those beliefs are unclear because we haven't taken time to study them, so we downplay their importance. We act like theology is optional, claiming "no creed but Christ." But the question isn't whether we're going to have a theology or not, it's whether our theology will be true or false. Because we want true theology, we base our study on God's Word where He has revealed Himself.

Theology is intensely practical: as one fellow said, it comes out our fingertips. It's not just mental exercise, it affects everything we do. God is concerned with what we believe because it influences the way we live. As Christians, we are new creations who want to serve Him (2 Cor. 5:16-18).

Disclaimer:

Our goal is to provoke theological discussion and thought. To that end our selection of theology offers a significantly different perspective than you'll find nearly anywhere else—at least all in one place. (We don't think we're heretics.) While we aren't dogmatic in our defense of all of them, we aren't apologetic either. We don't mean to be rude or divisive, but we aren't afraid to step on toes if it leads others to reflection. We believe generous dialogue is necessary among Christians to help us clarify what we believe and introduce us to new ideas (Prov. 27:17). It is our prayer that the books we offer help unify the Church, not divide it.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he is a husband and father, teaches adult Sunday school in his Presbyterian congregation, and likes weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.

 

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'Fundamentalism' and the Word of God
by J. I. Packer
from William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company
for Adult
in Biblical Theology (Location: XTH-BIB)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Archko Volume
by Drs. McIntosh and Twyman, translators
Reprint Edition from Keats Publishing, Inc
for 10th-Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Better Way
by Michael S. Horton
from Baker Books
for Adult
in Worship & Sabbath (Location: XWO-SABB)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Biblical Theology
from Crossway Books
for Adult
in Biblical Theology (Location: XTH-BIB)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Carols for Christmas
by David Willcocks
from Metropolitan Museum of Art
for 6th-Adult
in Christmas & Advent (Location: HOLIDAY)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Challenge of Jesus
by N. T. Wright
from InterVarsity Press
for 10th-Adult
in Theology Proper: The Study of God (Location: XTH-GOD)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Cornelius Van Til
by John Frame
from P&R Publishing
for 11th-Adult
in Reformed Theology (Location: XTH-REF)
$20.00 (1 in stock)
Day the Revolution Began
by N.T. Wright
1st edition from HarperOne
for 3rd-6th grade
in Jesus Christ (Location: XTH-JES)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Exhortations
by Doug Wilson
from Charles Nolan Publishers
for Adult
in Worship & Sabbath (Location: XWO-SABB)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Existence and Attributes of God
by Stephen Charnock
from Baker Books
for 11th-Adult
in Theology Proper: The Study of God (Location: XTH-GOD)
$75.00 (1 in stock)
Explicit Gospel
by Matt Chandler
from Crossway Books
for 9th-Adult
in The Gospel (Location: XTH-GOS)
$17.99 $9.00 (3 in stock)
Family Worship Book
by Terry L. Johnson
from Christian Focus Publications
for 11th-Adult
in Family Worship (Location: BIBR-FAWO)
$19.50 $12.00 (1 in stock)
Finished Work of Christ
from Crossway Books
for 11th-Adult
in Various Theology (Location: XTH-MISC)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Fletcher's Checks to Antinomianism
by John Fletcher, edited and abridged by Rev. Peter Wiseman
2nd Printing from Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City
for Adult
in Biblical Law (Location: XTH-LAW)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Gospel Worship
by Jeremiah Burroughs
from Soli Deo Gloria
for Adult
in Puritan Writings (Location: XCH-PUR)
$35.00 (1 in stock)
Grudem's Systematic Theology
by Wayne Grudem
from Zondervan
in Systematic Theology (Location: XTH-SYS)
$9.80 (1 in stock)
Grudem's Systematic Theology
