I just finished Proclaiming a Cross-Centered Theology after laboring over it far too long. I just haven’t had as much time to read as I like (this may shock some of you who think I read too much). It is a collection of messages from one the Together for the Gospel conferences (sample pages).
I found it to be a very uneven book. There was a great disparity in the length of the chapters, as though some speakers were given far more time than others. Some of the shortest chapters were from those I most wanted to hear. Yet, some of those (while good) sounded an awful lot like other messages they’ve done. Since I don’t preach on the conference circuit, I am probably expecting too much for them to come up with a new message to fit the occasion. When I was ‘only’ doing pulpit supply during my transition, I would preach the same text a few times, tweaking it depending on the congregation. But no one travels hundreds, or thousands, of miles to hear me speak. This was a tad disappointing.
The book kicks off with a rather long chapter on Sound Theology by Ligon Duncan. He defends systematic theology as necessary for the life of the church. It is popular today (and most days) to decry systems, but we should be able to summarize doctrine to promote understanding of the whole. Preaching and teaching should be both expositional and theological, and Duncan notes. This is, in part, because our theology must be biblical. Yet, you don’t build a doctrine on only one text. That is a HOV line to heresy.
“Systematic theology is tied to exegesis.” John Murray
Duncan notes some problematic views that have popped up. His charity is on display in that he doesn’t name names. His goal is not to stigmatize anyone, but point out flaws in certain positions which tend to be anti-theological.
Cavman Considers 