Who Needs Theology?: An Invitation to the Study of God

This is a great book for the layman. It presents Theology in a way that is understandable to the average person. It also presents it so that it is interesting and practical. I would reccommend this book to anyone wanting to know more about Biblical Theology.

This is an excellent primer for every Christian to understand how to engage with the discipline of studying theology. This day and age, the Church has become practically irrelevant on so many levels because of the lack of both the leadership and the congregation in its consistent reflection on theology and how to approach it carefully. Just like the other disciplines of the faith: prayer, fasting, tithing, meeting together as a body, devotional reading, studying the scriptures theologically is one of our commands from God (2 Tim. 2:2, 15, 2 Pet. 3:18). We are to be checking the scriptures daily so as to be faithful to God and His teachings (Acts 17:11). To engage in this, not abstractly, but with a healthy view of practicality within this discipline, Grenz and Olson do a nice job of showing each believer's responsibility as a theologian. We all can think, reason, etc., thus we all reflect and think about God (theology). I would use this book for both seminary classes and for church bible study courses and classes. I think every person in a Christian congregation needs to know how to approach this issue. The normal thought of the average pew Christian is that too much theology (or theology itself) is unhealthy and even dangerous for their faith. This is unbiblical and exemplifies the 'folk theology' Grenz and Olson speak so clearly about in the majority of Christian churches. We have to know what we believe and why so that we can engage honestly with a lost and broken world. This is an excellent beginning to this all-important task for every Christian.

This truly was a pleasure to read. It put into words the motivational factors I had for bring the study of theology into my church. Grenz and Olson lovingly invite any and everyone to rich discipline of "studying God" by delineating the following: 1. Everyone Is a Theologian 2. Not All Theologies Are Equal 3. Defining Theology 4. Defending Theology 5. Theology's Tasks & Traditions 6. The Theologian's Tools 7. Constructing Theology in Context 8. Bringing Theology into Life 9. An Invitation to Engage in Theology They understand the many misconceptions, intimidations, and difficulties in pursuing knowledge of God, yet charitably demonstrate that it can be done to the gory his glory even by a child. Holding high views of Scripture, tradition, and culture, they set forth a non-threatening view of how God can be loved through faith seeking understanding.

For the layman or the scholar, this book will teach you something you didn't know before about theology, and makes the subject much less scary (even to professional theologians) :) Great job guys.

Grenz and Olson wrote a superb book for "the rest of us." They do a great job convincing the reader that we are all theologians, of one kind or another. It helps the reader no longer be afraid of the word "theology." I particularly appreciated their discussion of different kinds of theologians, as it helped me to understand the basis for some of my own likes and dislikes of the field. This book is used in seminaries for beginning students, but is great for the layman. A must read for all Christians.