Review: What Is Reformed Theology?: Understanding the Basics

What Is Reformed Theology?: Understanding the Basics by R.C. Sproul
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Although the subtitles state "understanding the basics," I perceive that the target audience would lean more toward the scholarly types (rather than the popular level readers). Weighing in at 250 pages, it definitely would fall short of the 500 or 1000 pages required to be a seminary level textbook, but the content was immense and very rich. It would probably hold the interest of a christian who affirms a reformed position (more so than an arminian-leading believer).

I tried reading this book on three occasions, and as I had to write a review, each time I started from the beginning. I would like to believe that I wrestle close to the middle of the Reformed-Arminian spectrum, but somehow I struggled to plough through the pages. While the beginning of the pages were extremely engaging and interesting, I felt that the meatier content toward the middle was a great challenge to read and digest.

To the Sproul fans out there, I'm very sorry but I find that his ability to explain complex theological terminology and concepts (with elaboration through logic or illustrations) in a manner that the layperson can understand is not on the same level as John Stott, Edmund Clowney or Gordon Fee. Writing an accessible book on such a large topic is truly a daunting task, and Sproul did put up a tremendous contribution with this piece of work. It could have been so much better if there were more pictures, diagrams, highlighted excerpts, quotes etc that would have provided mental breaks to the monotony of page after page of dense knowledge.

I received this book from Baker Publishing Group's Blogger Review Program for the purposes of providing an unbiased review. All views are my own.

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