An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine - Systematic Theology

Kindle users will love Grudem's ST. It has excellent readability (including most diagrams) and navigation is a cinch. I see only two shortcomings. First, like all Kindle books, you cannot limit highlight or bookmark searches to individual chapters. In other words you have to scroll from the beginning through an entire book to find what you've highlighted/bookmarked. For a book as large as this, finding your highlights and bookmarks is time consuming. This is an amazing oversight by kindle developers for those of us who index and reference as much information as theologians and scholars do. Again, this is a Kindle thing only. As far as how it works on my Kindle 3, Grudem's ST is as good as anything Kindle provides.

The second (not so terrible) shortcoming is the missing index. Every other index at the back of the book (authors, hymns, and scripture) is included but not the subject index. I was VEXED about it until I remembered that you can launch a word search (menu/search this book). Perhaps it's even better; I've had great luck finding stuff this way. Just an observation.

So I have two copies of Grudem's ST, a hard-copy and the Kindle. I use the Kindle version 80% of the time. It's worth another $30 because I use it more.

This is a great overview. Grudem is fair and balanced. He presents the basic premise and then "argues it" from the opposing sides to explain both the differences and why he settled on his premise. Good foundational study!

This book is easy to read and is very educational. For instance, many people don't understand or often think about The Holy Spirit. He is explained clearly in this work. I highly recommend it, in addition to Bible reading.

The amount of information placed in this book is mind-blowing. Everything is extremely detailed to the tune of non-stop Bible references. Grudem presents multiple views for challenging topics - such as creation, angels and demons - but only sides with the view that is backed up biblically. If there is a gray area in the views, he points that out as well. Basically, if it isn't backed 100% by the Bible, he does not choose a side. If the Bible does back something up, he sides with it, and provides reasons for that.

Grudem sets out to write a systematic theology for the layman, and in this he succeeds. No dense prose, and when he introduces a theological term or concept he defines it very simply. This is a book that can be picked up and savored from beginning to end, or used as a reference work, by diving into any section that addresses a topic of interest. That is, it doesn't build upon itself in such a way that a sequential reading is required to make sense of the whole. While I wouldn't agree with his conclusions on some peripheral issues (e.g., continuationism and his views on eschatology), on the doctrines of major import he is reliable and readable. I highly recommend to anyone desiring to better organize his thinking around theology and doctrinal truths.

This is an excellent systematic theo book. I beleive Grudem's thoughts on the various topics are excellent and solid. They are also balanced and concise. He presents both sides of controversial issues and is very fair, even if he doesn't personally share a particular view point and I really appreciate that. This book is an excellent way to get a basic understanding of many of the important areas of Christianity and some good insights in understanding the nature of God, and faith in general.

The Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem it is a "Complete" information for everyone who want to know more about God.
The language is accessible for everyone not only for theologians.Every Christian who want to grow in the Word of God, should read this book.This is a grate Book as the author is.
Before I've bought this book ,I've listen it on mp3 course by Wayne Grudem and I was relay blessed !

I also want to thank the store for sending me on the right time the Book That is very precious to me.
Thank you!

This is a pretty deep book. The title should make that plainly obvious. Wayne Grudem, however, takes the subject matter and explains it in the way that anyone can understand. He breaks down each individual topic and makes it transparently easy to read.

While this is certainly not a book you'd be able to (or really even want to) read in a single sitting, This is an invaluable tool to help you to have a more enriching spiritual life. It can really help to enhance your bible study quite well.

All in all, I would heartily recommend this book to anyone who wishes to have a deeper knowledge of the Scriptures. It will bring you well along that path.

Grudem's Systematic Theology is a great resource for any student of God's word. His chapters are broken down into clear topics, and each topic is heavily supported by Scripture. His modesty does not demand you to agree with him 100%, and on a few small points I do not, but it is well worth reading. His theology follows a "face-value" interpretation of Scripture, so he does not stray from the context. Especially appealing are his suggested memory verses that apply to each doctrine, and the hymns and application questions that make you think about what you have just read. Excellent resource also in the pursuit in coming to know God by learning about His attributes.

One of my very favorites books for fast straight forward answers. It is filled with understandable & thoughtful explainations of many CHRISTIAN principles. Don't buy it unless you are serious or need a new paper weight.

My comment is on the formatting for Kindle only, which I hope the publisher can sort out. The footnotes are linked, so you can tap through to read the footnote, but then you can't go back to where you were. Several times I have accidentally hit a footnote when I wanted to turn the page, and then found myself stuck in the footnote section. The only way back is guessing which page you were on, or going through the index and paging through the chapter again. Because of this, I read all the footnotes at the end of the chapter, when I often could not remember what they were about. This is an easy problem for the publisher to fix!

As for the content, I will not repeat what others have said, except that I have learnt a lot. I would have given five stars if not for the formatting problem.

Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine by Grudem is well written and easy to understand. I'd recommend it for any layman interested in learning more about the subject of theology. It's not just for seminary students.

When we announced this book was being used as the reference for a Sunday School class; I couldn't keep them in stock. Over 10% of our congregation now owns this reference. Even most couples, bit the bullet and bought two copies. Wow! What an indorsement!

Grudem does an excellent job explaining the major doctrines of the Bible. His explanations are simple, easy to read and most importantly they are purely biblical. However, this should not be the final one and only Systematic Theology Textbook a Christian should own. Another one i recommend is by Robert D Culver. Grudem's book makes a nice addition to any Christians library whether you are a pastor, professor, seminary student or layman.

While I certainly disagree with Grudem on a number of points, there are few other systematic theologies which are from our era which are written as well. He is strong in his views which is good, but he doesn't waiver on other possible Christian thoughts on the same issue. Granted I would only want to add my thoughts on which I differ, all of which are non-essential to salvation. A great resource for any theologian and a great read if you ever want to be more in depth on one particular theology.

This work typifies the Calvinist perspective on the major doctrines of Christianity. For the Christian seeking biblical support for doctrinal positions, this is a masterful work. However, the lack of treatment of the middle knowledge perspective leaves one with the false dichotomy of "Calvinism vs. Arminianism". Like most sophisticated Calvinists, Grudem embraces a compatibilist view of divine sovereignty and free will, which reveals the yearning of the Calvinist to affirm what only Molinism can rationally maintain - that the Bible affirms that God is in complete control of reality, but does not violate the free will of man to bring about his purposes.

I would recommend the book as a primer for Christian doctrine, but would warn that its inclusion of alternative views is partial and incomplete.

This book was recommended to me by some people and I will recommended it to anyone elso who will listen too:) Very readable, referenced and written... each chapter has a review, verse and poem/song that puts some of the concepts into devotional form. Even tho it's 1200 pages long and covers most everything there are some details that can't be expanded on due to length of topic. I really am enjoying the book!

This theology book is not what it seems. This book is much more than a seminary textbook. Any person could use it. It's extremely approachable and pretty easy to read. However, Grudem does a very good job of explaining his viewpoint and why he thinks some views are off-base. His reasoning is very strong. Because he explains things so well, you can work through his reasoning and either agree or disagree with him. Just fantastic.

At the end of each chapter, he has questions, a verse to memorize and a hymn. Just Fantastic!