Ladies and Theology

I just finished my second reading of Jen Wilkin's None Like Him.  If you recall, I did a book review of this at the beginning of the year.  I appreciated this book so much that I wanted to do a second reading of it.  This time, I was also blessed with a group of ladies who read along with me and discussed it together.  After my second reading, I like this book even more.  There is just so much theological truth to it! 

As a leader of ladies Bible studies and the one who is responsible for selecting the material we study, I often find myself at the Christian bookstore (online, usually) browsing through the studies geared towards women.  I flip through the best-sellers, the hot new releases, and the books I have heard recommended by others.  More often than not, I am disappointed by the lack of depth to these studies.  Many are mainly self-help books with Scripture sprinkled throughout.  I get it.  We ladies are drawn to these touchy-feely studies.  By divine design, we tend to be emotive rather than logical.  That is a good thing!  But sometimes, we need to put forth the hard work and feed that weaker logical drive within us.  By doing so, we will be better grounded, better equipped to face everyday life.

The irony of studying theology is that this logical study drives our emotional response.  The Holy Spirit actually uses it to transform how we think about ourselves and therefore how we live.  As Scott Sauls writes, "Loveliness, or holiness, or the fruit of the Spirit, or whatever we are going to call it, will not grow in us when we seek it directly.  It is not fruit we should be seeking; it is Jesus".  Choose to seek Jesus.  Choose to study Him.  Put forth the hard work of thinking through the things taught in Scripture.  It truly is life-changing.

Theology does not have to be dry or boring.  It does not have to be something only scholars dig into.  By God's grace, He has revealed Himself to the everyday person like you and me.  But it does take effort, and there are many great resource available to assist us in our learning.

Full disclosure:  I am not an expert on this by any means.  I struggle as well.  This hard work is fairly new to me.  But it is completely worth the effort.

Book Review: Truths We Confess

R.C. Sproul's Truths We Confess is an exposition of the Westminster Confession of Faith.  Originally published as a 3-volume set in 2006-2007, it has now been combined and re-released in this one-volume edition.  Though the 720 pages of theologically-rich material may seem daunting, I challenge you to consider a slow and thorough reading of this book.

In his foreword, Dr. Sinclair Ferguson explains the importance of the Westminster Confession to the everyday Christian.  "The Westminster Confession of Faith

was written not to be dissected by academics but to guide the church and to instruct Christians and help them grasp the structure of the gospel.  It does for us what, sadly, is no longer done as a matter of course either in the church or in the educational system: it teaches us first principles, and it shows us how to think through everything in light of them."

Sproul writes, "The Westminster Confession is the most precise and accurate summary of the content of biblical Christianity ever set forth in a creedal form."  He goes on to explain the 33 tenets of the confession in a format that is accessible to the lay reader.  Each tenet is listed at the beginning of a chapter, then broken down and further explained throughout the chapter.  Appendices contain the full content of both the larger and shorter Westminster Catechism.

It is important to note that Sproul writes from a Reformed background, explaining a Reformed confession.  While I do not agree with the view of baptism presented, most other chapters were consistent with my Baptist/Bible church beliefs.

This very thorough book is best taken in small sections.  This might best be read as a reference when studying different doctrines, or a challenge to read one chapter a week over the course of time.  In full transparency, I am not yet finished reading this book myself.  My survey thus far has given me confidence to recommend this book and to finish reading it in the future.

Rachel's Rating:
★★★★★

Thanks to NetGalley for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.