[Hi-Res PDF] Peter Jensen's 'Life of Faith' overview.pdf
Just got back from holidays where I went through Peter Jensen’s new systematic theology ‘Life of Faith’ as my daily devotion. I really enjoyed it and figured lots of you would love it too. I say this as someone who reads when I am forced to (thanks mum, Mrs Halliday, and Bible College), let alone read a systematics cover to cover. Let me share some reflections on why it was so good.
I was challenged by a recent conference to do more theology. To ‘go into the lab’ not looking for particular solutions or strategies, and just see what pops out the other end. And as I was thinking of how to feed my faith over my break, I didn’t want something on burnout or personal disciplines, etc. I wanted something that would hit me with our great God and help me love him (I recognise I took a gamble with reading a systematic theology 🙃).
This book did just that. What am I most often lacking? What do I need the most? To know God in full colour and to live in faith. The big picture/ biblical theological approach meant that I closed the back cover deeply inspired to live for the king and his covenantal kingdom.
"This means that nothing can have more practical influence on the way we live than our understanding of God; nothing is more practical than good theology... our knowledge about and confidence in God dictates our character and our behaviour and impacts the world in which we live." (113)
I’m always on the lookout for accessible books on Christian doctrine which I struggle to teach well and I know many Christians find hard to get into. Having had Dr. Jensen as a teacher for a semester, I knew that this would be a promising investment.
It is filled with oomph and clear challenges:
"We cannot add to the gospel without subtracting from it… You cannot have more than Christ; to attempt to have more is to endanger what you have. The Christian duty is to abide in Christ." (214)
It is filled with wisdom, warmth, and joy:
"If for me, sinful as I am, insignificant as I am, lost and lonely as I am, condemned as I am, there is at the very heart of the universe a word of forgiveness, a cloak of righteousness, I am the happiest of all persons."(255)
As an everyday believer and I found myself spurred to a greater faith in an even greater God.
P.S. My wife is taking a doctrine class this semester and I’m particularly looking forward to impressing her with ‘my insights’ (unless it becomes the set reading…)
While it confesses readily that it will not be exhaustive on any topic, there is an immediate and beneficial clarity as each topic is addressed. A clarity that I don’t take for granted as someone who has tried to explain this stuff before.
A newer Christian will gain from having complicated concepts and long debates summarised for them. An older Christian will appreciate and learn from Dr. Jensen’s profound precision.
Here’s a book that almost everyone could read over a month or two, use in their small groups/1-2-1s. I heartily recommend it!