Christian Faith: Dogmatics in Outline

by B.A. Gerrish

At the beginning of Christian Faith, B. A. Gerrish reminds us that dogmatics involves critical transmission of the Christian heritage. The dogmatic theologian must interpret and assess the traditional beliefs of the church while also considering the new and changing conditions in which that tradition is being embodied.

With that, Gerrish goes on to outline the various presuppositions and affirmations of the Christian faith before ultimately offering a powerful and compelling restatement of Christian faith for the twenty-first century. As part of his framework, Gerrish includes a critical comparison of Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion and Schleiermacher's Christian Faith while still paying close attention to the great cloud of theological witnesses from across the spectrum of Christian traditions. Gerrish's book provides a robust and penetrating revisioning of Christian theology, one that is thoroughly grounded in the classical traditions of the church.

Genres: Theology

371 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 3, 2015

Reviews

[Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

A perplexing read. Gerrish, long-standing professor of historical theology at the University of Chicago who is perhaps best known for his work on Calvin's view of the Eucharist and his other historical theological work, offers a dogmatic textbook. He takes a critical yet sympathetic stance toward Scripture; demonstrates a clear understanding of the history of Christian theology (as one would expect); and, he offers many intriguing and at times idiosyncratic theological proposals. His musings on the Trinity, Christ and life after death leaves one scratching one's head in disbelief, especially given his clear grasp of historical theological and his relatively high view of Scripture. A curious contribution that I would likely not recommend but to the more seasoned thinker who is already firmly grounded in Christian orthodoxy.

[George Plasterer · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good introduction to theology

The author offers a good overview of theological themes. He focuses on Luther, Calvin and Schleiermacher . He includes Roman Catholic teaching, especially Thomas. I appreciated his inclusion of John Wesley, Anabaptist, and Zwingli at appropriate times. Each theme includes a good discussion of biblical texts that relate to them.