369 - Foundations of Evangelical Theology

Foundations of Evangelical Theology
By John Jefferson Davis
Grand Rapids, Baker. 1984. 292 pp. $9.95.

Theologically informed and easily readable, this useful introduction to systematic theology by the Gordon - Conwell theologian evaluates both non-evangelical and evangelical current trends in the context of theological method, revelation and reason, Scripture, tradition and religious experience, and hermeneutical principles.

The book views the evangelical mainline not simply in terms of the fundamentalist-modernist debate but in the context of Reformation Christianity. It assesses not only evangelical resurgence in the 1970s, when nonconservative churches lost momentum, but also its diversification into neo-pentecostal and other forms. and the emerging "inerrancy debate" that pitted evangelical against evangelical as significantly as against nonevangyelical With their main strength in personal evangelism and missionary thrust, evangelicals paid a high penalty for neglect of deep intellectual engagement with dilution of some of their most promising enterprises. Social involvement placed new concerns on the political agenda, but impact on legislation, education, and the mass media was slim.

This useful introduction appears at a time when perspective is needed on the current evangelical thrust and its rivals. Davis emphasizes the importance of the unity, self-consistency, and sovereignty of God for biblical hermeneutics, and insists that grammatical-historical sense is basic. In a vigorously evangelical work, Davis takes some debatable positions: that biblical language excludes univocal knowledge of God (p. 49), that our "thought forms" are culture embedded (pp. 60f.) although revelation is transcultural and the canons of logic also, that no one can "comprehend" the saving significance of revelation without the Spirit's illumination (p. 85) while revelation is declared selfauthenticating and the theistic proofs are viewed positively.

Carl F. H. Henry
Lecturer-at-large
World Vision International.