Best Systematic Theology for Beginners? Essentials of Reformed Systematic Theology Review
Crossway sent me Essentials of Reformed Systematic Theology by Joel Beeke and Paul Smalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. I'm planning a longer review someday when I review all four volumes of their Reformed Systematic Theology, but for now I want to compare this new single volume with a volume of the full systematic.
How it's made
Both are about the same size, and both are around a thousand pages. So they've taken 4,000 pages of the full systematic and squished them into about a fourth of that, which is quite amazing.
The differences:
- The design. The essentials volume has its own logo, an emblem you find on every corner of the book, and the cover is absolutely beautiful, with a detailed leaf-like pattern around the spine. I greatly appreciate the artwork and care that went into it.
- The endpapers. The full systematic has normal cardstock endpapers in a nice blue. The new volume has a rough, rippled, kind of plasticky paper that curls up. After 24 hours it still hasn't laid flat, so I don't think it's temperature or humidity. I'm not a huge fan.
- The binding. Both are Smyth-sewn, so they'll last much longer. But I'm a little disappointed they aren't clothbound, even the very expensive systematic set. It's a papery matte finish instead.
- The paper. The full systematic has a bluish, washed-out, bleached paper. The essentials volume's paper is less bleached and a little rougher, and much easier on the eyes if you're reading a large section at a time.
What's in it
It's basically the entire systematic in one volume: the doctrine and knowledge of God, the doctrine of God, of man, of Christ, of the Holy Spirit and salvation, of the church, and of the last things, very well and evenly divided.
New in this volume, as the preface explains:
- A summary at the beginning of each chapter, with key terms. You see this in other systematics geared toward newer believers, and it's a great inclusion. Harder terms (infinity, incomprehensibility, essential presence) are italicized to point you to...
- A glossary of theological terms. Extremely detailed, and even deeper theologians could be helped by it. I'll probably use it for concise definitions in my systematic theology class at church.
- A list of theologians quoted or mentioned, with their dates and a sentence or two on their lives. If you've watched my reviews, you know I think dates and context matter a lot when reading theology.
- A guide to the parts of the full Reformed Systematic Theology where you can go deeper.
- An insanely detailed general index, and a Scripture index that shows just how much Scripture is in this volume. Having written an index of my own (it's in the Petra Publications store), I can tell you that's no small amount of work.
Why this one for beginners?
If you're new to systematic theology, or new to the Reformed faith, Beeke and Smalley do an excellent job driving home that theology is meant to be lived out. At the end of each chapter they suggest songs to sing to the Lord (usually two options here, where the full systematic usually has one), they want you to pray it back to God, and they give questions for meditation or discussion. (The full systematic has two sets of questions per chapter instead of one.) It's a call to action you won't find in other systematics: pray to the Lord, sing to the Lord, and live out what you've just read.
Paul Washer calls it an incalculable blessing to the laity, the youth and the global church, and I absolutely agree. It will be a treasure for the church for many years to come.
Soli Deo Gloria!
Buy Essentials of Reformed Systematic Theology by Joel R. Beeke and Paul M. Smalley →
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