Mar
14
2007
Book Review: Calvin for Armchair Theologians
The “Armchair Theologian” series holds great promise for making theology enjoyable and readable for laypeople. This series is similar to IVP Histories in that it generally focuses on theological giants or important historical periods. But where IVP offers terrific pictures, icons, and brief commentary – “Armchair Theologians” specializes in making tough theological concepts easy to understand while showing their relevance for society today.
Calvin for Armchair Theologians focuses on the life of John Calvin. The first two chapters are biographical. The longest chapter in the book distills the major emphases from Calvin’s Institutes and lays out the main points of his teaching. The later chapters show Calvin in debates with other theologians before closing with a chapter on the “children” of Calvin and the influence of the Calvinist heritage on Western civilization.
Calvin for Armchair Theologians is easy-to-read and provides a quick overview of Calvin’s life and teaching. The author points out some of Calvin’s doctrines which were emphasized more by his followers than by Calvin himself (predestination, limited atonement, etc.). The summarization of Calvin’s Institutes is “brief” (considering the enormity of that book), but still very helpful. And the illustrations are meant to provide humor, keeping the reading light-hearted.
I look forward to picking up some of the other volumes in the Armchair Theologian series. Surely, there are more important works out there on Calvin’s life and legacy, but for the reader who’s just getting started, this will do just fine.
written by Trevin Wax. © 2007 Kingdom People Blog