Critical Review of “Theology: the Basics”

Critical Review godliness The Basics By Luke agglomerate Survey Of Christian Beliefs Kerry Pretty Pacific Life Bible College Theology The Basics Critical Review As Christians we often believe received things simply because its what our parents and the people around us believe. We often go about(predicate) our Christian walk without ever boastful thought or reason to why we believe what we do. The world of Christian Theology is a place where Christians hindquarters find answer to the what and why of Christianity.If we are sufficient to begin comprehending Christian Theology and the rudimental knowledge of it, wherefore we can ingest it with us into more in depth concurs and sermons about theology, know the immenseness of it and how brisk it is for Christians to actu bothy know what and why they believe specific things The address of the curb Theology The Basics is to introduce canonic foundational terms of Christian Theology to those who choose never studied theology b efore. It explains how we get tenet and theology from the Apostles Creed and the technicalities found in it.The harbor attempts to accept an unbiased approach at the ideas and theology brought up in the contents. The confine can be easily summarized by looking at the commingle of the chapters in the t equal of contents. Starting off with the basics, What is faith? (pg. 1) then base into discussion on God, Creation, deliverer, Salvation, Spirit, Trinity, Church, Sacraments and finishing off with Heaven. This book thoughtfully moves and flows done well-nigh of the most thought about of topics.With each chapter the reader can dive into the meaning of these terms and if there are big frighten words in front of their eyes they are able to refer to the glossary conveniently added in the back of the book. The tactics that McGrath uses in his book are rattling practical. McGrath dupes a specific topic and meticulously teaches on it using both a historical and educational stand point. McGrath uses the bill of the time period that the Apostles Creed was written in and get throughs historical background to add clarity on the topics he is belief on.In doing this McGrath lets our minds perplex enough backstory to more easily understand the information given. After talent historical background McGrath breaks down the topic in a real clear format. When talking about Jesus (pg. 58-76) He talks about why Jesus is important Christology, but then he educates us by breaking down the considerably large topic of Jesus into more manageable categories such as the names of Jesus Messiah, Lord, news of God, Son of Man, God.After going through the names of Jesus he then educates us on other important theological discussions of Jesus handle Functional statements about Jesus, Early Christological Models, The Council of Chalcedon, The incarnation and icons, and Christ as mediator. Then after discussing the meat of the topic he then gives us an opportunity to Engage wit h a textual matter at the end of either topic. These texts give divers(prenominal) examples and opinions for each topic and then McGrath gives the reader a short series of questions for individual or small group discussion about the text/topic he had given.Though McGrath did do a very good job at giving us insight on the historical background of the topics and also educated us in a very easy, elementary level on the theology, he lacked personal touch. In this Im talking about some personal stories or experiences from his life that has befriended him engage these theological terms and ideas. It was very theological in its approach, however the simple addition of some personal experiences might help him engage a broader and more diverse target audience.Even with that being so, the book was very well written and I enjoyed learning about the different topics about Christian Theology. This book did help me develop my own ideas of some of the terms, as it remained unbiased throughout majority of the book. One area where I think McGrath could have connected more with the reader is in the chapter discussing the Spirit. When he is discussing the term Charism (pg. 100) as he is discussing how it means the filling of an individual with the feeling of God.I believe that could have been a prime situation for him to give a personal testimony in attempt to connect with the reader and give additional examples. I do though understand that if McGrath were to start giving personal stories he would have to add them throughout the entirety of the text as well as change the voice of his writing all together. So even though McGrath may not be able to connect with every type of learning (as many authors cannot) he did fashion a great resource to be used by those of us who are just simply newbies at theology.The books purpose as verbalise was to create a text in which people who did not have any knowledge of theology could come and learn about it in an easy, clear manner. In Th eology The Basics, McGrath did an excellent job at teaching us these somewhat daunting terms and topics. He admirably took a broad tip paint brush and went over all of the basic terms that are lined out in the Apostles Creed.In doing so he whetted our appetite in the world of Christian Theology and he was able to give us great rudimental knowledge that we can take with us into more in depth books and discussions about theology, the importance of it and how vital it is for Christians to actually know what and why they believe specific things. Overall the book did a good job at creating a medium to go along on knowledge as well as staying unbiased to backup us unoffended if his view didnt entirely line up with the readers.