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Have you any recommendations?

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In which area? For general use - Grudem and Ericson are fine, but I would not want to be without Leon Morris on the atonement, D. A, Carson on suffering, Pluralism, etc; or say Waltke on God's Will.

I also prefer to derive theology from exegesis - if you read Cranfield, Moo, Schreiner and Lloyd-Jones on Romans - you will have had a lot of theology.

John

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Pastor John C. Blackburn

I would definitely agree with Pastor John. If someone is looking for an overall scheme of theology than gathering together several different volumes of Systematics would be beneficial, but if you want to know specifics (which any good Systematics will be using themselves), then acquiring specialized works is more beneficial. Certainly a combination of both is helpful. I would agree that finding very specific writers is important and may require some help. Pastor John has suggested several very excellent ones. Having read several of the commentaries on Romans that he has mentioned, I would also have to agree that they contain tremendous amounts of theology that actually is integrated into the overall scheme of the Scriptures and specifically Romans...making for a more biblically grounded theological presentation.

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I'm taking a Systematic Theology class in seminary this Spring and the main text we're using is A Grammar of Christian Faith by Joe R. Jones. Anyone know anything about it? Thanks.

It appears that Jones is a part of the Disciples of Christ (at least the school that he taught at and thereby developed the notes for this text from). It appears to be heavily influenced by Karl Barth (which depending on your feelings about him might be a plus or a minus). And it also appears to be more inclusive overall. I am not overly familiar with this work, but this is what I can tell you about it. Hope it helps.

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The proof of love is in the works. Where love exists, it works great things. But when it ceases to act, it ceases to exist.

In my humble opinion, Herman Bavinck's four-volume set of dogmatic theology is the best complete systematic theology available in English today. To that I would add Douglas Kelly's work in progress as the best contemporary systematic theology. Other honorable mention would go to Robert Reymond's one-volume effort published about ten years ago. In terms of older dogmatic/systematic theologies, there are Francis Turretin's and Johann Gerhard's.

In light of the following pluralistic view, I myself am very cautious about Alister McGrath's work.

"How can Christianity's claims to truth be taken seriously when there are so many rival alternatives and when "truth" itself has become a devalued notion?... No one can lay claim to possession of the truth. It is all a question of perspective. All claims to truth are equally valid. There is no universal or privileged vantage point that allows anyone to decide what is right and what is wrong."(McGrath "The Challenge of Pluralism for the Contemporary Christian Church" in Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society)

It seems to me that this statement, if applied to Jesus, is heretical.

Alister McGrath is a sound and godly man .... any person's words must be taken in context.

I have read McGrath's Systematic Theology, and as many other of his works as I can get my hands on .... all good, indeed very good!

He is a passionate believer in Christ, and a very able apologist.

in Christ

Dinah

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McGrath is an Oxford don, and so writes and talks with endless seminar discourse in mind. Part of such discourse sometimes involves a 'devil's advocate' manner of speaking, and unless one were to see the overall context of what he was saying, his overall meaning would not necessarily be apparent. Not to criticize him, not to defend him.

For example also, look at someone such as Kirsten Birkett: she is steeped in a set of theories which would generally not be regarded favourably among Biblical evangelicals, but she does not necessarily share the presuppositions of those theories.

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Read the Bible prayerfully.For a wealth of sound theology, go to John 3:16.
(My wife and I are very much in love, by the way.)
I don't like extremes of temperature. I don't like extremes among preachers. People maybe think I'm extreme.But never mind about me
A true Christian is different, and the world will notice the difference.Even your tattoo, if it's faith related, it's different!

I have a number of Systematic Theology books in my library, which allows me to cross-reference them. This allows me to see their different perspectives. It also compensates for the times when one author goes into more detail than another.

This said, I have used McGrath, Grudem, Erickson, Robert Reymond, and Lewis & Demarest. Each has its benefits for different types of study.

Millard Erickson's "Christian Theology" is my favorite. Erickson does a reasonable job of presenting various viewpoints without presenting them as straw-man arguments. He often considers the strengths of 3 or more perspective, comes us with a synthesis view, and argues his perspective without demeaning the others too strongly.

If I wanted a quick second opinion, or to check for something Erickson didn't address (or address well), I would check Grudem.

Lewis & Demarest's "Integrative Theology" is good because of how it approaches the loci from Historical, Biblical, Systematic, Apologetic, and Practical Theology viewpoints. If you are ready to dig into a topic, this structure is helpful. If, however, you are just trying to get an overview, this may not be the best tool.

McGrath has its benefits, too. If you pair his "Christian Theology" with "The Christian Theology Reader" you have a pretty rich combo for study of the historical interpretation of the loci. The first book offers quotes. The second offers more context, by compiling writings, by topic, from various people throughout the history of the church.

My apologies to Dr. Robert Reymond, but his would be the last one I would refer to - not for reasons of quality, but of style.

In His grip,

Pastor Decker

I saw Reymond's when it first came out some years ago. I actually like William Cunningham, though he takes a historical approach.

_________________
Read the Bible prayerfully.For a wealth of sound theology, go to John 3:16.
(My wife and I are very much in love, by the way.)
I don't like extremes of temperature. I don't like extremes among preachers. People maybe think I'm extreme.But never mind about me
A true Christian is different, and the world will notice the difference.Even your tattoo, if it's faith related, it's different!

Addendum:

I'm not as keen on Finney's systematic theology, if that's what the title is, I'm not quite sure. I don't think he gets the sovereignty/human responsibility balance right.

_________________
Read the Bible prayerfully.For a wealth of sound theology, go to John 3:16.
(My wife and I are very much in love, by the way.)
I don't like extremes of temperature. I don't like extremes among preachers. People maybe think I'm extreme.But never mind about me
A true Christian is different, and the world will notice the difference.Even your tattoo, if it's faith related, it's different!

Finney's book is a disgrace to Christian systematic theology. I would not even call it a systematic theology in the proper sense of the term. Finney was a Pelagian that denied almost everything that the Protestant Reformers stood for. Even many Wesleyan-Arminians are embarrassed with the trash that Finney put out in his heretical books.

If I may put my two cents forward. I would highly recommend Concise Reformed Dogmatics by J. van Genderen and W. H. Velema, trans. by Gerrit Bilkes and Ed M. van der Maas (Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing, 2008). It was originally published in 1992 in Dutch. It is conservative Dutch Reformed and practical too.

I also recommend Robert Duncan Culver's Systematic Theology. He is a premillennial four-point Calvinist Baptist.

Thumbs up also go to Erickson's and Grudem's works (though the latter is somewhat more of an organized catechism for Reformed Baptists than an actual systematic theology).