Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers

by Thomas C. Oden

Book Overview

Emphasizing the beliefs common to all branches of Christendom rather than the issues that divide, Thomas Oden brings the full weight of two millennia of discussion to bear on the ever-contemporary... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1565631293
• ISBN13: 9781565631298
• Release Date: January 2001
• Publisher: Not Avail
• Weight: 2.27 lbs.

Customer Reviews

THE SECOND VOLUME OF A MODERN SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY

Thomas Clark Oden (b. 1931) is a United Methodist theologian who teaches at Drew University. This is the second in a 3-volume systematic theology (the other volumes are The Living God: Systemic Theology: Volume One (Systematic Theology, Vol 1) and Life in the Spirit (Systematic Theology, Volume 3)). He draws heavily upon the church fathers for his theology. He states in the Preface that "My purpose is to set forth the classical teaching of the person and work of Jesus Christ on which there has generally been substantial agreement between traditions of East and West, Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox. I will be listenting intently for the ecumenical consensus that has been gratefully celebrated as reliable Christian teachings by believers of widely varied social locations and cultural settings and periods... I will restrain my own idiosyncratic way of looking at things. My aim is not polemics but peacemaking." Here are some representative quotes from the second volume: "If the incarnation remains an obstacle to some sincere modern intellects, it deserves both a serious clarification and a fair hearing. This is what we seek." (Pg. 98) "Here the unifying principle of Christology again emerges: What the mediatorial work requires, the mediatorial person supplies." (pg. 193) "It remains an astonishing fact that the most remembered life in history was not remembered to have harmed anyone or shown any elements of moral venality or reprehensibility. Neither friends nor foes remember or report him as sinner." (pg. 256) "The best Christian theodicy flows directly out of the cross." (pg. 415) "God knows what punishment feels like, for God has experienced punishment for the sins of humanity." (pg. 425) "Admittedly it is impossible to identify the very words of Christ with precise certainty, but little else can be known with precise certainty." (pg. 531)

Systematic Theology

Oden does a great job as he aims for clarity in promoting historical Christian doctrine. Some ideas he has to continually rehash (which could fustrate the reader) for the sake of clarity and to distinguish subject matters that are constantly mistaken for the other. The word of life is a part of a three volume set, and I reccomend the others as well. Also Oden does a good job at representing the scholarly work of all the Church fathers pre & post reformation. CLASSIC! CLASSIC!

A Great Survey of Christian Theology

Thomas Oden brings his usual passion and erudition to this work of theology, combining Biblical, Apostolic, Patristic, Medieval and Reformed thought into an excellent exploration of fundamental Christian doctrine. Oden is a "thinking person's conservative" who does not gloss over challenges to traditional Christian doctrines, but almost always concludes that the traditional doctrines are, in fact, correct and have stood the test of time and experience. I especially like Oden's ecumenical focus ... as one other reviewer remarked, this is a book that will be valuable to Catholics and Protestants, Calvinists and Wesleyans, High-Church and Low-Church. In sum, incredibly worthwhile!

Comprehensive and well thought out...

This is the 2nd volume of Oden's excellent systematic theology series. This book is about Jesus, all 583 pages! Oden is very detalied, and he has done his research. His presentation uses a varity of sources: The Bible, Ante and Nicene church Fathers, Medieval theologians, reformers, and finally modern theologians. Oden is for the most part a traditional Christian. In this book he gives a very orthodox understanding. For instance, He deals with non-traditional explanations of the resurrection and gives good reasons why they are not well thought out hypotheses. He even looks at the historical Jesus issue. He also covers Divine Sonship, the Incarnation and Jesus' two natures (human and divine). I was looking for the perfect Systematic Theology and I would say this comes close. He has HUGE numbers of references, and he is always refferring back to the church Fathers, the reformers and of course the Bible. I have looked over many ST's and this is by far, 1)the most detailed, and 2.) the most well thought out. By the way Oden leans toward a Wesleyan understanding of free-will, but he quotes Calvin extensively as well.