Christian Foundations Collection (7 volumes)

A Theology of Word & Spirit: Authority & Method in Theology

• 336 pages

In the inaugural volume of his seven-volume systematic theology, Christian Foundations, Donald G. Bloesch surveys his method. His approach is conversant with up-to-the-minute theological concerns but also vitally grounded in the Reformation emphasis on biblical revelation illumined by the Holy Spirit.

[A Theology of Word & Spirit is] a masterful reflection on the nature of scriptural authority and method.
—New Oxford Review

In A Theology of Word & Spirit Bloesch draws out the contemporary implications of the biblically founded theology of Augustine, Luther, Calvin and Barth. He also offers fresh and faithful discussions of relativism, the present church conflict over biblical authority, fideism and rationalism, feminine-gender language for God, narrative theology, and the hermeneutical problem.

Harvesting the fruit of a lifetime of devoted scholarship and passionate dialogue, Bloesch offers his assessments and reflections at a time of extraordinary change and challenge. In A Theology of Word & Spirit he points the way toward a confessional theology for the 21st century.

A 1994 Christianity Today book award winner.

Praise for the Print Edition

Bloesch argues convincingly for a theology of Word and Spirit, not of rationalism or mysticism. Like Luther and Calvin, Forsyth and Barth, his mentors, Bloesch believes that the power of the Word of God creates its own hearing. Christologically centered and biblically rooted, Bloesch is in continual dialogue with theologians past and present. He states that his desire in [A Theology of Word & Spirit] is to produce 'an enlivening and liberating orthodoxy,' and he has succeeded.
—Robert K. Johnston, Fuller Theological Seminary

With A Theology of Word & Spirit evangelical elder statesman Donald Bloesch launches his seven-volume magnum opus, a systematic theology based entirely on God's self-revelation. It is an evangelical theology for the entire church of God and boldly proclaims a Christocentric approach that avoids subverting the gospel to alien systems of thought. Those who have appreciated and benefited by Bloesch's theology in the past must read this volume (and the rest of the series) as it sums up his mature thinking and provides a ringing call to a return to a purely theological way of doing theology. Those who have not discovered Bloesch previously will find here a refreshing alternative to the current tendency to make theology into a tool for non-Christian ideologies and worldviews. This is a program for a purely theological theology.
—Roger E. Olson, Bethel College

The refreshing character of [A Theology of Word & Spirit] lies in its ethos as much as in its argument. Donald Bloesch's theology comes out of a believing heart, a lucid mind and a teacher's penchant for clarity and communication. Students of theology everywhere will profit greatly from this carefully nuanced guide through the labyrinth of contemporary theological approaches as well as the classical theological texts. Committed to the Anselmic tradition of credo ut intellagam (I believe in order to understand), Bloesch serves the evangelical world well by insisting on the central reality and authority of Jesus Christ as revealed in Word and Spirit through faith to faith. This is edifying as well as instructive reading. Few books on systematic theology leave the reader at the end, hungering for more, but this is an exception. I am left eagerly awaiting the next volume.
—Ray S. Anderson, Fuller Theological Seminary

Bloesch … aims at a more 'constructive' engagement with the modern theological situation dating from Schleiermacher and reaching its peak, or at least one of its peaks, in Karl Barth. He moves with erudite ease from Pannenberg to Tillich to Tracy to Ellul to Dulles… Bloesch's project will be an admirable introduction to the Christian theological situation at the edge of the Third Millennium.
—First Things

[A Theology of Word & Spirit] signals the appearance of a major theology by a leading evangelical who is immensely learned in the literature of theology past and present, and fully engaged in the life of faith today. Anything but a bland proposal, it is characterized by a striking view of theological method--being an adamant defense of revelational theism over against all efforts to ground the message intellectually, independent of faith. Here is an uncompromisingly confessional theology in strongest opposition to all forms of revisionism--liberal or evangelical. I can only compare it to the systematic theology of Wolfhart Pannenberg (also now being written) alongside which it will stand as the other major alternative for evangelicals. Bloesch proves to me that the Barthian project is far from dead or lacking in scholarly vitality. A great achievement is in the making.
—Clark H. Pinnock, McMaster Divinity College

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Holy Scripture: Revelation, Inspiration & Interpretation

• 384 pages

In Holy Scripture, Donald G. Bloesch sets out the pivotal evangelical doctrines of the Bible's revelation, inspiration and interpretation.

Holy Scripture could well represent the high point of evangelicalism's dialogue with modern skepticism.
—The Covenant Quarterly

Wishing to "defend the orthodox evangelical faith from its friends as well as its enemies," Bloesch provocatively argues against both evangelical rationalism and liberal experientialism. And he proposes the alternative of biblical evangelicalism--which sees Scripture as the written Word of God but stresses that it becomes the living Word of God only through the illumination of the Holy Spirit.

Bloesch has given us… much that is profitable, the heart of many years of effective theological reflection.
— Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society

In dialogue with Martin Luther, John Calvin, P. T. Forsyth, Karl Barth and Emil Brunner, Bloesch’s Holy Scripture examines the implications of biblical authority for the twenty-first century. It surveys the role of the Bible as seen within the Bible itself and as that role has unfolded through centuries of Christian tradition. It also explains and critiques many highly contested issues, such as the value of biblical criticism, the meaning of myth, the plethora of hermeneutical options and the nature of truth.

