All God's People: A Theology of the Church

By David L. Smith

Book Overview

'All God's People: A Theology of the Church' sets out a corrective understanding of the nature of the church universal with a focus on implications for the church local. The book is divided into three basic sections: A Historical Theology of the Church surveys the history of theology of the church, beginning with the early church, the formative years for all Christian theology; A Biblical Theology of the Church examines the Old Testament, Gospels, and apostolic sense of the people of God; A Systematic Theology of the Church seeks to both systematize the biblical theology and synthesize it with contemporary thought. Finally, A Practical Theology of the Church concludes the work relating the book's lessons to the contemporary church climate.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1592445381
• ISBN13: 9781592445387
• Release Date: February 2004
• Publisher: Wipf & Stock Publishers
• Length: 488 Pages
• Weight: 1.63 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.3" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Good Basic Overview of Church and Theology

This book is a good basic book that deals with ecclesiology and theology. The book is organized into 4 parts. First, the author (David L. Smith) looks at a "Historical Theology of the Church." In this section Smith covers the Patristic Period, the Medieval church, the church during the Reformation, the church in the scientific age, and the church in the twentieth century. Second, Smith covers "A Biblical Theology of the Church." In this section Smith deals with the people of God in the Old Testament, Gospels, and the Apostolic concept of the People of God. Third, Smith covers "A Systematic Theology of the Church." In this section the origin, nature, mission, ministry, membership, and unity of the church is described. Fourth, Smith covers "A Practical Theology of the Church." This section deals with the Body of Christ, ministering to the poor, making disciples, and other aspects of the work of the church. Overall this is a handy and yet simple resource for the beginning student of the history of the Church and theology. The book covers people (i.e. theologians), trends that occurred due to theological shifts, heresy and how it was dealt with, theology throughout the history of the church, and the practical side of the church. Therefore, this book makes for a great reference tool as well as a fairly solid Church history text.