by Wayne Grudem
2nd edition from Zondervan
for 10th-Adult
in Systematic Theology (Location: XTH-SYS)
$21.00 (1 in stock)
He Shall Have Dominion
by Kenneth Gentry
from Institute for Christian Economics
for Adult
in Eschatology & Prophecy (Location: XTH-ESCH)
$72.00 (2 in stock)
Imputation of Adam's Sin
by John Murray
from William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company
for Adult
in Reformed Theology (Location: XTH-REF)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Incredible Scofield and His Book
by Joseph M. Canfield
from Chalcedon / Ross House Books
for Adult
in Covenant Theology (Location: XTH-COV)
$38.00 (2 in stock)
Inspiration and Authority of the Bible
by B. B. Warfield
from Baker Books
in Various Theology (Location: XTH-MISC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Institutes of Biblical Law Volume I
by R. J. Rushdoony
from Chalcedon / Ross House Books
for 11th-Adult
in Biblical Law (Location: XTH-LAW)
$25.00 (1 in stock)
Integrative Theology
by Gordon R. Lewis & Bruce A. Demarest
from Zondervan
for Adult
in Various Theology (Location: XTH-MISC)
$24.00 (1 in stock)
Invisible Hand
by R. C. Sproul
from Word Publishing
for Adult
in Clearance: Christian Books (Location: XCLE)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
John Calvin
by Burk Parsons (editor)
from Reformation Trust Publishing
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Lectures on Revivals
by W. B. Sprague
from Banner of Truth Trust
for Adult
in Various Theology (Location: XTH-MISC)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Luther's Works Volume 31
by Martin Luther, edited by Harold J. Grimm
from Muhlenberg Press
for Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$22.00 (1 in stock)
Making Sunday Special
by Karen Burton Mains
from Word Publishing
for Adult
in Worship & Sabbath (Location: XWO-SABB)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Messiah the Prince, or the Mediatorial Dominion of Jesus Christ
by William Symington, introduction by Raymond P. Joseph
1990 Reprint from Still Waters Revival Books
for Adult
in Jesus Christ (Location: XTH-JES)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
O Worship the King
by Joni Eareckson Tada, John MacArthur, Robert & Bobbie Wolgemuth
from Crossway Books
for 9th-Adult
in Devotionals (Location: XCL-DEV)
$8.00 (2 in stock)
Oxford Companion to Christian Thought
by Adrian Hastings, Alistair Mason and Hugh Pyper, editors, with Ingrid Lawrie and Cecily Bennett
from Oxford University
for Adult
in Christians & Thought (Location: XAP-THO)
$20.00 (1 in stock)
Pathway to Freedom
by Alistair Begg, foreword by Charles Colson
from Moody Press
for Adult
in Biblical Law (Location: XTH-LAW)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Pleasures of God
by John Piper
from Multnomah Books
for Adult
in Theology Proper: The Study of God (Location: XTH-GOD)
$6.00 (2 in stock)
Praise and Lament in the Psalms
by Claus Westermann
from Westminster John Knox Press
for 10th-Adult
in Worship & Sabbath (Location: XWO-SABB)
$39.00 (1 in stock)
Protestant Biblical Interpretation
by Bernard L. Ramm
3rd from Baker Books
for Adult
in Scripture & Hermeneutics (Location: XBI-HERM)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Roots of Reconstruction
by Rousas John Rushdoony
from Chalcedon / Ross House Books
for Adult
in Biblical Law (Location: XTH-LAW)
$25.00 (1 in stock)
Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ
by John Piper
from Crossway Books
for Adult
in Knowing & Loving God (Location: XCL-KNOW)
$5.00 (2 in stock)
The Ology
by Marty Machowski
from New Growth Press
for Kindergarten-7th grade
in Family Worship (Location: BIBR-FAWO)
$29.99 $15.00 (1 in stock)
Toward an Old Testament Theology
by Walter C. Kaiser
from Zondervan
for Adult
in Various Theology (Location: XTH-MISC)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
True Christian's Love to the Unseen Christ
by Thomas Vincent, foreword by John MacArthur
from Soli Deo Gloria
for Adult
in Puritan Writings (Location: XCH-PUR)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Who is Jesus?
9marks: Buliding Healthy Churches
by Greg Gilbert, Foreword by Trip Lee
from Crossway Books
for Adult
in Jesus Christ (Location: XTH-JES)
$7.00 (2 in stock)