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From the back
of the book:
“Through more than 630 articles, over 200 expert contributors
lucidly expand the entire spectrum of theology past and present.
Firmly anchored in the evangelical tradition, … It has gained a
reputation for its evenhanded approach and its skillful clarifying
of complexities.”
New Dictionary of Theology,
Edited by
Sinclair Ferguson, David Wright, and J. I. Packer. Inter-Varsity, 1988
This
book is a companion to the New Bible Commentary and the New Bible
Dictionary, both already in Cornerstone’s library. It is actually more
like a one volume encyclopedia than a dictionary, with articles on
various subjects taking anywhere from a part of a page to several pages.
The articles are written by different people, each an expert in his
area.
Let’s start with the C’s to see what is there.
Calvin, John (1509-64). A summary of his life and work. About 5
pages.
Calvinism, See Reformed Theology. The latter article is about 3
pages. Reformed Theology’s principal characteristics are listed,
starting with “The centrality of God”. The article extends Reformed
Theology’s thought through the 19th and 20th centuries.
Calvinistic Methodism. About one half page, this article is about
what is perhaps the largest protestant denomination in Wales. Its
confession is described as “theology for the heart”. This article is by
Cornerstone friend Eifion Evans.
Charismatic Theology, see Baptism in the Spirit; Gifts of the Spirit;
Pentecostalism. The Pentecostalism article, about 3 pages, discusses
its 19th century roots, its origins in 1901, and its definitive
doctrines.
Confessions of faith. Three and a half pages. It goes back to the
beginning, when confessions had “greater or lesser fixity”, mentioning
1 Timothy 6:12-13 (ESV): 12 Fight the
good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were
called and about which you made the good confession in the
presence of many witnesses. 13 I charge you in the presence
of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his
testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession... .
Specific later-day confessions listed include the Augsburg Confession
(1530, Lutheran), Scots Confession (1560, Scottish Presbyterians),
Thirty-nine Articles (1563, Anglican), Westminster Confession, (1646,
ours), Cambridge Platform (1648, American Congregationalists),
Philadelphia Confession (1677, American Calvinistic Baptists), and many
others.
Liberalism and Conservatism in Theology. (This doesn’t start with
C, but if you look up Conservatism you are referred to this article.)
About a page and a half. “ ‘Liberal’ is a self-commending description…”
Various schools of thought within liberalism and its prominent features
are presented. It ends with, “Protestant conservatism has gained great
strength during the past forty years, though it is still a minority
position in the older Protestant churches.” This article is by J. I.
Packer.
Presbyterianism, about a page and a half. We should certainly
check and comment on this article even though it isn’t a C. “It denotes
both a form of church government by elders, and a system of scriptural
doctrine.” What a good summary. There is no discussion, however, of the
various Presbyterian denominations.
These are just a few examples. I think if one looked anywhere in this
book they would find something interesting within a few pages.
-- Dean Brown
“This is the best one-volume dictionary of Christian theology I have ever read. The student wishing to possess a comprehensive and authorities reference work on the broad themes of Christian thought, both past and present, could do no better than to add this work to his or her shelves.”
Alister McGrath
471 Mathews Rd, Boardman, OH 44512 Phone/Fax 330-758-5628
email: info@cornerstonepch.org