question for Christian Theology

Truth Seeker

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Hello,
This is my first thread... [:eek: ]

The question at hand is:

In your honest opinion..
What are the best books, textbooks, or authors..
a Christian Theologian wannabe
should read for obtaining
an absolute understanding
of Christian Theology?

The question rephrased; If I wanted to become the ultimate Christian Theologian.. what books should I have in my personal library.. from most important to least important.. to know and understand?

Folowing the Truth wherever it may lead:)
 
hey thanks!
I do have several Holy Bibles in my house.

The core concept of understanding Christianity should be found in the Bible.

Thanks from a fellow believer,
TS
 
Hey Truth Seeker. I would suggest Christian Theology by Alister E. McGrath - it's very non-biased, and deals largely with theological history. It's a real good place to start for those new to theology. I would also suggest Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem. Grudem's pretty conservative and heavy-handed at times, but he's still pretty good. Are you Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox, or what? That might help narrow down which theologians you should tackle after some introductory books. (On a side note: man, it's been a long time since I've posted on this forum. Hi everyone!)
 
Depends upon what denomination of Christianity you are drawn towards.

The theology differs, in some cases marginally, on other matters radically. It is equally important to understand from what perspective a theological writer approaches the subject.

Thomas
 
Hello everyone,
Thanks for responding.

My father was of the Catholic faith.
My mother was Methodist.

For years I was involved with a non-denominational movement. It was mainly Protestant oriented.

I married a Bible thumping Baptist. She grew up singing in the church, her family was like the house band or something. They are pretty much still heavily involved with the church they go to.

But anyhow I wanted to super-strengthen my faith/knowledge.. because of the shared information on the internet. I've read some good Christian books over the years.. mostly life stories and similar things of interest.

After reading an internet Christian debate I got the feeling there is much more to be known and understood.. that to share the faith with blatant educated non-believers was going to have to take a deeper approach than what I was previously accustomed to.

Thanks again for the replies,
TS
 
Truth Seeker said:
Hello,
This is my first thread... [:eek: ]

The question at hand is:

In your honest opinion..
What are the best books, textbooks, or authors..
a Christian Theologian wannabe
should read for obtaining
an absolute understanding
of Christian Theology?

The question rephrased; If I wanted to become the ultimate Christian Theologian.. what books should I have in my personal library.. from most important to least important.. to know and understand?

Folowing the Truth wherever it may lead:)

"Church History in Plain Language"
by Bruce L. Shelley

"How the Irish Saved the World"
by Thomas Cahill

"Believe in the God that Believes in You"
by Robert Schuller

"Crossing the Threshold of Hope"
by Pope John Paul II

"Bondage of the Will"
by Martin Luther

"The Book of Mormon"

"The Qu'Ran"

"The Pentatuch"

These are just for starters.

And welcome to CR.;)

v/r

Q
 
Truth Seeker said:
Hello,
This is my first thread... [:eek: ]

The question at hand is:

In your honest opinion..
What are the best books, textbooks, or authors..
a Christian Theologian wannabe
should read for obtaining
an absolute understanding
of Christian Theology?

The question rephrased; If I wanted to become the ultimate Christian Theologian.. what books should I have in my personal library.. from most important to least important.. to know and understand?

Folowing the Truth wherever it may lead:)

The Bible.
The Bible. different verse
The Bible. 3rd verse.
etc
 
I'd suggest a parallel bible...makes for easier comparisons between versions...looking at four bibles at once without flipping back and forth..

Also a book of parallel gospels....allowing one to look at Mathew, Mark, Luke and John and their similarities and differences..same reason as above.

And a couple different bibles with commentaries allowing you to get deeper into the scriptures gaining some historical context.

Metaphysical Bible Dictionary..by Fillmore is great for looking up the meanings behind names and places in the bible...

Hopefully in there some of these will have maps tis great to look and establish relationships between the events...
 
wil said:
Metaphysical Bible Dictionary..by Fillmore is great for looking up the meanings behind names and places in the bible...
For Christian Theology?

