Customer Reviews

Theology for the Community of God

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Grenz helped me tremendously by tracking the history of several theological positions such as trinitarian doctrine, atonement, etc. Given Grenz's education, the trek through history should come as no surprise, and a few of the ideas of his mentor, Wolfhart Pannenberg, leaked fittingly into the work. Grenz was devout in relating every aspect of his theology to the concept of community. Unfortunately, his presentation of the Holy Spirit was a bit impersonal (love bond between the Father and Son). This book is certainly worthwhile for seminary students or laypeople wanting to delve into systematic theology. The book serves as a great beginning to further study or a sufficient summary of popular theological positions in the past and present. However, if you are a teacher, please do not follow in the footsteps of my professor by giving a test with 50 True/False questions over the entire book (859 pages)!

This book has to be one of the most accessible evangelical theology books out there. Grenz's book is scholarly yet simple for the layperson. He writes from an evangelical Baptist perspective but builds his work around the concept of the community aspect of the Triune God. He argues that the Triune God's fellowship overflows into the church. All the sections are written from this community aspect of redemption. Grenz covers practically all matters you'll find in standard systematic theologies (from prolegomena to eschatology). The writing style is not like other more technical systematic theologies (e.g., Erickson, Grudem, Reymond, etc.) because it is written in a narrative fashion. You won't see Grenz being too detailed in his discussion of certain issues (hence, his book is only about 700 pages). This book is a must read for anyone wanting a good and easy introduction to the major topics of systematic theology.

Professor Grenz' has done a masterful job in presenting a systematic theology with the "community motif." I have used/am using this text in a seminary course (as a student), and have found Doctor Grenz's presentation of theological matters to be clear, understandable, sensible, and refreshing. There is nothing dry about this book. Particularly interesting is his presentation of the Doctrine of Christ, and why God sent His Son in the manner that He did. Written from a Calvinistic standpoint, Grenz also gives a careful, and respectable hearing to those of other religious traditions (Wesleyan, Arminian, etc). Since man was created to live in sociality and community with God and other humans, this understanding of theology in light of community is, by far, the best contribution to the field of systematic theology in a long, long time. Should be read by every believer, and taught in every house which truly wants to "pursue God."

In recent years, any number of systematic theologies have been written by Evangelicals. Stanley Grenz is a moderately conservative theologian and his book is a welcome overview of Christian theology from a Baptistic perspective. One of the best features of this book is that the discussion is clear and thorough, but never simplistic. Grenz achieves this by focusing on the Biblical material and leaving the historical discussion to a few key thinkers in any area. This prevents the work from reading like a telephone book, unlike many systematic theologies. In addition, Grenz has a purpose to his work, namely to integrate his discussion with the communitarian aspects of Christianity. Finally, the work is less than 700 pages, making a bit less intimidating than other theologies.

This book is very indepth and is well worth the read. While adhering to historical orthodoxy, Grenz is also quite creative. His bibliology section, for example, appears in chapter 14, rather than in the traditional theological prolegomena (introductory) section of most systematics texts. His integrative motif of 'community' is excellent, but I disagree with Grenz at several points. His characterization of the Holy Spirit as the bond of love between the Father and the Son makes the third member of the Trinity rather impersonal. I would have preferred a more unequivocal assertion regarding the real personality of the Spirit. The 'concretization' of the relationship between the Father and the Son seems to be an inadequate description of the Holy Spirit as presented in the Scriptures. Grenz gives excellent hisorical background on each topic, the work is saturated with the Scriptures, and the author clearly is a passionate Christian believer. Wonderful text for spiritual enrichment and undoubtedly a solid introductory volume for college and seminary settings.

I also bought this book for a introduction to theology class I have to take at school and it along with McGrath's book are two of only a handful of books that I have not immediately sold after the class was over. This book has been a great resource in helping me to better understand the different theological topics. Also, it is nice to have a reference to turn to when you are unsure of issues in theology and this book is just that. Though, it is long, it is manageable because of the usage of the book as a resource.

Every generation needs theologians willing to wrestle with the challenging task of communicating the timeless theological truths of the Bible in the cultural and linguistic setting of the day. Such work is difficult because it requires the theologian to "draw lines" between rigid doctrinalism and syncretism. Stanley Grenz's work provides an excellent example of such a task well done. Theology for the Community of God is easy to read without going "soft" on the often counter-cultural claims of the Bible. I highly recommend it for the serious Bible student and for the average person seeking a deeper understanding of the Christian faith.

I bought this book because it was required for a class i was taking on the history of the Church. As it turned out this is one of few text books that I decided to keep. As I read Grenz's excellent presentation of the Protestant Christian faith I was challenged to think on issues that I never before considered. Overall I think this is an excellent book for any Christian who is seeking a greater knowledge of their faith or for anyone who is considering converting to the Christian faith and is curios about its beliefs and some of its doctrines.

Grenz is really exploring systematic theology. Where a generation ago, the subject of Systematic Theology was rather set, today in a post-modern world one finds themselves having to re-examine each aspect. Grenz does this, from a strong evangelical point of view. Just an examination of his index will show that the old is still new and relevant for God's community today.

The one criticism one may find in the book is there is limited view of extra-church mission. The view which Grenz seems to have is that the theology functions only within the community of God's people. One offering critical comment would want to explore the issue: "how does the community of God engage with those outside the community?" On this Grenz offers little.

However still a very valuable book in any theologian's collection.

This is an amazing book for class, reference, or one's personal education. I purchased the book for Systematic Theology during my undergraduate and my husband has since used it for a seminary course (at a more moderate institution). Grenz's understanding of theology is concisely outlined with a strong emphasis on history, without being too heady or dense. It's quite an interesting read for anyone seeking to understand Christian theology.