God Is Love: A Biblical and Systematic Theology

by Gerald Bray

Publisher:

Crossway

, 2012

Overview

While there is no substitute for personal, faithful, and careful Bible reading and prayer, the Bible’s vast size and diversity can make distilling its truth a daunting task. Thus most Christians benefit from supplemental resources to help learn and apply what Scripture teaches. Renowned theologian, Gerald Bray has produced just such a resource in his new biblical theology. Though packed with robust content, he writes about this volume: “the aim … is to reach those who would not normally find systematic theology appealing or even comprehensible.” This volume is unique from others in that Bray traces the common theme of God’s love through the Bible categorically—from God’s love for himself and his creation to the cross as the ultimate expression of God’s love, among other categories. The centrality of God’s love in Bray’s theology reflects a deep conviction that the Bible shows us God for who he really is. This volume is of interest to Christians seeking to grow in their faith.

Contents

Top Highlights

“If the fundamental principle of our theology is that God is love, then we must start with the divine persons and not with the unity of God’s being. The concept of love implies that there must be someone or something to be loved. Of course it is possible to argue that, even if God were a single person, he would still be self-aware and could love himself, but the biblical idea of love is something more than self-esteem. The love which the Bible speaks about is not a self-centered kind of preening in the mirror, but a concern for others.” (Page 107)

“Our knowledge of God is not rooted in mental constructs, even if they are correct, but in personal experience. That experience is not the result of intellectual deduction from the nature of reality, but is the fruit of an encounter expressed in the Bible as a relationship of faith.¹ This faith is more than simple belief because it involves commitment of a kind that is possible only between persons.” (Page 106)

“The first is that the Holy Spirit has given us the revelation of God in written form. The main question we must ask of every biblical text is, what does it tell us about God? What does it say about who he is and about what he does? The second question is, what does this text say about us human beings? What are we meant to be and what has gone wrong? The third and final question is, what has God done about this problem and what does he expect of us in the light of what he has done? Seeking answers to these questions will help us interpret the Spirit’s message to Christ’s people collectively and to each of us as individuals.” (Page 58)

Product Details

• Title: God Is Love: A Biblical and Systematic Theology
• Author: Gerald Bray
• Publisher: Crossway
• Print Publication Date: 2012
• Logos Release Date: 2016
• Era: era:contemporary
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subject: Theology, doctrinal › Popular works
• ISBNs: 9781433522697, 9781433522727, 9781433522703, 9781433522710, 1433522691, 1433522721, 1433522705, 1433522713
• Resource ID: LLS:GDSLVBBLCLSYSTH
• Resource Type: Systematic Theology
• Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-30T00:13:13Z

About Gerald Bray

Dr. Gerald Bray is Research Professor of Divinity at Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham, AL, and Distinguished Professor of Theology at Knox Theological Seminary, Fort Lauderdale, FL.

He was born and raised in Montreal, Canada, where he did his undergraduate work at McGill University. He completed his doctoral studies at the Sorbonne in Paris and went on to study theology in Cambridge. In 1978 he was ordained in the Church of England and served a parish in London for two years before going on to teach at Oak Hill College in London. He has been at Beeson since 1993.

Dr. Bray is the editor of the Anglican journal Churchman and has published a number of books, including the award-winning Biblical Interpretation: Past and Present (InterVarsity Press, 1996), Yours Is the Kingdom: A Systematic Theology of the Lord's Prayer(InterVarsity Press, 2007), God Is Love (Crossway, 2012), and his most recent work, God Has Spoken: A History of Christian Theology (Crossway, 2014).

Dr. Bray speaks several languages fluently. He has lived in Germany, Greece, and Russia, and he has taught in several European countries and Australia. He can often be found in one of the archives of the Church of England, researching parts of its history, on which he has also published a number of important works. He is also an avid swimmer and cyclist.