Hmmm book by a man that started a group that denies the Trinity, the deity of Jesus, the personality of the Holy Spirit, the necessity of atonement for sin, heaven, hell, sin and the devil...:eek:
 
Dor said:
For Christian Theology? Hmmm book by a man that started a group that denies the Trinity, the deity of Jesus, the personality of the Holy Spirit, the necessity of atonement for sin, heaven, hell, sin and the devil...:eek:

Ok, I wouldn't mind having a better book to obtain meanings and thought behind the names and places in the bible as a reference on my bookshelf...which one have you compared to the MBD and why do you feel it superior?

And unless I'm mistaken tis some churches and Catholicism that made the decsions on most of the above...not all of Christendom follows your doctrine...

As we've previously discussed nuch of the above was determined the bishops and church elders of the day, Jesus became a diety by a close vote...far from unaminous consent...and the Trinity was decided over a fist fight....as for hell and the devil...I don't believe Fillmore did believe in a critter...course neither did the Jews that wrote or read the texts today...and he fully believed in a hell of your own creation, the devil in one's mind that conflicts the Christ...and a heaven in our midst as Jesus spoke....scary stuff indeed.
 
Kindest Regards, Truth Seeker, and welcome to CR!

To the OP:

I'm surprised no one suggested a Strong's Concordance. Also of great help to me is the Companion Bible, which is a KJV with a lengthy series of footnotes by a noted Biblical scholar named Ginsberg. In addition, the Peshitta (translation from the Aramaic) helps highlight some "figures of speech." The Interlinear Bible is a direct translation to English from the Hebrew, Chaldee and Greek, which are included.

Hope this helps. :)
 
Quahom1 said:
"Church History in Plain Language"
by Bruce L. Shelley

"How the Irish Saved the World"
by Thomas Cahill

"Believe in the God that Believes in You"
by Robert Schuller

"Crossing the Threshold of Hope"
by Pope John Paul II

"Bondage of the Will"
by Martin Luther

"The Book of Mormon"

"The Qu'Ran"

"The Pentatuch"

These are just for starters.

And welcome to CR.;)

v/r

Q

I was interested to know your reasoning for including The Book of Mormon on this list.
 
Ok well Im done. Yall twist everything anyway you want and do whatever you want Im done discussing the same crap with the same 3 or 4 people. Wil have fun with your hogwash I guess Im going same way as everyone else who actually believes the bible on this board has done.....anyone remember Bastian, Bandit, Faithfulservant etc...notice they are all gone....wonder why
 
Dor said:
Ok well Im done. Yall twist everything anyway you want and do whatever you want Im done discussing the same crap with the same 3 or 4 people. Wil have fun with your hogwash I guess Im going same way as everyone else who actually believes the bible on this board has done.....anyone remember Bastian, Bandit, Faithfulservant etc...notice they are all gone....wonder why
Blessings Dor,

I believe I asked you for a better dictionary of biblical names than the one I provided... I believe I put forth information that I have gleaned from the bible and history...is there something specific I wrote that you dispute as not being reality? I read and enjoy the teachings found in the bible. I try not to sling stones, or deride any person here...and am open to discuss concepts... is that why folks leave, because there is not room for discussion on a discussion board? If wish to call my beliefs hogwash, that is ok...however it would be more productive to not have generalizations and discuss your itemized concerns. As I thought I responded to each of your derisions of Fillmore.

please to note there are 9 other respondents to this thread and over 30 posting to Christianity in the past couple months... If you wish, I'll stay off any thread you've posted on previously...not an issue to me...I'd personally love to discuss the nuances with you...but if my thoughts or questions or understandings offend you...
 
I believe that we that we should all strive to push ourselves beyond the point where we use archaic agricultural terms to describe the beliefs of others. I would have to side with wil on this issue.

It is always easier to deride and demonize others for their beliefs and opinions than it is to have calm and rational discussions about them. If I'm not mistaken, that is the whole point of the advancement of civilized behaviors and solutions to collective problems through discussion. But then, most of us did emerge from archaic agricultural backgrounds not too long ago.

What the hell is hogwash anyway? Does it have something to do with the accululation of waste water at county fairs or something ?

flow....:cool:
 
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