This is a good survey of the varieties of theologies within evangelical christianity. The author does a great service to the evangelical communions by calling for a rediscovery of the historical tradition of Christianity and a turn away from fundamentalism and obscurantism. As a Catholic, I appreciate this work, since it can lead evangelicals to a broader and more inclusive vision of Christianity. Highly recommended.

I have a Calvinistic view of prayer and divine Sovereingty and this book was a challenge to read, all the more challenging because the men Bloesch quoted from were Reformers. The advantages of Calvinistic theology are obvious, the only drawback is that many ask, what is the use of man praying? Bloesch engages the reader into the answer. This book will cause many Calvinists and Arminians to wrestle all the more deeply with the Living God. The interesting factors are that DB uses are:

The Prophetic Prayer (used by the Reformers)

The Mystic Prayer (Used by Catholic-Anglicans)

And the dangers of both extremes

Bloesch wrote these 2 volumes from the perspective of the mainline Evangelical and Reformed tradition, and so he deals extensively with the liberal Protestant theological writers of the 19th and 20th centuries (Schliermacher, Kierkiegaard, Harnack, Tillich,) as well as neo-orthodox writers (especially Barth, Brunner, Bonhoeffer, Kung, and Cullmann). He comes out evangelical in his teachings on the primacy of scripture (yet reflecting his Barthian influences, he sees scripture as a medium of divine revelation rather than just flat out divine revelation), salvation by grace through faith, and the substitutionary atonement of Christ (a doctrine that is sometimes ridiculed as archaic and primitive in the liberal Protestant tradition).

In volume two, Bloesch contributes fascinating chapters on the cruciality of preaching (a much ignored subject in most systematic theologies), scriptural holiness (where Bloesch is influenced somewhat by the Wesleyan-Holiness tradition), and the personal return of Jesus Christ (where Bloesch comes out with an awkward position combining elements of amillennial and postmillenial thought). He also concludes the book with an insightful discussion on heaven and hell, and a closing chapter on the future of evangelicalism. I recommend these volumes highly, but especially to those who are in mainline denominations such as the United Church of Christ and the Presbyterian Church, USA.

I can't add a lot to the excellent review by Marc Axelrod,
other than to say, "Amen!" Bloesch was and is a mentor,
teacher, and friend and I am so happy to have come across
his books while I was in theological school. They were
a great help to me then and continue to be a good resource
today. I frequently return to his works when I work on
sermons and Bible studies. I can't recommend his _Essentials_
and his current seven volume _Christian Foundations_ highly
enough.

This is the third volume of Bloesch's projected seven part systematic theology. He offers a useful discussion of some of the newer theories of God such as those of process theology. His own ideas are basically orthodox, although he seeks to correct the alleged Helenistic influences on the classical doctrine of God.

This is the third volume of Bloesch's projected seven part systematic theology. He offers a useful discussion of some of the newer theories of God such as those of process theology. His own ideas are basically orthodox, although he seeks to correct the alleged Helenistic influences on the classical doctrine of God.

Donald Bloesch does a masterful job soaking the issues related to the study of God's nature into the matrix of historical thought. He makes the reader aware of the philosophical strands which pervade the various doctrines related to God, and lends credit and criticism where they are needed. He suggests that the classical formulations of theology should be carefully examined and drained of some of the abstractions of philosophy, and that the aberrations of neo-orthodoxy be seen with the implications laid bare. Though Dr. Bloesch is not averse to the presence of reason and logic in the doing of theology, he emphasizes rightly that the God who occupies our thought must also transcend our comprehension. He opposes the reductionistic and rationalistic tendencies that are extant in modern theology. As a result of reading this book my understanding of theology proper has been calcified, and my awareness of differing views on the subject matter has been significantly increased.

Another challenging addition to Bloesch's growing work on the theology of Word and Spirit is his recent volume on the Church. The volume addresses many of the traditional areas of ecclesiology including the meaning, scope, authority, and composition of the church. But Bloesch is also exercised about current issues facing the church and critiques areas such as open theism, the concerns of feminists, and the dearth of theology in the modern church. His critique of contemporary worship is surprising and insightful. As with previous volumes Bloesch's ability to incorporate material from a wide range of sources and traditions makes the book an interesting and challenging read.
The volume leans more on historical theology and less on biblical and exegetical theology. At times the author appears to overstate his case (women could, on occasion, inherit property) to make his point. Throughout the work, Bloesch is clear on the importance of the gospel message and the claims of Christ but looks for ways to stretch the boundaries between very diverse groups in the Christian tradition. His assessment of 19th and 20th century movements and trends provides helpful background for the calls he issues to the present generation church. While I do not identify with many positions of the author I heartily recommend this book for those seeking information on the many and diverse issues facing the church today.

This is the sixth volume of the projected seven volume series by Prof. Donald Bloesch in his "Christian Foundations" series. Prof. Bloesch is something of a neo-evangelical or "post-fundamentalist" theologian in the Reformed tradition.

Although this series is billed as a "systematic theology," it is a somewhat unusual series of works. While Prof. Bloesch cites Scripture, his general approach is to pick a topic, state what others have said, and then set forth his own opinion. Generally his views fall within the ecumenical "vital center," but with a bias toward Reformed theology. His mentors are thinkers such as Barth, Torrance, and Forsythe. Unfortunately, he doesn't interact with more conservative Reformed thinkers.

This study of ecclesiology is fairly comprehensive, and includes sections and the sacraments, ministry, ecumenicalism and other key topics. There is an excellent chapter on worship, which defends traditional worship against more modern approaches. On the other hand, Prof. Bloesch supports the ordination of women and has moderately higher-critical views of Scripture. (Prof. Bloesch concedes in the introduction that he has been called a liberal by some conservatives.)

