Key Learning from Chapters 1-12 in Frame’s Systematic Theology
Chapters 1-12 from John Frame’s Systematic Theology provide the background for understanding the idea of theology in general and systematic theology in particular and present the information on the basic definitions, the Biblical Story, and the Doctrine of God. This reflection paper provides the detailed discussion of significant points learnt from Chapters1-12 of Frame’s book.
The first part of the book is “Introduction to Systematic Theology”. Chapter 1 titled as “What Is Theology” is important to explain the approach to theology used in the whole book. I have learnt that it is important to remember that definitions, in spite of being long and short, are the products of theologians, and many of them are rarely found in Scripture.
I received the opportunity to focus on different kinds of theology and determine the aspects characteristic for the systematic theology. For instance, referring to the systematic approach, today I can learn what the Bible tells about the effectual calling while focusing on the words of Jesus, Paul, and others on the topic1. From this point, the systematic theology is important to teach the words of the Bible as the net of significant concepts.
Chapters 2 and 3 titled as “The Lord” and “God’s Lordship as a Unique Worldview” provided me with the opportunity to think about the importance of themes related to theology. Thus, I have learnt that God’s Lordship should be discussed as the central topic of theology.
However, I have also learnt that there are many critics of this statement, and not all the theologians discuss God’s Lordship as the central topic. Now, I can state that God’s Lordship is the central concept, all the other concepts in Scripture are perceived through the ideas that God as the creator is absolute, tripersonal, transcendent, and immanent. I have understood that if God is transcendent, God is also immanent because of His unique nature.
The second part of the book is important because it presents the Biblical Story described and analyzed in three chapters. According to Chapter 4 “The Lord’s Covenants”, systematic theology is based on the analysis of one topic with references to different passages and descriptions presented in the Bible, and the Bible is composed of many literature genres such as narratives, hymns, and apocalyptic2. As a result, there are three Biblical themes which are the Lord’s Covenants, the Kingdom of God, and the Family of God.
I received the opportunity to focus on the relationship in the covenants, the Kingdom of God, and the Family of God separately. The book discusses all the covenants in detail, and I can concentrate on their universal and stable character. The Bible is the story of covenants, but it should be discussed while analyzing the Kingdom of God and the Family of God.
Now, I can stress on God the King and Christ the King, and a kingdom of law and a kingdom of gospel, according to Luther3. I also focused on the family image related to God, and this knowledge is important for me to conclude about God’s Lordship as the unique phenomenon discussed in theology.
In the third part of the book titled as “The Doctrine of God”, I focused on chapters 7-12. I have learnt the details associated with such important concepts as miracle, providence, creation, and decrees as God’s acts and on love and goodness as God’s attributes. Chapters on miracle, providence, creation, and decrees impressed me significantly because I am interested in these topics during a long period of time.
Thus, I have learnt that the person’s knowledge of God’s attributes depends on the knowledge of His acts4. It is important to see at miracles not only as exceptions in relation to the natural law but also as the evidences to state God’s grace. The miracle as an act is immediate and extraordinary. The acts of providence are of the holy and wise nature5. Persons pay much attention to miracles and events of providence, and now I can explain their significance from the perspective of systematic theology.
Creation is one of the most controversial questions in theology, and I have learnt how to answer this question while referring to Chapter 10 of Frame’s book titled as “The Acts of the Lord: Creation”. Frame’s discussion added to my vision of creation as the act of creating the world which is closely associated with the concepts of worship, redemption, and lordship6.
The question of God’s decrees is also problematic, and Chapter 11 helped me look at the eternal decrees as normative in a way because they determine the order of events. These ides contribute to improving my knowledge of the topic.
Chapter 12 titled as “God’s Attributes: Love and Goodness” is one of the most interesting in the book because it helps understand the nature of God’s love in the context of such ideas as the language of God’s love, the love’s extent, God’s saving love, and grace7. I have learnt that God’s love is always associated with God’s grace in people’s minds, but the nature of God’s love is more complex.
The information presented in Chapters1-12 of John Frame’s Systematic Theology provided me with the opportunity to use the systematic approach to discussing the concepts retrieved from the Bible.
Bibliography
Frame, John. Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Christian Belief. USA: P&R Publishing, 2013.
Footnotes
1 John Frame, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Christian Belief (USA: P&R Publishing, 2013), 12.
2 Frame, Systematic Theology, 55.
3 Ibid., 97.
4 Frame, Systematic Theology, 123.
5 Ibid., 144.
6 Ibid., 189.
7 Ibid., 234.