To Know and Love God: Method for Theology

Foundations of Evangelical Theology

by David K. Clark

It is the job of all believers, not just theologians, to serve God by discerning what is true about the crucial issues of life. Our task is to learn more about God. Our privilege is to love God passionately with our minds. Clearly then, spiritual life must have theology as one of its ingredients, but this, by itself, will not guarantee a vibrant spiritual life. Rather, evangelicals must link a theological experience and an experiential theology. Knowing and loving God are both necessary.

David Clark explains how evangelical systematic theology is structured and how this discipline assists believers in understanding God more fully and worshipping him more completely. To do so, he uses strategies of analytical philosophy to reveal the nature, purposes, methods, and limits of evangelical systematic theology. He attempts to speak both to and for evangelicals, with the goal of showing how a reasonable, articulate, and credible evangelical theology can proceed.

Other questions are raised while trying to define evangelical systematic theology: Is systematic theology a legitimate intellectual enterprise? How does theology build upon the teachings of the Bible? How can evangelical theologians in different cultures assist each other? How does theology contribute to transforming society? What does the existence of other religions mean for evangelical theology? How does systematic theology relate to other intellectual disciplines? How does it connect with the life of the church? What are the purposes and the final goal of systematic theology? The answers to these questions are not ends in themselves, but assist believers in attaining the goal of knowing and loving God.

Asserting that evangelical systematic theology is the science by which evangelical believers learn of God, Clark claims that the insights of apparently contradictory viewpoints can and should be drawn together. He works past the false dilemmas, imprecision, overstatement, inferences, and generalizations that often cloud theological discussion and arrives at clear definitions, precise distinctions, careful analysis, and modest conclusions.

Clark argues that evangelical systematic theology is rooted in the Bible and focused on Christ. Good theology provides vision, fosters wisdom, and nurtures covenantal relationship with God. Good theology leads to knowing and loving God.

Genres: Theology, Christian, Christianity, Christian Living

464 pages, Hardcover

First published April 10, 2003

About the author

David Clark (PhD, Northwestern University) is Professor of Christian Thought at Bethel Seminary.

Dr. Clark's academic discipline is philosophy of religion. In addition to philosophy of religion, he teaches theology and apologetics. He has special interests in epistemology, the problem of evil, religious ethics, and the relation of theology to science. His approach to these topics emphasizes dialogue: he invites students to learn how to ground their faith perspectives with solid critical reason. And, in this day of uncivil discourse, he also challenges them to listen to others, to serve, and to share their perspectives in the context of respectful personal relationships.

David Clark and his family moved to Minnesota in 1988 to teach at Bethel Seminary. He has served in senior leadership in a church and at Bethel University. He just retired from his last role as VP and Dean of Bethel Seminary. During his years as faculty, he wrote eight books and dozens of articles. And he contributed as a member of several boards, including the national board of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. He now serves the wider church through consulting and public speaking.

David is married to Sandy. Together, the Clarks have two sons: Tyler, who lives in Boulder with his wife, Renee, and Ryan, who lives in the Twin Cities with his bride, Rachel. The Clarks have three grandchildren, Griffin, Norah Jane, and Theo. For fun, David enjoys golf, remodeling (he built three different homes for his family), and serious conversations about leadership, ministry, and faith.

Reviews

[Joshua Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had a strange experience reading this book; I thought I wasn't enjoying it and was finding it really boring. However, I realised all the things I was reflecting on when my mind was passive had come from this book. I then realised that I was confusing the experience of working through the sheer density and breadth of topic of this book with the feeling of boredom. This book is a 600-800 page book masquerading as a 450 page book - reading even 10 pages takes a long time. Once I realised this, it became eminently more enjoyable.

A brilliant approach to theology and its study in a distinctly evangelical manner is laid out here, rebutting any notion of modern evangelicalism being an inherently anti-intellectual/anti-scholarly pursuit. The final chapter on religious language is a gold mine.

My one enduring complaint for this work is a confusion on the intended audience. At a birds eye view, this is the kind of thing everyone from undergraduates to pastors should be reading as they take seriously the Bible. But in execution, the language, style, pre-requisite knowledge makes this quite inaccessible to anyone below post-graduate level, at which point most of these discussions would already be settled in the mind of the reader. Good content, but it either needs to be made more accessible or have some of its more obvious parts removed.

[Ray Wilkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

David Clark has written an excellent introduction to any upper level theology class. I say upper level because the content and writing may be a bit much for an undergraduate level. However, any undergrad student would benefit from this book even if some of the discussion content may be beyond their cognitive level.

Clark dives deeply at times into the critical issues confronting any theologian and student of theology. Clark confronts the modern and post-modern challenges to evangelical theology as well as various philosophical challenges. Discussions on epistemology and epistemological method can be deep at times but still worth wrestling with.

Highly recommended.

[Elizabeth Aucoin · Rating 3 out of 5]

First few chapters were some of the hardest chapters to push through, final few were easier to read and a bit more enjoyable. Good content, hard to read (personally).

[Rick Mattson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clark is penetrating in his analysis of the intersection of theology, philosophy and cultural context.
The book is fairly technical in places, so readers with background in theology and/or philosophy will benefit most.

[Taylor Stamps · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the few books on theological method written by an evangelical. Lacking in some parts, especially pertaining to theological perspectivalism.

[Matthew Weston · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn’t agree with everything, nor did I understand it all, but what I did get was rigorous, compelling and fascinating.

[Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm really thankful for this book, and anticipate returning to it as a reference and guide in the future. The recurring motif is theology as both knowledge and wisdom (thus the title); coupled with Clark's commitment to orthodox Christian faith, it makes this book a trustworthy resource for approaching the many challenges to evangelical theology.

It's packed with sometimes dense philosophical theories and responses, but I'd say it's still accessible to any patient and academically-minded reader. I enjoyed it, and I'm not a scholar!

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the first books on the subject by an evangelical. This is great stuff for any serious theologian.

[Matt · Rating 2 out of 5]

*Note: Although I read much of this book, I did not read the entire book. I only read what was required by my graduate school.*