Popular Systematic Guide to Understanding Biblical Truths - Book Report/Review Example

?Basic Theology: A Popular Systematic Guide to Understanding Biblical Truths by Charles Caldwell Ryrie The book Basic Theology: A Popular Systematic Guide to Understanding Biblical Truth is written by Charles Caldwell Ryrie. It is about systematic theology with basic language used by the author. The simple terms ensure that the general public can easily understand the matter and what it teaches. Theology is basically the study of religion. It is something which can be done by everybody. They do not need a specific degree or thought process to be a theologian. They can just think about the religion, they may go ahead and go beyond to find out more about it by taking classes or reading books, or they could just have intellectual discussions with other interested parties. They just have to be open-minded about it and be acceptable of other people’s opinions. It is not necessary that they must be following a particular religion and then only will they understand it. In fact, they can learn about it by observing others or researching over it. Of course, the religion they practice is the one they are most informed about. Then they will know and learn a lot more about it since listening to other people’s experiences is a great deal different than experiencing some things on their own. Theology is thinking about God and then communicating those thoughts in a particular manner. Theology, which is sloppy, is an issue though. Christians’ thoughts of God should correspond with what He has said in the Bible about Himself. Charles Ryrie has used his complete understanding of the Scriptures and a simple writing style to write about the Basic Theology. His book is useful for every student who is interested in studying the God’s Word as he has provided the reader with a clear cut and comprehendible depiction of Ryrie’s advancement to systematic theology. Theology is branched out into different types and one of them is called systematic theology. As the name itself tells, it focuses on placing the various teachings of God and the Bible in an orderly manner depending on the teaching. It collects all the information about a particular thing, for example angels, these are then organized and compiled together in one section. In this manner, if the reader is interested in just a specific belief of a religion, he can go directly to that part and become well informed without much fuss as all the data is given together. Systematic theology is a mixture of biblical, historical and at times philosophical theology. Its main endeavor is to draw a proper account of the teachings of the Bible and of the doctrines it talks about. Systematic theology also explains how following the doctrines may cause changes in the execution of the other doctrines as they are all related to each other. This theology is a part of practical theology in which passages from the Scripture are used to draw conclusions which are then pertinent to the Church. It addresses topics such as God, Humanity, etc. and endeavors to summarize the biblical teachings about that topic. In his book, Ryrie has talked about a variety of subjects like basic overview of the Bible’s main doctrines. He has also written pages on God, the book of God i.e. the Bible, the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ and the church. Other than these, the author has hit on the topics of Satan, sin, salvation, human beings, angels, demons, the happenings which have not occurred yet and much more. The book also has a glossary of the theological terms for the readers who are new to the subjects and those who are not can only renew their knowledge. There is also a list given of the key Scripture contents for studying theology. There are fifteen sections in total in the book and each are further divided into more chapters so the reader is given the explanations about the specific topic in detail. The first section is called ‘Prolegomena’. The title itself actually means ‘preliminary remarks’ which is quite self explanatory. In this part, the author has written his thoughts about the book. It is an introduction of sorts and readies to the reader as to what to expect in the rest of the book. It kind of gives a form, an outline of what the book is about and what the author was thinking of whilst writing the book, why he wrote the book in the manner he did. Theology and its types are talked off over here. They can be catalogued in three ways: by era, point of view and focus. Other than this, the Historical, Biblical and Systematic Theology are also defined here. There are presuppositions that everybody has. Religion is a universal thing and everybody has some or the other idea regarding it. There are people with the basic thoughts for example atheists do not believe that God exists. They follow no religion and that is that. Because of their perspective, they view the world and the life around them in a particular manner which is not quite common. Then there are the interpretative ones who discuss the revelations normally. Ignoring this would mostly lead to confusion of all kinds. Then the priority of the New Testament is talked about next, which is followed by the discussion of the proof texts. The second section is called ‘The Living and True God’. It is further divided into five chapters which all talk about the various qualities of God. The third part is ‘The Bible: God-Breathed’ and it has seven further parts in it. This chapter starts off with a discussion about the special revelation and the biblical doctrine of inspiration. It is followed by the talk of the defections of the latter and then there is a chapter on the inerrancy of the Bible. Then there are chapters on the inerrancy and the teachings of the Christ. Then there is an in depth discussion on the problems faced by the readers whilst reading through particular passages in the Bible. There is talk about the canon and the different ways a person can interpret the revelations in the Bible. It is not required that one be especially educated to be able to understand particular passages. Of course, there are scholars who are especially trained to understand this sort of a thing but average people can come up with their own interpretations as well. ‘Angels: ministering spirits’ is the fourth section of the book. This has just five chapters which talk about the existence of the celestial beings, how God created them with fire and also what attributes the angels have. That they solely worship God and their complete loyalty is for Him alone. They listen to all His commands and carry them out faithfully. The rest of their time is spent in worshipping Him. There are also chapters on the organization and the ministry of the angels. God has given every angel a specific task too; they are allotted certain positions as well. The fifth section is titled ‘Our Adversary the Devil’. The four parts in this section talk about the devil and what exactly he is. How he was an angel first but due to his refusal to follow God’s direct command