Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology has been one of God’s great gifts to the contemporary church. Few would agree with every jot and tittle, but it has been a wonderfully doxological resource for thinking through what the Bible says about its major doctrines.
I was thrilled recently, to receive a copy of a brand-new companion volume: Gregg Allison’s Historical Theology: An Introduction to Christian Doctrine (Zondervan), which has been over 10 years in the making.
Using an arrangement that is arranged topically, then chronologically, Dr. Allison introduces ordinary folks like us to historical theology, “the study of the interpretation of Scripture and the formulation of doctrine by the church of the past.”
Why should we want to study historical theology?
In the introduction, “What Is Historical Theology?” (PDF), Dr. Allison explains some of the benefits the we can experience from studying historical theology:
- It helps to distinguish orthodoxy from heresy.
- It provides sound biblical interpretations and theological formulations.
- It presents stellar examples of faith, love, courage, hope, obedience, and mercy.
- It protects against the individualism that is rampant today among Christians.
- It not only helps the church understand the historical development of its beliefs, but enables it to express those beliefs in contemporary form.
- It encourages the church to focus on the essentials, that is, to major on those areas that have been emphasized repeatedly throughout the history of the church.
- It gives the church hope by providing assurance that Jesus is fulfilling his promise to his people.
- As beneficiaries of the heritage of doctrinal development sovereign overseen by Jesus Christ, the church of today is privileged to enjoy a sense of belong to the church of the past.
Here is the publisher’s description:
Most historical theology texts follow Christian beliefs chronologically, discussing notable doctrinal developments for all areas of theology according to their historical appearance. And while this may be good history, it can make for confusing theology, with the classic theological loci scattered throughout various time periods, movements, and controversies.
In Historical Theology, Gregg Allison offers students the opportunity to study the historical development of theology according to a topical-chronological arrangement, setting out the history of Christian doctrine one theological element at a time. Such an approach allows readers to concentrate on one tenet of Christianity and its formulation in the early church, through the Middle Ages, Reformation, and post-Reformation era, and into the modern period.
The text includes a generous mix of primary source material as well, citing the words of Cyprian, Augustine, Aquinas, Luther, Calvin, Barth, and others. Allison references the most accessible editions of these notable theologians’ work so that readers can continue their study of historical theology through Christian history’s most important contributors.
Historical Theology is a superb resource for those familiar with Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology or interested in understanding the development of Christian theology.
As noted, this book follows the table of contents from Grudem’s volume, the major sections of which are:
Part 1: The Doctrine of the Word of God
Part 2: The Doctrine of God
Part 3: The Doctrine of Man
Part 4: The Doctrines of Christ and the Holy Spirit
Part 5: The Doctrine of the Application of Redemption
Part 6: The Doctrine of the Church
Part 7: The Doctrine of the Future
Grudem writes in the foreword:
This book is an amazingly rich resource that traces the development of thirty-two major doctrines from the time of the New Testament to writers in the present day.
Every chapter provides a fascinating story that is hard to put down because it shows how God has worked in Christians’ lives over the centuries to allow one heresy after another to challenge the church, then to raise up courageous, wise teachers and writers to respond to the wrong teaching with a new and deeper understanding of Scripture, resulting in even stronger faith in God and his Word.
Therefore this book is the story of how the Holy Spirit has guided and protected the people of God over many centuries, and how he is still doing so today.
In the preface Dr. Allison explains several distinctives that guided his writing:
- Present each doctrine in its chronological development.
- Let the voices of the past be heard in their own words.
- Exercise restraint in criticizing historical developments.
- Focus on major developments in each doctrine.
- Focus on the development of evangelical doctrine.
- Discern “a sense of the urgent need for greater doctrinal understanding in the whole church.”
You can read an interview with Dr. Allison here, where he answers 10 questions about the book.
I could not be more enthusiastic about this volume. Again, I hope this book does for introducing historical theology what Grudem’s book did for introducing systematic theology.
