Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers

Oden states that the history of the church is the history of exegesis. By looking back down the hollowed corridor of history to the faith that was delivered up through past generations, who sometimes willingly died as martyrs to protect and pass down the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we rediscover the historical and intellectual roots of the Christian faith. Oden's view is that the wisdom of Christian thought has lain dormant and neglected by the contemporary church for far too long.Oden desires to present the reader with the faith that Vincent of Lerins reflected when he penned, "quod ubique, quod semper, quod ab omnibus creditum est": "that which has been believed in every place, in every time, by everyone." By this, he means those statements of faith that have been claimed by the majority of Christians throughout time. Oden evidences a firm sense of the importance of reconciling historic doctrinal teaching within the ecclesiastical fundamentals of theology while presenting it in a way that will fascinate evangelicals as they row down the river of historical theology from its headwaters in the New Testament towards modernity. Faithful to this purpose, Oden tries to make no new theological contribution, seeks no new way to contemplate the Lord, no new method of expressing or articulating the Christian faith. Instead he calls upon with great frequency (over 15,000 times throughout the three volumes) to exegetes of Christian history which, as a group of thinkers, he refers to as classical Christianity, or ancient ecumenical orthodoxy. His goal is to warm Protestants to the richness of centuries of Christian intellectual achievement which led to the Reformation. Therefore, unlike other systematics where little thought is given to historical exegesis as though the Lord invented Christianity and then placed it on a shelf until the 16th century Reformation, this is a systematic that allows the historic Church to reveal its mastery of Christian thought that the history books ignore. By adhering to such a pattern, Oden has contested against the urge to engage modern and contemporary theologians and theological systems. Though the reading can be difficult, not because Oden fails to define terms, or through the use of ambiguous language, but because his work is broken up by so many references to classical Christian exegetes. Nevertheless, Oden's systematic is well worth the reading effort, for it puts you in touch with what the great and enduring Christian teachers have thought of God and the meaning of the gospel of Jesus Christ. While not wishing to downplay the differences within the Body, I would point out that Oden harbors within the pages of his systematic theology an ecumenical focus that is surprisingly evangelical. In short, I highly recommend this systematic as it may well be the best systematic theology on the market. Undoubtedly, it is the best Wesleyan/Arminian systematic available today.

Thomas Oden brings his usual passion to this work of theology, combining Biblical, Apostolic, Patristic, Medieval and Reformed thought into an excellent exploration of fundamental Christian doctrine. Oden is a "thinking person's conservative" who does not gloss over challenges to traditional Christian doctrines, but almost always concludes that the traditional doctrines are, in fact, correct and have stood the test of time and experience. I especially like Oden's ecumenical focus ... as one other reviewer remarked, this is a book that will be valuable to Catholics and Protestants, Calvinists and Wesleyans, High-Church and Low-Church. In sum, incredibly worthwhile!

Oden, a professor at Drew University, used to be a die-hard modernist, by his own admission. Upon reading the church fathers (such as Hilary, Basil, Jerome, Athanasius, etc) he actually was drawn toward traditional Christianity. It is not surprising that this book (about God's nature and actions) is very traditional, and relies on the Church Fathers', including the reformers, ideas. By using the Bible, as interpreted by the Fathers and the reformers, well reasoned and enduring theology is presented. However this book is very detailed and is very comprehensive, which as another reviewer pointed out, may seem boring to some. However to others it is a great summary of the Christian faith. Here Oden looks at: God's nature, God's character, his name, his works, his Triunity, etc. I highly recommend this book. It is probably the best sytematic theology on the market.

Oden gives us an extremely detailed systematic theology. For the non-reader, or average Christian there may be too much information to swallow. However for those of us who love to dig deeper into our beliefs, this is one of the best systematic theologys out there. In this volume (volume 1) Oden looks at the basic notions of God presented in the Christian tradition. Such topics include whether God is Triune, God's character, etc. Oden (in his 2nd volume) talks about his 'pyramid of sources' which basically means which sources he considers valuable. They are listed here from most important (to his organization process) to least: the Bible, Ante and Nicene Fathers, Medieval authors, Reformers, and modern theologians. He does not have a problem with reformers, and he quotes from them liberally too, he just has studied a lot of church history, not just reformation beliefs. He also only quotes church fathers when they represent commonly held ideas. I.e. he quotes Augustine and Origen, but not when their views were extreme and rejected by most of the church. As far as I can tell Oden is very traditional, and he leans toward a Wesleyan view of free-will. Overall this book is VERY detailed and it is obvious Oden has done his research.

Oden's book is an edifying and clear-headed antidote to many of the sentimental and historically misinformed theological debates of today. Difficult reading, but well worth the effort, for it puts you in touch with what the great and enduring Christian teachers have thought about God.