A 1995 Christianity Today Book Award Winner.

Author Interview

Read the full version here.

IVP: Don, you say early in your book that you want to defend the orthodox evangelical faith from its friends as well as its enemies. What does that mean?

Donald Bloesch: There are many conservative evangelicals who defend biblical authority, but do it in such a way that the criterion for determining the truth of revelation is actually human reason rather than divine revelation itself. Through an apologetic aimed at reaching the cultured despisers of religion, they have gone too far in trying to establish points of contact with the world. So they determine the truth of the Bible by evidence or by logic rather than letting the Bible impress its own truth upon the human mind through the power of the Holy Spirit. This evidentialist approach is problematic because it takes away the mystery of divine revelation. It allows the truth of revelation to be placed under human control or subject to human verification.

IVP: That's an interesting comment because, as you know, one of the things the defenders of inerrancy say is that they want to be under the authority of Scripture. They see others who are not inerrantists as giving human judgment precedence over the authority of Scripture. But you're suggesting that the evidentialist's more Protestant scholastic approach might itself turn into a way of controlling Scripture.

Bloesch: Yes. I support the idea that the Word of God is free and remains God's own possession--even in the act of revelation.

IVP: In a day when many people have ceased to think truth matters much, I found your final chapter on the nature of biblical truth especially helpful. Some, when they respond to the widespread indifference to truth, react into a strongly rationalistic faith. But you affirm biblical truth while distinguishing it from philosophical truth. What's the nature of that distinction?

Bloesch: Biblical truth involves some decision and commitment for its perception and understanding. Strictly philosophical truth is truth that is there waiting to be recognized. It is rational, cerebral, logical, accessible to the human mind irrespective of the religion that the person adheres to. A biblical truth is personal truth. There is a dynamism in the biblical conception of truth that simply isn't found in philosophy.

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God the Almighty: Power, Wisdom, Holiness, Love

• 329 pages

The doctrine of God is receiving renewed and vigorous attention in theology. Even a cursory examination of recent scholarship reveals what leading evangelical theologian Donald Bloesch describes as "a mounting controversy over the concept of God."

This work will be read by all who are interested in the renewal of systematic theology in our time. It is an inspiring, balanced, instructive, rigorous inquiry.
—Thomas C. Oden, Drew University

God is variously portrayed as vulnerable (Jürgen Moltmann, Clark Pinnock), as lover (Norman Pittenger, Ronald Goetz), as friend (Alfred North Whitehead, Sallie McFague) and as empowerer (Rosemary Radford Ruether). Bloesch agrees that many of these proposals have some biblical merit. But what is lacking, he argues, "is a strong affirmation of the holiness and almightiness of God."

This volume makes a valuable contribution to evangelical theology. It is well written, insightful, balanced, biblical, and worshipful, and the topic is supremely worthy of reflection.
—Bibliotheca Sacra

So in this volume, while Bloesch offers cogent criticisms of the classical view of God, he skillfully seeks to hold in faithful tension "the polarities that are reflected in God's nature and activity--his majesty as well as his vulnerability, his sovereignty as well as his grace, his wholly otherness as well as his unsurpassable closeness, his holiness as well as his love."

God the Almighty shows a reputable evangelical theologian at the top of his form. Bloesch’s engagement with a host of Protestant traditions, as well as Catholic and Orthodox voices, is a model for accomplishing evangelical theology.
—Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society

A 1996 Christianity Today Book Award Winner.

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Jesus Christ: Savior & Lord

• 304 pages

With his customary encyclopedic reach and epigrammatic style, Donald Bloesch turns his attention to the hotly disputed, yet absolutely crucial, subject of the person and work of Jesus Christ. He brings a much-needed clarity to the current Christological debate, which, as Hans Küng noted, "has persisted since the dawn of the modern age [and] has not yet been resolved."

Drawing on more than forty years of devoted study, Donald Bloesch now brings a much-needed clarity to the discussion. Well apprised of the most recent developments, yet grounded in his own deep Reformed faith, Bloesch goes beneath current reconstructions of the Jesus of history to probe underlying issues of theological method, models of salvation, the plausibility of miracles, the language of faith and the doctrine of sin.

As Bloesch declares, "Christology constitutes the heart of theology, since it focuses on God's work of salvation in the historical figure Jesus of Nazareth, and the bearing that this has on the history of humankind. To know the nature of God we must see his face in Jesus Christ." This important book is a vital exercise in seeing Jesus Christ faithfully and truthfully.

A 1998 Christianity Today Book Award Winner.

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The Holy Spirit: Works & Gifts

• 415 pages

In The Holy Spirit: Works & Gifts Donald Bloesch aptly brings together his grasp of historical and systematic theology as well as his deep concern for spirituality. The fruit of a lifetime of study and devotion, this book masterfully interweaves biblical study, historical overviews and reflection on contemporary developments and issues to shed light on faith in God, the Holy Spirit. On a topic that sadly threatens to divide the church, Bloesch strives to build bridges between the various traditions of Christian faith, especially between Reformed theology and the Pentecostal movement.

