Theology Questions Everyone Asks: Christian Faith in Plain Language

by Gary M. Burge (Editor), David Lauber (Editor), Philip Ryken (Foreword by)

Overview

Everyone has questions about God and what matters most in life. When we ask those questions, we are asking about theology.

• Isn't talk about God really a guessing game?
• What good is the Old Testament?
• How can we have free will if God controls everything?
• The virgin birth. Really?
• What does an earthquake say about God?
• Is the Holy Spirit still at work in churches today?
• What did Jesus think about getting married?
• Does being a Christian mean having particular political views?

While books about doctrine supply description and analysis of the classic questions of the faith, they often miss the contemporary questions on the minds of readers. This book fills that gap. Organized around the key topics of Jesus, the Bible, church, the Holy Spirit, evil, salvation and hope, the sometimes-provocative questions on these topics aim to ring true with the lived experience of real people. Even more, they look to inspire reflection, debate, disagreement, and above all, engagement in what the Christian faith is all about.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780830884483
Publisher:	IVP Academic
Publication date:	02/10/2014
Sold by:	Bookwire
Format:	eBook
Pages:	203
File size:	714 KB

About the Author

David Lauber (Ph.D., Princeton Theological Seminary) is associate professor of theology at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois. He is author of Barth on the Descent into Hell.

Gary M. Burge (Ph.D., University of Aderbeen) is professor of New Testament at Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois. Among his many published books are The Evangelical One Volume Commentary on the Bible (general editor with A. Hill), John: The Gospel of Life and the award-winning Whose Land? Whose Promise?.

Philip Graham Ryken (Ph.D., Oxford) is President of Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois. He is Bible teacher for the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals, and can be heard weekly on the radio broadcast Every Last Word. He has written or edited more than thirty books including The Message of Salvation, The Doctrines of Grace (with James Montgomery Boice) and Ryken's Bible Handbook.

Gary M. Burge is professor of New Testament at Wheaton College. In over thirty years of teaching he has served on three college faculties. Among his numerous published works are Theology Questions Everyone Asks (with coeditor David Lauber), Jesus the Middle Eastern Storyteller and A Week in the Life of a Roman Centurion.

David Lauber (Ph.D., Princeton Theological Seminary) is associate professor of theology at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois, and the author of Barth on the Descent into Hell: God, Atonement and the Christian Life.

Philip Graham Ryken (Ph.D., Oxford) is President of Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois. He is Bible teacher for the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals, and can be heard weekly on the radio broadcast Every Last Word. He has written or edited more than thirty books including The Message of Salvation, The Doctrines of Grace (with James Montgomery Boice) and Ryken's Bible Handbook.

Table of Contents

Foreward by Philip G. Ryken
Contributors
Preface
1. What is Christianity? Timothy Larsen
2. What is the Bible? Kevin J. Vanhoozer
3. Who is God? George Kalantzis
4. How Does God relate to the world? Gregory W. Lee
5 . What is the meaning of evil and suffering? Jennifer Powell McNutt
6. Who is Jesus? Gary M. Burge
7. What is Salvation? Keith L. Johnson
8. Who is the Holy Spirit? Jeffrey W. Barbeau
9. Who are Human Beings? David Lauber
10. Who is the Church? Daniel J. Treier
11. How should I live? Vincent Bacote
12. What is Christian Hope? Beth Felker Jones
Notes
Where Do We Go from Here?

What People are Saying About This

Adam Neder

"This book is so well done that many people who teach introductory Christian theology courses will wonder how they got along without it. It provides lucid and engaging answers to important theological questions that students care about. This is an unusually helpful resource."

Mary Veeneman

"Theology Questions Everyone Asks is exactly the kind of book needed in the undergraduate theology classroom. This text examines questions that my students ask on a regular basis and does so in a way that is engaging and relevant. The authors have done an excellent job weaving together both the biblical text and salient moments from the Christian tradition, making this book a much-needed addition to the tools at hand for every undergraduate theology professor."

Kelly M. Kapic

"Don't we all have questions? I do. Not just the acceptable questions people feel comfortable asking, but the haunting questions that linger in your mind and heart—the kind of questions you may be afraid to verbalize because people will accuse you of doubt or irreverence. But these essays freely engage our questions and ask ones we have not even yet thought about. Thankfully, they also provide thoughtful answers, built on solid research and reflection, yet remaining always accessible and clear. This is a fantastic book for all who long to have their questions about the faith taken seriously."

Marc Cortez

"Students, teachers and pastors everywhere face the same challenge: how do you deal with the perennial questions of theology? This excellent set of essays draws on the authors' extensive teaching experience to explain with creativity and clarity how to address a wide range of commonly asked questions. The authors demonstrate a commendable ability to combine scholarly depth with an accessible and engaging style of writing. Theology Questions Everyone Asks should provoke many thoughtful discussions in classrooms and churches everywhere."

John Ortberg

"This book will be a helpful resource for many readers who want a single tool that addresses their most frequently asked questions. It will aid learner and teacher alike."

Thomas H. McCall

"Some of the most penetrating and intriguing theological questions are the ones asked not by professional theologians but by sincere students and laypersons. Helpful answers to such questions are not, alas, as common as we might think. Thankfully, in Theology Questions Everyone Asks, we get some real-truth answers to go with real-life questions."

