Introducing Christian Doctrine

I have been quite happy with this abridged version of Erickson's 1300-word Christian Theology. While I find the full verison to be one of the more excellent references out there and think it is well-suited for a more advanced theological course, it boggles the mind of many students in an introductory course. This condensed version of Erickson's work by his former grad student Arnold Hustad is perfect for an undergraduate introduction to Christian theology.

I am not a school student anymore, but when I wanted clarification of certain Biblical doctrines, a friend of mine pointed me to this book. This book was written by Dr. Millard J. Erickson, a widely respected Evangelical professor of theology, and is widely used as a textbook throughout the United States. The book is divided into twelve parts: 1) The Doing of Theology (studying and contemporizing theology), 2) God's Revelation, 3) The Nature of God, 4) The Work of God, 5) Humanity , 6) Sin, 7) The Person of Christ, 8) The Work of Christ, 9) The Holy Spirit, 10) Salvation, 11) The Church (nature, government and ordinances), and 12) The Last Things (eschatology).Unlike what you might expect from a textbook, I found this book to be very readable, with the issues being spelled out in easy to read language, with the different views of the doctrines being explained, with the author then focusing in on his view and how and why it differs from the other views. Overall, this book answered my questions quite nicely, giving me a much better understanding. So, even if you are a simple layperson like me, you will benefit from having this book. I highly recommend it.

My seminary diploma from Bethel has Erickson's signature on it (when he was there back in the 1980's), so I am familiar with this man's work. I studied theology using his Christian Theology text (it was 3 volumes at the time). I love what he has done in this second edition volume of Introducing Christian Doctrine, as he was able to condense his material to fit into 400 pages. He admits in his preface that it was his editor who is reponsible for being able to chop down his work in such a radical way, and I fully understand that the hardest task for a writer to do is to edit down his own work. Anyway, it worked. We are using this text for the first time in our private Christian high school's junior and senior Bible classes. Some students appear to be a little lost, but many are welcoming the challenge to clearer thinking. The book is not "Theology Light," as another reviewer seemed to suggest, so please don't approach it as "easy." Good systematic theology takes lots of work, plenty of wrestling with scripture, and many restless nights. But I like the fact that this text is a softer approach (without a complete "dumbing down" of the material) for first-time theology students. (I'd be happy to let anyone know the results by the end of 2002 when we will complete this text.) Also, I like about Erickson's attitude is that, while he certainly has presuppositions, he attempts to fairly lay out the possibilities on issues that certainly divide Christians into separate camps. He gives his opinion, but he doesn't treat it as if anyone who disagrees is a heretic. All in all, Erickson's work gets a thumbs up for those who want an overview on the basic teachings of Christianity.

Erickson's students have called his CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY "the jolly green giant" partly because of it's content's depth, but mostly because of it's binding's girth. Other students have called this condensed version "theology light" because it contains the same meat as Erickson's tome without all of that filling. Students will gain a comprehensive understanding of evangelical Christian theology and the information necessary to effectively articulate traditional conservative evangelical Christain doctrine. As a theology textbook it is best suited for the undergraduate classroom (where I was introduced to it). It could also be utilized in a graduate setting, but it really isn't a sufficient treatment for studies at that level.Highly recommended.

This is the abridged version of Millard J. Erickson's Systematic Theology text book used in many Seminaries across the country. I personally believe this to be a great "starter" text for people who are just entering into the study of Systematic Theology. However, the book is also an excellent text for the seasoned theologians as well. Erickson covers all the major theological issues such as the Deity of Christ, God's revelation, the Nature of God, the work of God, Humanity, Sin, The person of Christ, the work of Christ, the Holy Spirit, Salvation, the Church, and Last things (Eschatology). Furthermore, Erickson approaches each view from a neutral explanatory position. In other words, while he occasionally puts forth his own view, he also defines and describes other views available. The book is 423 pages of solid theology and presented in such a way that all can understand.