I Can't Believe It's Not Biblical

Those Pyromaniacs have discovered a brilliant new product...

Systematic Theologies

The Bible contains many different types of writing, including history, poetry, law, proverbs and letters. And these were written by many different sorts of people over a period of perhaps 2000 years or so. It can be difficult to track down what it teaches about a given subject. However, there are quite a few books that aim to present what the Bible teaches in a thematic and ordered way. These are generally called systematic theologies.

Wayne Grudem helpfully defines systematic theology as

... any study that answers the question, "What does the whole Bible teach us today?" about any given topic. This definition indicates that systematic theology involves collecting and understanding all the relevant passages in the Bible on various topics and then summarizing their teachings clearly so that we know what to believe about each topic.

As long as we don't put these books at a higher level than the King of Books they can be extremely useful.

The following are recommended. Thanks again to Luke Jenner for the initial list.

First some general volumes:

Ultimate Realities	Robert M Horn	IVP
Summary of Christian Doctrine	Louis Berkhoff	Banner of Truth
A Faith to Live By	Donald MacLeod	Mentor
Systematic Theology	Wayne Grudem	IVP
Bible Doctrine	Wayne Grudem	IVP
Foundations of the Christian Faith	James M Boice	IVP

Other books deal with particular aspects of the Bible's message. The following authors are also recommended. I've mentioned one each of their books, but their other titles are also worth exploring.

J I Packer	Knowing God	Hodder & Stoughton
John Murray	Redemption Accomplished and Applied	Banner of Truth
John Stott	The Cross of Christ	IVP
Stuart Olyott	The Three Are One: What the Bible Teaches About the Trinity	Evangelical Press
A W Pink	The Sovereignty of God	Banner of Truth
J Gresham Machen	What is Faith?	Banner of Truth
A W Tozer	The Knowledge of the Holy	Authentic Lifestyle
John Piper	The Pleasures of God	Christian Focus Publications
Edward Donnelly	Heaven and Hell	Banner of Truth

See also: Bible Introduction and Overview, Bible Commentaries, Contemporary Issues, Biography and History, Devotional

God is Just

I've been reading Born Slaves, a summary of Martin Luther's book, The Bondage of the Will, that he published in 1525. This shortened version is published by Grace Publications Trust.

One of the observations he makes is remarkably topical. Here’s the gist ...

If you use human reason alone to consider the way God rules the world you have to conclude either that there is no God or that he is unjust. Bad people thrive and the good suffer. As Job says at one point, “Those who provoke God are secure” (Job 12:6).

Psalm 73 also picks up on this theme: “... I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. They have no struggles; their bodies are healthy and strong. They are free from the burdens common to man; they are not plagued by human ills. ... They say, ‘How can God know? Does the Most High have knowledge?’ This is what the wicked are like — always carefree, they increase in wealth. Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure; in vain have I washed my hands in innocence.”

So, many people deny the existence of God and say everything happens by chance.

The answer is that there is life after this life. Those things that are not punished and repaid here will be punished and repaid there. This life is a preparation for, or, better, a beginning of the life to come.

This issue is debated in every age but is only resolved by believing the gospel as it is found in the Bible.

On that coming day, God will reveal himself as a God who is perfectly and eternally just.