Editorial Reviews

"Students, teachers and pastors everywhere face the same challenge: how do you deal with the perennial questions of theology? This excellent set of essays draws on the authors' extensive teaching experience to explain with creativity and clarity how to address a wide range of commonly asked questions. The authors demonstrate a commendable ability to combine scholarly depth with an accessible and engaging style of writing. Theology Questions Everyone Asks should provoke many thoughtful discussions in classrooms and churches everywhere."

Marc Cortez

"This volume gathers short essays (and suggestions for further reading) from theology professors at Wheaton College. They have listened and reflected as generations of students have asked about human life and purpose. The book aims to assure curious or wavering believers that 'good and thoughtful answers are at hand that can help.'"

Christianity Today

"This book will be a helpful resource for many readers who want a single tool that addresses their most frequently asked questions. It will aid learner and teacher alike."

John Ortberg

"Don't we all have questions? I do. Not just the acceptable questions people feel comfortable asking, but the haunting questions that linger in your mind and heart—the kind of questions you may be afraid to verbalize because people will accuse you of doubt or irreverence. But these essays freely engage our questions and ask ones we have not even yet thought about. Thankfully, they also provide thoughtful answers, built on solid research and reflection, yet remaining always accessible and clear. This is a fantastic book for all who long to have their questions about the faith taken seriously."

Kelly M. Kapic

"Some of the most penetrating and intriguing theological questions are the ones asked not by professional theologians but by sincere students and laypersons. Helpful answers to such questions are not, alas, as common as we might think. Thankfully, in Theology Questions Everyone Asks, we get some real-truth answers to go with real-life questions."

Thomas H. McCall

"This book is so well done that many people who teach introductory Christian theology courses will wonder how they got along without it. It provides lucid and engaging answers to important theological questions that students care about. This is an unusually helpful resource."

Adam Neder

"All in all this is a good approach to biblical theology. It is conservative in thought and methodology, but fair and open-minded. The book is well organized. The scholars are well qualified. The topics are pertinent to theological dialog. I will use this book for my biblical theology course."

Joseph C. Grana II

"Theology Questions Everyone Asks is exactly the kind of book needed in the undergraduate theology classroom. This text examines questions that my students ask on a regular basis and does so in a way that is engaging and relevant. The authors have done an excellent job weaving together both the biblical text and salient moments from the Christian tradition, making this book a much-needed addition to the tools at hand for every undergraduate theology professor."

Mary Veeneman

"All in all this is a good approach to biblical theology. It is conservative in thought and methodology, but fair and open-minded. The book is well organized. The scholars are well qualified. The topics are pertinent to theological dialog. I will use this book for my biblical theology course."

--Joseph C. Grana II, Stone-Campbell Journal, Fall 2015

"Students, teachers and pastors everywhere face the same challenge: how do you deal with the perennial questions of theology? This excellent set of essays draws on the authors' extensive teaching experience to explain with creativity and clarity how to address a wide range of commonly asked questions. The authors demonstrate a commendable ability to combine scholarly depth with an accessible and engaging style of writing. Theology Questions Everyone Asks should provoke many thoughtful discussions in classrooms and churches everywhere."

--Marc Cortez, associate professor of theology, Wheaton College

"Theology Questions Everyone Asks is exactly the kind of book needed in the undergraduate theology classroom. This text examines questions that my students ask on a regular basis and does so in a way that is engaging and relevant. The authors have done an excellent job weaving together both the biblical text and salient moments from the Christian tradition, making this book a much-needed addition to the tools at hand for every undergraduate theology professor."

--Mary Veeneman, assistant professor of biblical and theological studies, North Park University

"More than a catechism, and more elaborate than a profession of faith, this explicitly didactic and accessible series of answers to typical quandaries ought to be useful as a point of departure for many Christian education classes."

--Library Journal, February 15, 2014

"Some of the most penetrating and intriguing theological questions are the ones asked not by professional theologians but by sincere students and laypersons. Helpful answers to such questions are not, alas, as common as we might think. Thankfully, in Theology Questions Everyone Asks, we get some real-truth answers to go with real-life questions."

--Thomas H. McCall, associate professor of biblical and systematic theology, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

"This volume gathers short essays (and suggestions for further reading) from theology professors at Wheaton College. They have listened and reflected as generations of students have asked about human life and purpose. The book aims to assure curious or wavering believers that 'good and thoughtful answers are at hand that can help.'"

--Christianity Today, March 2014

From the Publisher

02/15/2014
Burge and Lauber (New Testament and theology, respectively, Wheaton Coll.) have edited this cluster of essays by Wheaton College professors—so, this is a home recipe made available to the broader Evangelical and Christian audience. Make no mistake about its perspective: although its authors tend to dart around the more tendentious issues—check the passages on substitutionary atonement and free will—the collection's distinctiveness lies in its reliance on theology rather than story or history, in contrast to most introductions to the faith. VERDICT More than a catechism, and more elaborate than a profession of faith, this explicitly didactic and accessible series of answers to typical quandaries ought to be useful as a point of departure for many Christian education classes.

Library Journal