Systematic Theology (Hodge)

This magnum opus by one of America's greatest Reformed theologians is also representative of the best in Protestant theology based on the Word of God. It is the culmination of fifty years of teaching at Princeton Theological Seminary, written near the end of a life dedicated to study, writing, preaching, and mentoring students aspiring to Christian ministry.

Scholarship and devotion go hand in hand in this distinguished work, in continuity with the great theologians of all time, for whom mind and heart, intellect and piety collaborate harmoniously and powerfully in the construction of the Christian doctrinal edifice. For them, theology is not a speculative exercise, but the manifestation of a vital experience of salvation academically expressed for the benefit of believers in general, perplexed by the challenge of secular culture and the certainty of the evangelical message.

As a theologian of the Word of God, Hodge proceeds like a man of science regarding divine things revealed in the Bible, from which he extracts the data and facts to construct an impressive theological edifice, according to the laws and internal coherence of the Bible itself. "The Bible," he says, "is to the theologian what nature is to the man of science. It is his arsenal of facts, and his method of ascertaining what the Bible teaches is the same as that adopted by the natural philosopher to ascertain what nature teaches."

Hodge ascertains, collects, and combines all the facts that God has revealed to demonstrate the truths of faith in their harmony, consistency, and mutual internal relationship. It is not an easy task, but Hodge emerges triumphant in this monumental work in which he explores theology, the doctrine relating to God, the Trinity, His knowledge and attributes; anthropology, the doctrine relating to man, his creation, nature, and sin; soteriology, the doctrine relating to God's work in the salvation of fallen humanity; and eschatology, the doctrine relating to the state of the soul in the afterlife and the expectation of Christ's glorious return.