Christian Theology

Millard J. Erickson, a prominent evangelical theologian, offers a comprehensive treatment of the major doctrines of the Christian faith in this systematic theology, an organized presentation of Christian doctrines as a unified whole. Erickson organizes his work around the central motif of the "magnificence of God," encompassing both God's power and the excellence of his moral nature. The book moves methodically from foundational questions about theology's nature and method through the full scope of Christian doctrine, aiming to present timeless biblical truths in a form accessible to contemporary readers.

Erickson begins by defining theology as the discipline that strives to give a coherent statement of Christian doctrines, drawn primarily from Scripture, placed in cultural context, expressed in contemporary language, and related to practical life. He distinguishes systematic theology from biblical theology (which describes the theological content of individual biblical writers), historical theology (which traces doctrinal development over time), and philosophical theology (which scrutinizes theological concepts and arguments). He then addresses the challenge of doing theology in a world shaped first by modernism's confidence in human reason and then by postmodernism's skepticism toward objective truth. While acknowledging postmodernism's valid insight that every thinker's perspective is shaped by culture and history, Erickson argues that this conditioning can be recognized and partially corrected. He advocates "neofoundationalism," the position that some beliefs are more basic than others without those foundations needing to be absolutely certain, and proposes a "translator" approach to contextualizing theology: Retaining each doctrine's essential content while finding new forms of expression for different cultural settings.

The book's treatment of Scripture forms the epistemological foundation for everything that follows. Erickson argues that God has revealed himself both universally, through nature, history, and the human conscience (general revelation), and through particular communications to particular persons at particular times (special revelation). Scripture, as the written product of special revelation, is itself revelation in a derivative sense. Erickson contends that special revelation is both personal and propositional: God reveals himself as a person, but does so in part by communicating factual information about himself. On inspiration, he defends the view that the Holy Spirit directed the biblical writers' thoughts with such precision that even their word choices reflect God's intention, while insisting this was not mechanical dictation; God providentially shaped each writer's personality, vocabulary, and experiences over a lifetime. He defines biblical inerrancy as the Bible's full truthfulness when interpreted according to the standards and purposes of its original cultural setting.

Turning to the doctrine of God, Erickson organizes the divine attributes into "greatness" and "goodness." Greatness includes God's spirituality, personality, self-existence, infinity, and constancy, a term Erickson prefers to "immutability" to avoid connotations of lifelessness. Goodness includes his holiness, righteousness, justice, truthfulness, faithfulness, and love. Erickson insists that God's love and justice are complementary dimensions of one unified nature, with the cross demonstrating both simultaneously. He addresses God's relationship to the world through the paired concepts of transcendence (God's existence beyond creation) and immanence (God's active nearness within creation), arguing both must be held in balance. Drawing on the philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, he suggests God exists in a different dimension of reality, near to the world yet beyond it. The doctrine of the Trinity receives detailed attention: Erickson traces the development of the formula "one essence in three persons" and defends the eternal equal authority of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit against those who argue for a permanent hierarchy within the Godhead.

On creation and providence, Erickson argues that God brought all things into existence without preexisting materials and favors "progressive creationism," the view that God created from scratch at several widely separated points, with development occurring between these creative acts. He treats the "days" of Genesis as long periods of time. His doctrine of providence affirms that God sustains creation and guides all events toward his purposes while preserving genuine human freedom through "compatibilism," the idea that a decision can be both certain in its outcome and freely made. The problem of evil receives extended treatment: Evil is a necessary accompaniment of creating genuinely free beings; God became a fellow victim of evil through the incarnation (God the Son becoming human in Jesus); and the life to come provides the ultimate context for resolving injustice.

Erickson's doctrine of humanity identifies the image of God as the set of qualities, including intelligence, will, and emotions, that constitute personhood and enable relationship with God. He advocates "conditional unity" as a model of human nature: Normally a unified being, the human person can exist in a disembodied state between death and resurrection, with full unity restored at the final resurrection. His treatment of sin defines it fundamentally as failure to let God be God, traces its origin to human choice in response to temptation, and affirms total depravity, meaning sin affects every aspect of the person and renders the sinner unable to achieve salvation by personal effort.

Erickson's Christology (the doctrine of Christ's person and work) defends Christ's full deity and full humanity, united in one person. He argues that in the incarnation, the Son did not surrender any divine attributes but added humanity, voluntarily restricting the independent exercise of his divine powers. On the atonement, Christ's reconciling work addressing human sin, Erickson surveys the major theories and identifies penal substitution as the central theme: Christ bore the penalty for human sin, satisfying God's justice while demonstrating his love. He contends this view incorporates the valid insights of all competing theories.

The doctrine of the Holy Spirit establishes the Spirit's full deity and personality, traces his work through the Old Testament, the life of Jesus, and the ongoing life of believers, and addresses contemporary debates about miraculous gifts. Erickson concludes that the Bible does not clearly indicate when such gifts will cease.

Erickson's soteriology (doctrine of salvation) defends unconditional election, the belief that God's choice of whom to save is not based on foreseen human actions. He orders the beginning of salvation as effectual calling (God's enabling summons to the elect), conversion (repentance and faith), and then regeneration (God's transforming work of new birth). He treats justification as a forensic declaration of righteousness based on the imputation, or crediting, of Christ's righteousness to the believer; adoption as restoration to favored status with God; and sanctification as the progressive work of the Holy Spirit making believers actually holy, a process not completed in this life. He affirms that genuine believers will persevere in faith because God uses warnings and means of grace to sustain them. Erickson rejects universalism, arguing that biblical passages sometimes cited in its support refer to universal atonement or universal submission to Christ, not the salvation of every individual.

The doctrine of the church identifies the church as the whole body of those reconciled to God through Christ, manifested locally wherever believers gather. Erickson favors congregational government, concludes that the greater weight of evidence supports women's full access to teaching and leadership ministries, advocates believers' baptism by immersion, and holds a commemorative view of the Lord's Supper that affirms Christ's special spiritual presence without requiring a physical transformation of the elements.

The book concludes with eschatology, the doctrine of last things. Erickson affirms the personal, bodily, visible return of Christ as a single event, favors premillennialism (Christ will return before a literal earthly reign) and posttribulationism (the church will be present during the great tribulation but protected from God's wrath), and describes heaven as the presence of God and hell as conscious, eternal separation from God. He closes by reflecting that genuine theology should lead not to intellectual pride but to deeper love for God and more effective communication of the gospel.