Last semester at Bethlehem College & Seminary I taught a systematic theology course on the doctrines of the church and the end times. This is the primary text I used for the doctrine of the church, and I plan to use it again when I teach the course in the future:
Gregg R. Allison. Sojourners and Strangers: The Doctrine of the Church. Foundations of Evangelical Theology Series. Wheaton: Crossway, 2012.
I love how Allison organizes the book, and I agree with his theological method. His arguments are well-reasoned and usually persuasive.
- This 50-page PDF sample includes the book’s front matter and chapter 1. Scan the table of contents to get a sense for how Allison approaches the subject.
- Chris Morgan interviews Allison.
- Matthew Claridge interviews Allison.
- Grant Gaines, who earned his PhD under Allison, reviews the book and highlights two ways he disagrees with his mentor.
Update: The link to the Gaines review is apparently not working, probably because of bumps that TGC is still smoothing out after transitioning to an updated site on Monday.
Agreed. An excellent, clear, well-written work. Not only does he handle, deftly, I might add, contrasting positions, he also does an excellent job defending his own, graciously.
I’ve been enjoying this, Andy!
What did you use for the eschatology portion?
I’m not aware of an eschatology text that addresses that doctrine as well as Allison address ecclesiology. So I used a many different resources, including Wayne Grudem’s systematic theology (his big one—not the middle one or little one).