A comparison of Michael F. Birds Evangelical Theology and Wayne Grudems Systematic Theology. Grudem 1296pp $49.

99 Written primarily it for students but also for every Christian who has a hunger to know the central doctrines of the Bible in greater depth. Students and all those who want to know the Bible Holds to a conservative view of biblical inerrancy, very much in agreement with the Chicago Statement of the International Council on Biblical Inerrancy and a traditional Reformed position with regard to questions of Gods sovereignty and mans responsibility , the extent of the atonement , and the question of predestination. Part 1 Doctrine of the Word of God Part 2 Doctrine of God Part 3 Doctrine of Man Part 4 Doctrine of Christ and the Holy Spirit Part 5 Doctrine of the application of redemption Part 6 Doctrine of the church Part 6 Doctrine of the future Bird 912pp $49.99 To produce a textbook for Christians that represents a biblically sound expression of the Christian faith form the vantage point of the evangelical tradition. To be accessible to laypeople, seminary students and leaders in the evangelical churches Ex-Baptist post-Presbyterian Anglican. Reformed, evangelical and Calvinist

No of pages Cost Intended aim/ purpose

Intended audience

Authors stated theological position

Overview of Contents

Part 1 Prolegoma: Beginning to talk about God Part 2 The God of the gospel: the triune God in being and action Part 3 The gospel of the kingdom: the now and the not yet Part 4 The gospel of Gods Son: The Lord Jesus Christ Part 5 The Gospel of salvation Part 6 The promise and power of the Gospel: The Holy Spirit Part 7: The Gospel and humanity Part 8: The community of the gospelized Yes Scripture and Apocrypha Subject Author

Prolegomena Indexes

No Author Hymn Scripture Subject

Definition of (Systematic) Theology

Uses the following definition of John Frame: Systematic theology is any study that answers the question, What does the whole Bible teach us today? about any given topic.

The study of the living God. It is the attempt to say something about God and Gods relationship to the world. It is thinking about faith from faith. In a sense, theology is very much akin to the study of philosophy, worldview, religion, ethics, or intellectual history; it is a descriptive survey of ideas and the impact of those ideas.

Position on charismata

Grudem (contd) all the gifts of the Holy Spirit mentioned in the New Testament are still valid for today, but that apostle is an office, not a gift, and that office does not continue today.

Position on women

neither traditional nor feminist, but complementarian namely, that God created man and woman equal in value and personhood, and equal in bearing his image, but that both creation and redemption indicate some distinct roles for men and women in marriage .. and in the church. Premillennial and post-tribulation.

Bird (contd) not all of the gifts and offices have to endure ... For instance, I think it likely that the offices of prophet and apostle, which were eschatological ministries to provide the foundation for the church (Eph 2:20), no longer persist because the foundation has been laid, and the apostolic office and prophetic voice is largely subsumed into Christian preaching, witness, and teaching. Not made explicit here. Elsewhere in Bourgeois Babes, Bossy Wives, and Bobby Haircuts he argues for almost an egalitarian position.

Position on eschatology

I would seriously like to be amillennial. It is so much simpler. It recognizes the already and notyet of biblical eschatology and avoids the eccentricities of postmillennialism and dispensational premillennialism I conclude that the biblical eschatology is best described as historic premillennialism.

Treatment of ethical issues

The emphasis is on systematic theology, though it applies theology to life where such application comes readily. Still, for a thorough treatment of Christian ethics, another textbook similar to this in scope would be necessary.

From http://stevebishop.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/evangelical-theology-by-michael-f-bird.html