Introducing Evangelical Theology

by Daniel J. Treier

Publisher:

Baker Academic

, 2019

Overview

Evangelical theology has become more academically engaged, aware of global Christianity, and interested in the Great Tradition, yet is increasingly fragmented. This introductory textbook for evangelical colleges, universities, and seminaries offers students a biblically rich, creedally structured, ecumenically evangelical, and ethically engaged introduction to Christian theology.

Daniel Treier, coeditor of the popular Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, is on the cutting edge of evangelical theological scholarship. In this volume, he discusses key Scripture passages, explains Christian theology within the structure of the Nicene Creed, explores the range of evangelical approaches to contested doctrines, acquaints evangelicals with other views (including Orthodox and Catholic), and integrates theological ethics with chapters on the Ten Commandments and the Lord’s Prayer. The result is a meaty but manageable introduction to the convictions and arguments shaping contemporary evangelical theology.

Key Features

• Introduces both shared commitments and perennial debates within evangelical theology
• Focuses on longer-standing evangelical consensus and debates
• Presents a theological vocabulary and grammar that will help students to embrace an ecumenically orthodox and evangelical heritage

Contents

Part 1. Knowing the Triune God

• The Creed: Faith Seeking Understanding
• The Ten Commandments: A Community’s Moral Formation
• The Lord’s Prayer: The Church’s Spiritual Formation

Part 2. The Father, the Almighty Lord

• The Triune Name of God
• The Character of Providence
• The Goodness of Creation
• Human Beings

Part 3. The Son, the Mediating Logos

• The Identity of Jesus Christ
• The Ministry of Reconciliation
• Sin and Salvation
• The Gospel in Christian Traditions

Part 4. The Holy Spirit, the Life Giver

• God’s Empowering Presence
• Scripture
• Church
• All Things New

Top Highlights

“Sin is first and foremost the self-centered pursuit of autonomy from God” (Page 222)

“Christian theology is faith seeking understanding.” (Page 11)

“Evangelical egalitarians are still complementarian in broader philosophical debates: they acknowledge God-given biological differences between the sexes. Yet they hold that such differences do not require traditional patriarchy or underwrite gender essences: patriarchy appears in biblical texts due to cultural backgrounds, not a divine mandate, as an aspect of the curse rather than creation or redemption. Evangelical egalitarians insist that theological complementarianism is not a traditional Christian view. Instead, earlier theologians operated in patriarchal contexts that encouraged them to view women as fundamentally inferior to men, perhaps not even fully bearing God’s image.” (Page 163)

“God graciously initiated redemption by making a covenant with a particular group of people: Israel’s history with God dramatizes humanity’s rebellion. So Deuteronomy opposes apostasy, God’s covenant people falling into fundamental idolatry.” (Pages 222–223)

“In Scripture, hearing and obeying overlap enough that hearing is a metaphor for obedience. Beyond bare listening, biblical hearing begins the journey of trusting and obeying God.” (Page 13)

Praise for the Print Edition

In making introductions, first impressions count: according to a Harvard study it takes only seven seconds to size up a new acquaintance. Introducing Evangelical Theology makes a good impression in the first seven pages, where we meet a movement that is equally concerned with intellectual, moral, and spiritual formation; ecumenically orthodox and rooted in the great creeds; yet distinctly Protestant in its insistence that the gospel retain its glorious freedom to renew and reform. This is not simply an introduction to but an education in evangelical theology, and one to which I will be enthusiastically introducing students for years to come.

—Kevin J. Vanhoozer, research professor of systematic theology, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

What a great teacher! Treier is a master of summarizing the expansive, explaining the complicated, and highlighting the central. Here we encounter an invitation to experience the breadth of the Christian tradition while standing within the best of the spirit of evangelical theology. Treier is fair, judicious, generous, and wise. Learn to theologize like him not only for the good of your heart but also for the good of God’s church and world. This volume will surely be a great gift to a generation of readers.

—Kelly M. Kapic, Covenant College

Alert to theology’s doctrinal, moral, and spiritual dimensions; deeply informed by classical and contemporary approaches to the matters at hand; and irenic in its survey of a broad theological landscape, Treier’s Introducing Evangelical Theology offers a faithful and creative account of Christian teaching that both students and teachers will appreciate and that further distinguishes the author as one of our most gifted theologians.

—Scott R. Swain, president and James Woodrow Hassell Professor of Systematic Theology, Reformed Theological Seminary, Orlando

Product Details

• Title : Introducing Evangelical Theology
• Author: Daniel J. Treier
• Publisher: Baker
• Publication Date: 2019
• Pages: 464
• Resource Type: Introduction
• Topic: Theology

About Daniel J. Treier

Daniel J. Treier (PhD, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) is Gunther H. Knoedler Chair of Theology at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois. He previously served as Blanchard Professor of Theology at Wheaton, and he is the coeditor or author of several books, including Theology and the Mirror of Scripture, Introducing Theological Interpretation of Scripture, and Virtue and the Voice of God.