Building on the inaugural volume of this series, A Theology of Word and Spirit, Bloesch guards against the equal dangers of a subjective spiritualism and a cold formalism. He speaks out of the perspective of the Protestant Reformation with its emphasis on the complementarity of Word and Spirit and the priority of grace over works. But he also acknowledges the Pentecostal perception that the work of the Spirit involves empowering for witness as well as sealing for salvation. Bloesch likewise finds truth in the mystical tradition of Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy that the Spirit calls us to holiness of life as well as to a decision of faith.

This wide-ranging and in-depth reflection on the presence, reality and ministry of the Holy Spirit serves as a landmark guide to those seeking a faithful theological understanding of the Holy Spirit as well as those searching for a renewing and empowering hope for the church of Jesus Christ.

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The Church: Sacraments, Worship, Ministry, Mission

• 351 pages

In this volume, Donald Bloesch explores with charity and balance the contours of ecclesiology. He forthrightly takes up the most controversial of issues ranging from matters of church authority, the sacraments and worship, the church's place in the plan of salvation, the church and the kingdom of God, to the issue of church reunion. Evangelical in spirit, ecumenical in breadth and biblical in depth, Bloesch's theology of the church calls for reformation and renewal according to the Word and Spirit of God.

Praise for the Print Edition

Ecclesiology is the cutting edge of serious theological work in the twenty-first century. And this is one of the most important books on the church to appear in several decades. As always, Bloesch is irenic yet tough minded, reformed but also catholic, steadily orthodox and vibrantly evangelical! This book about the church is a wonderful gift to the church.
—Timothy George, Dean, Beeson Divinity School, Samford University; executive editor Christianity Today

In The Church Donald Bloesch has brought together evangelical faith and ecumenical vision to witness boldly to a needed twenty-first-century catholicity.
—Gabriel Fackre, Andover Newton Theological School

All Christians who want the church to be and to do what Christ intends will benefit from a prayerful consideration of this heart-stirring and thought-provoking proposal.
— Terrance Tiessen, Providence Theological Seminary

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The Last Things: Resurrection, Judgment, Glory

• 336 pages

In The Last Things Donald G. Bloesch takes up difficult and sometimes controversial themes such as the coming of the kingdom of God, the return of Jesus Christ, the life hereafter, the millennial hope, the final judgment, hell, heaven, purgatory and paradise.

In this volume, Bloesch brings to completion his magnum opus. As with the earlier volumes, readers will be stimulated to think more deeply as they interact with one of the great evangelical theologians of our day on the important issues of the last things.
—Millard J. Erickson

Wrestling with biblical texts that often take metaphorical form, Bloesch avoids rationalistic reductionism as well as timid agnosticism. While he acknowledges mystery and even paradox, Bloesch finds biblical revelation much more than sufficient to illuminate the central truths of a Christian hope articulated throughout the history of the church.

Bloesch returns the eschatological conversation to the reality of a new world order accomplished by the work of Christ. He draws from the rich treasury of the Christian tradition and from the entire web of theological thought to help us think deeply about God’s mission to rescue creatures and the creation.
—Robert Webber, Northern Baptist Theological Seminary

The Last Things is not just a review of past Christian eschatology but a fresh articulation of the grace and glory of God yet to be consummated. The triumph of the grace of Jesus Christ and the dawning of hope beckon us to reach out in the power of the Spirit to receive that blessed future and the promise to renew the life of the church universal today.

This book should be in the hands of evangelical and ecumenical pastors and teachers who want to see how classical Christian eschatology can speak a powerful contemporary Word.
—Gabriel Fackre, Andover Newton Theological School

Author Interview

Read the full interview here

IVP: Within evangelicalism there is no small diversity of views over eschatological matters, and this has led to sometimes heated controversy. Some have concluded that these controversies show that it’s all speculation and can better be left alone; it’ll all “pan out in the end.” Can you tell us how your book addresses the problem of the variety of views as well as the problem of controversy over these issues?

Bloesch: Eschatological controversies have been the bane of the church through the ages. My aim is to build bridges between conflicting theological traditions thereby serving the cause of Christian unity. Doctrines that have been a source of division in the church should not be ignored but restated if we believe that God has yet more light to break forth from his holy Word. Our restatements should not necessarily negate older positions but go beyond them for the sake of a united evangelical witness to the world today.

IVP: You have been especially concerned for the renewal of the church. You see particular connection between the doctrine of eschatology and the renewal of our churches today. Could you elaborate on that connection?

Bloesch: The reform of the church will involve not only a restatement of doctrine but a new movement of the Spirit bringing personal faith to people who are struggling for meaning and certainty in their lives. To become instruments of the Spirit of God in the service of the kingdom is the calling of every Christian. The Christian vocation is ipso facto eschatological. Our mission is not to bring in the kingdom (this is the exclusive work of the Holy Spirit) but to bear witness to the kingdom now advancing in the world liberating those who are captive to sin.

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