Exploring Christian Theology: The Church, Spiritual Growth, and the End Times

Good read.

I like a book that is easy to understand and has information I am interested in. This book is good for Bible studies I am currently working on. It is not overly long either.

Very accessible. And I love how they honor the Christian traditions pre-Reformation in this series. Both are excellent DTS professors.

I have really enjoyed all 3 of the volumes in this set. They are really well-written, explaining theology and Christian background. I would highly recommend these to anyone interested in theology and the Church.

It wasn't what I was looking for but is a good read anyway

Crisp, new pages. Got more than I was expecting!

Absolutely easy to read and understand.T. Allen

EXPLORING CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY (The Church, Spiritual Growth and the End Times) by Nathan D. Holsteen and Michael J. Svigel, general editors There are three volumes in this series of primers discussing major theological doctrines of the Christian faith. This particular volume is basically two books in one. It isn’t comprehensive but is a good starting point for further study on justification, sanctification and the end times. I’m not sure you can discuss theology without big words, but the editors do a good job of helping the reader understand these words using stories from their own lives, Star Wars, the Bourne Identity and even Dr. Seuss. Lest you think this might be light and silly, it is not. It is not really a casual read either. You will get out of this book as much as you put into it, whether it is by just casual reading, memorizing the scriptures included or asking questions and letting it lead you to further study. Keep a pen handy. I found myself at times having a discussion with the book’s editors about things I agreed with, disagreed with, understood or didn’t understand. I actually enjoyed this book more than I expected to, and the invisible and visible church discussions I found to be very clear about our relationship with God and with each other.The second half of this volume is on the end times. If you are looking for an explanation of the book of Revelations, you will need to look somewhere else. (However, the editor does list recommended books for that. Interestingly enough, I only recognized one author whose book is in my library inherited from a Southern Baptist preacher. I plan to pull it out and put it on my to-read list now.) This book barely touches on Revelation and mostly deals with end times prophecy starting in the Old Testament to Jesus teaching, Paul’s writings and through to Revelations 19-22, such as Heaven and Hell, what happens when we die, judgment, the rapture, the tribulation and various pre-, post- and amillennialism viewpoints.I loved the format used. The way these two “books” are divided makes it easy to concentrate on one particular discussion before moving to the end. There is a glossary at the back that explains the “big” words in simple easy-to-understand language. There are scriptures for memorization that fit in with what is being discussed, lets you know where the author is coming from and other scriptures used to back up this teaching. I could go on and on about the history of the Christian church, distortions and dangers to avoid, as well as reading lists for further study (which are basically only a starting point and by no means comprehensive), but this review is too long already. Thank you Bethany House for sending me this book to review. I think it will be useful in further deeper study down the road. It is one I look forward to coming back to.