If you want to learn about "Christian foundations" a better place to start would be with Tom Oden's three volume systematic theology and some of the introductory works of Alister McGrath. From a Roman Catholic point of view, Ott's Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma and the Catechism of the Catholic Church are good as well.

Professor Donald Bloesch is one of the most influential evangelical theologians in recent years. He is currently at work on a seven volume systematic theology entitled CHRISTIAN FOUNDATIONS.

This work consists of background essays about Prof. Bloesch and discussions of specific aspects of this theology, as well as a response by Prof. Bloesch. As such it is an extremely useful book to read while studying Prof. Bloesch's systematic theology. It is also enjoyable to see Prof. Bloesch's work taken seriously by such well-known names as Avery Dulles and T. F. Torrance.

The book is subtitled EVANGELICAL THEOLOGY IN TRANSITION. This is an appropriate title. Prof. Bloesch is something of a "centrist" theologian whose work falls (broadly speaking) within the Reformed tradition. Prof. Bloesch is heavily influenced by Barth, not generally considered one of the more faithful interpreters of the Reformed tradition (although Barth can be read in many ways). Prof. Bloesch rejects biblical inerrancy as defined by conservatives, supports the ordination of women, accepts the possibility of salvation after death, and is opposed to defining the Trinity as "three separate persons." [pps. 122, 176, 128, 196.] Some people may consider that Prof. Bloesch's theology has "transitioned" into, well, liberalism.

When completed, Prof. Bloesch's systematic theology will have seven volumes. When this work came out, only four of the seven had been published. So we do not get a detailed discussion of Prof. Bloesch's ecclesiology and eschatology. Clark Pinnock's chapter on Prof. Bloesch's doctrine of the Holy Spirit was written before the volume on the subject came out. Hopefully the book will be updated when Prof. Bloesch's magnum opus is completed.

I enjoyed this book -- part 2 of a 7 part series on systematic theology. Bloesch represents a "progressive evangelical" approach and sees inerrancy limited to the overall intention of Scripture. I would have appreciated a greater discussion of the Warfield/Hodge approach to Scripture. While Bloesch argues that Scripture does not teach historical inerrancy, Warfield makes a good case that it does -- based on Scripture's own teaching. Bloesch should spend a little more time on traditional arguments. There is just too much concern with Barth, Brunner, Bultmann (a whole chapter!), etc.

Bloesch's Christian Foundations is an excellent series (4 out a projected 7 published thus far), based on a "progressive evangelical" approach. He relies a lot on Barth & Brunner, which will stick in some evangelical's craw. This book is my favorite since it does an excellent job in taking rationalists like Clark, Van Til, Geisler, etc. to task from a Calvinist perspective.

This book is the fifth of a projected seven volume systematic theology by Prof. Donald Bloesch. Like the other works in this series, it is written from a Protestant position that is largely influenced (although not controlled by) Reformed thought. Also, it continues Prof. Bloesch's irenic approach to the topic at hand. The book is dedicated to the memory of John Wesley (an Arminian) and George Whitefield (a Calvinist). The most surprising aspect of the book is how open Prof. Bloesch is to the pentecostal/charismatic movement. He rejects the view that some or all of the gifts of the spirit detailed in the New Testament were limited to the apostolic age. On the other hand, he rejects pentecostalism's emphasis on the "second blessing" and miracles and instead teaches a more Reformed approach to Christian living.

There is much to commend about this work. A large part of it consists of Prof. Bloesch's discussion of, and interaction with, numerous theological traditions. So, from Puritanism to Pietism, and Mormonism to Spiritism, you get a comprehensive discussion of various viewpoints on the Holy Spirit, as well as Prof. Bloesch's opinion of them. This is also the principal weakness of the book. It is to a large extent Prof. Bloesch's interaction with various theologians and schools. Prof. Bloesch does not ignore the Biblical data, but it unfortunately takes second place to the historical and theological discussions. There is a general background study of both testaments, and fairly detailed exegesis of a few pertinent biblical passages, but I would prefer more. This is particularly important in understanding pentecostalism. For example, basic to one's opinion of pentecostalism is just what happened at Pentecost - what were the "other tongues" that are mentioned in Acts 2 and what is their relation to the tongues at Corinith? Are they the same or different? Do both describe speaking human languages? If that's the case, then most of what goes on in pentecostal "tongue speaking" isn't biblical. In addition, what is wrong about the arguments that have convinced most theologians -- particularly those of Prof. Bloesch's Reformed tradition -- that the more spectacular gifts mentioned in the New Testament were of limited duration? Prof. Bloesch "glosses over" these issues.

Another volume has been added to Donald Bloesch's growing Systematic Theology. As the title indicates this work presents Bloesch's view of the Spirit and, for those who have read his works, emphasizes his reformed position. Bloesch continues to show his ability at understanding many viewpoints from numerous positions within the Christian tradition. He is extremely well read and touches base with main stream, obscure and abherrant views. This work is up to date and will be a "must read" for students of the Bible and theology. However, this book is not up to par with the earlier in his series (search Amazon: Christian Foundations) since there is a great emphasis upon historical theology and a focus, almost an attraction, to the gifts of the Spirit. True, this is an area of needed discussion today but missing is a discussion on the role of the Spirit in prayer, meditation or the interpretation of Scripture, a large gap for this work. It is a great book, characteristically Bloesch and will be helpful to many, so recommended.

This is the 4th of a projected 7 volume systematic theology. My main criticism is that Bloesch tries to do too much. The books is only 250 pages (without end notes) and he discusses both the person and work of Christ. Some of the discussion is too short. He really doesn't have the space to discuss many relevant Biblical citations. The book's chapter on the finality of Christ is excellent though. The reader might want to supplement this with Oden's The Word of Life or O'Collins' Christology.