and bow before a human being, he was banished. Since then he has been busy trying to turn God’s people wayward, he tries to turn them to the wrong path. Sometimes he is successful, and there are times when people’s faiths are so strong that they can manage to ignore him and the temptations he raises. Those who are continuously being influenced by Satan keep committing sins and if they do not realize the result of their actions and repent, they will be sent to Hell in the life after death. This is what Satan wants. Section six is called ‘Demons: Unclean Spirits’. This is three parts in it which talk about what demons are and what they do. How they also sort of come in the league of the Satan as they misguide the people. The seventh section is called ‘Man: The Image of God’. The first chapter of this part starts off with the talk about the evolution and origination of man. How it was followed by the revelations and so the Bible was compiled to help people live their lives the right way, it gave them guidelines. There are also chapters talking about the creations, the various facets, and finally the fall of man. The eighth section is all about ‘Sin’. The Biblical concept of sin is the first chapter. It explains what sin really is. How when we carry out a bad deed, which is anything which God has forbidden us to do, we commit a sin. It is human nature to be fallible and easily misguided so we often commit sins, sometimes unconsciously and sometimes not so. It has been the way since the beginning of times and will continue on till the Day of Judgment. It is a quality inherited from our ancestors and something which we will, no doubt, pass on to our progeny. However, it is up to us to ask for forgiveness and to try not to stray from the right path. No one is perfect but one can surely try to be as close to perfection as possible. After all, at the end of the day, the fact that one tried counts than the fact that one never even bothered to try thinking it to be impossible and thus, not worth spending time over. The ninth part is titled ‘Jesus Christ Our Lord’. The six chapters in this bit, of course, talk about the Prophet sent to the people by God. Christ was sent as a Messiah to the people to bring them to the right path. His birth, too, was not normal – it was not the way generally children were born. His mother Virgin Mary was just that – a virgin – and yet she had given birth to Jesus who had defended his mother’s honor on birth by speaking to the crowd. Even later on, he continued to give proof of his being the man of God by performing various miracles, one of the most well-known being him walking on water. Jesus Christ is also called the Prophet, King as well as a Priest. He led the Christians to the right path and was sinless himself. He was the model to be followed by the rest, living the life of a perfect being. The chapters talk of the persecution Christ faced and how he was eventually nailed to the cross. They mention his resurrection and that all his sufferings were in behalf of his followers – those of the times and those of the future as well. His suffering was the sacrifice he gave for the salvation of the Christians. ‘So Great a Salvation’ is the tenth section of Ryrie’s book. The several chapters in this part talk in detail about the Christ’s death and how it was a way of ensuring salvation for the Christians. The meaning behind the way Christ died has been explained in detail. Atonement is talked about and also that the believers should remain secure with the fact that everybody makes mistakes but they can repent too and redemption is the way to go. They can atone for the bad deeds carried out for them and earn salvation which will help them in the life after death. The eleventh part is ‘The Holy Spirit’. The title is pretty self-explanatory, the first chapter explains of a connection between the believer and God and the love between the two. The next chapters talk of the Spirit in the Old Testament times and the way it is related to Christ. How it is an important part of the religion, when baptizing people or during a wedding ceremony or even at a funeral, etc. The last chapter gives a detailed history of the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. The twelfth section, of the book is called ‘I will Build my Church’. It discusses the place of worship of the Christians. The chapters talk about the different kinds of churches which are around all over the world and what factors make them distinct from each other. The type of church government as well as who could hold what position in the church are also discussed. Finally, the ordinances, way of worship and the various ministries of the church are talked about, too. Section thirteen is titled ‘Things to Come’ and is in great detail. This part touches a variety of subjects from eschatology to the talk of the past, current and even the future. Certain predictions about the life in the future are discussed and the different rapture views are talked about too. The Day of Judgment and life after death are mentioned as well. The prospect of Hell or Heaven, depending on the person’s scale of good and/or bad deeds, are also given some space to talk off. Section fourteen consists of some central passages which could be used for the study of theology. Lastly, the fifteenth section is wholly made up of definitions. All the meanings of terms which may be new or uncommon have been listed in the end of the book with their meanings. Finally, there is an index of the Scripture and subjects. This book has charts and definitions, passages from the Scripture as well as subject indices which help the reader to fully comprehend Ryrie’s thoughts about systematic theology. It allows the reader to think of how God wants him to match the image with that of the Christ. It has talked about so many aspects of the religion and these help with bettering the mind and heart and spirits of the reader. If applied to one’s life, these may help in turning one into a good Christian, a pure believer. As it is the Christians purpose to be such that their thoughts coincide with what God has said about Himself in the Holy Book. One can preach and tell people what to do. Several books have been written on systematic theology and these are quite verbose with hundreds, even thousands of pages. Ryrie’s book is not the same way. Instead, he is concise and to the point. He does not go on about things lest the reader gets bored of reading a bit too much, and then there would be no point of picking up the book in the first place. Also, as mentioned earlier somewhere above, the words and terms used in the book are very simple. Ryrie’s writing style is such that any reader can easily understand what he reads, which is what is the most important by the end of the day. As long as the readers comprehend what is in the book, they can follow the teachings of God and what He has said in the Bible and what Jesus Christ says. Once they know the gist of the religion, they can easily follow the beliefs and turn out to be faithful and pious Christians, indeed. Read More