The book Major Bible Themes, written by Dr. Lewis Sperry Chafer, consists of a smorgasbord of assorted theological themes. Though the author has not done so, the reader can, with some effort, group these various themes into the following nine theological studies: Theology Proper, Christology, Pneumatology, Satanology, Anthropology, Harmartiology, Soteriology, Ecclesiology, and Eschatology.
Dr. Chafer has designed this book to be at the introductory level, and it is. Someone who is just starting out as a student of the Bible can gain much insight into many of the Christian issues of the day from this book. Several themes, for instance, have been included which discuss key matters about the Bible, such as the inspiration of Scriptures and its divine revelation. The author has also provided a collection of themes about the ministries of Jesus and the Holy Spirit, plus he has included a number of writeups about the Church and end time matters.
In my opinion, however, where this book seems to be lacking is in the matter of depth. While Dr. Pentecost developed a comprehensive case for his end time beliefs in the opening 217 pages of his book, Things To Come - A Study In Biblical Eschatology, Dr. Chafer has not attempted to do anything like that. For example, this book has an essay entitled "Divine Election," in Chapter 34, but that essay does not mention any of the key individuals who have been involved with that issue, such as Augustine, Pelagius, Arminius, Luther, or Calvin, nor does it show the development of their ideas over time. As a result, the reader can read the essay and learn about election, in general, but he will not have much of an idea of where those thoughts originated or how they have developed.
This same general criticism is also true of Chapter 44, "Events Preceding the Second Coming of Christ," and Chapter 46, "The Second Coming of Christ." Chapter 44 talks about events which precede Christ's Second Coming, but it fails to mention anything about the Mid-Tribulation and Post-Tribulation views. In Chapter 46, the author discusses the typical Premillennial beliefs, but he does not make any mention of Amillennialism or Postmillennialism. I find this lack of depth to be quite disturbing. In my opinion, this book is alright for someone who is young in the Faith and just getting started, but I would have difficulty recommending it as a serious work to a more advanced theology student.
While this book lacks the detail and depth which I prefer, it does have some nice features. First, it is very easy to read. The author has kept each essay to about 6 or 7 pages. In addition, he has broken up the text into alphabetic and numeric intext, outlined points. Thus, the reader is rarely asked to read more than just a few paragraphs between breaks. Second, the book has a nicely arranged index, with subtopics listed under each topic. Third, Dr. Chafer has provided an index to Scripture references. Both of these latter two points are useful for someone doing a specific Bible study. Finally, the book is conveniently organized for group Bible studies.
The final point just given about this book being conveniently organized for Bible studies probably explains why it lacks depth and detail. In the "Foreword," Dr. John F. Walvoord indicates that the author's intent was to be simple and concise. Dr. Walvoord goes on to say that this book represents many of Dr. Chafer's conclusions. Hence, it has probably left out much of the details of his analyses in arriving at those conclusions. Finally, Dr. Walvoord suggests that the 52 themes are ideal for someone leading a weekly Bible study, where each theme can represent a different study for each week. Dr. Chafer says in the "Introduction" that this book is not meant to be a treatise on systematic theology, and I agree with him that it is not. He further suggests that the more serious theology student should consult his 8-volume work on systematic theology.
Everything considered, I think that this book is what it was intended to be, but my preference is still for the more detailed, more analytical types of work.
Tom of Spotswood "He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life." (I John 5:12)
Index to Selected Essays And Book Reviews
GLA 3 - Christ's Earthly Kingdom - Literal or Figurative
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