Kelly M. Kapic, A Little Book for New Theologians: Why and How to Study Theology (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2012), 126 pages.

Kelly Kapic, Professor of Theological Studies at Covenant College, instructs the student of theology and offers a perspective of wisdom. As the name implies, it is a little book; my first leisurely reading took less than two hours, which is a welcome sign for any novice of theological studies. However, while it is small in size and pages, it is rich and understandable in content. Kapic drops the names of more than fifty theologians and includes a very brief quote from each; quotes that generally emphasize the heart-changing aspect of theology, rather than the intellectual-enrichment or argument-building aspects of theology.

“One of the great dangers of theology is making our faith something we discuss, rather than something that moves us.” –Kelly Kapic

I write this review as a Pentecostal Bible College professor who is always looking for textbooks for his students and I think I have found one here. This is one textbook that should be required reading for the first week of any first college theology course, because it sets the stage with wise advice. Kapic writes, “One of the great dangers of theology is making our faith something we discuss, rather than something that moves us” (64). He counsels the reader to keep faith, reason, and lived experience braided together in order that the student might not become arrogant, argumentative, or disassociated from how authentic theological ideas should inform our lived-out faith. The overarching theme Kapic presents can be viewed as a philosophical how-to approach to the study of theology. He emphasizes the importance of humility, as the principle prerequisite for the study of God, because our understanding will always be less than perfect. In this regard, he urges the student-reader to stretch the boundaries of the understanding to make room for the theological tensions that suspend theological ideas, often times frustrating our human desire to know in full; he challenges us to humbly make room for the mystery of God. Likewise, he also challenges the freshman theologian to be careful to not take their head-filled knowledge back home to sit in judgment of the their lowly church or Sunday school classrooms, as if they now have gained a much superior intellectual vantage point in one short semester. He challenges us all that genuine theology is found more in virtue than in knowledge.

Reviewed by John R. Miller

Publisher’s page: www.ivpress.com/cgi-ivpress/book.pl/code=3975

Edmund J. Rybarczyk, The Spirit Unfettered: Protestant Views of the Holy Spirit (Brewster, MA: Paraclete Press, 2010), 162 pages, ISBN 9781557256546.

Edmund Rybarczyk, Professor of Historic and Systematic Theology at Vanguard University, introduces eleven significant theologians, starting with Luther and sixteenth century Protestant theologians, and ending with Welker in the twenty-first century. Each of the eleven chapters gives the reader a brief biographical sketch of each particular theologian and a concise summary of their major contribution to pneumatology. Rybarczyk describes how each theologian builds on the ideas of his predecessors in order to demonstrate the development of Protestant doctrines on the Holy Spirit. The Spirit Unfettered serves as a quick read (roughly ten pages for each theologian), providing the new student with a contextual point of reference to introduce each theologian, and to remind the seasoned student of the historical development of pneumatic doctrines.

I write this review as a pentecostal college professor who is always looking for textbooks for his students. Rybarczyk has provided an inexpensive and simple book, which would be easily read by the average college freshman. It moves quickly and does not use too many difficult words to describe the theologian or his theological position. In some ways it skims the surface, yet gives the student a vista to see the whole theology-of-the-Spirit landscape without becoming bogged down with so many details that one becomes disoriented in the process. Rybarczyk has added a glossary of terms and makes reference to this in the pages of the book, which will guide the new student to understand any terminology that might be new or unfamiliar. Equally, he gives a sufficient amount of information in the endnotes for the curious student to look deeper. Here we are tempted to critique his use of secondary sources in the endnotes, but will refrain because he accomplishes his purpose of making introductions and overviews of the theologians and their ideas.

Reviewed by John R. Miller

Find a sample of The Spirit Unfettered online: site.paracletepress.com/samples/exc-spirit-unfetteredi-20.pdf

Glenn S. Sunshine, The Reformation for Armchair Theologians (Louisville: Westminster/John Knox Press, 2005), 264 pages.

This book is one of a series of books for the “armchair theologian,” which includes volumes on Augustine, Aquinas, Carl Barth, John Calvin, Martin Luther, and John Wesley. The Armchair Theologian series is designed to present the theologians, or in this case, the events of the Reformation, in a straightforward easy to understand fashion.

In chapter one, “On the Eve of the Reformation,” Sunshine examines the social and historical climate of the time and lays the groundwork for why the Reformation occurred at that time in that place. Unlike other books on the subject, Sunshine does not drop Luther and his ideas full grown from the sky. Instead, after setting the historical and political scene for his reader, Sunshine gives an overview of Luther’s career. Fair treatment is given to Luther, noting both his strengths and weaknesses. Sunshine also points out that Luther did not intend his 95 theses to be anything more than a call for a debate.

Sunshine then covers the career of Ulrich Zwingli, perhaps the least well known of the reformers and the only one to die in battle. Chapter 5 is devoted to the spread of Zwinglianism and the controversy over sacraments.

Lastly, Sunshine looks at the career of John Calvin. Calvin is often portrayed as a dictatorial tyrant who set up a theocracy to rule Geneva, however, Sunshine paints a more balanced view of Calvin and the situation in Geneva, but clearly shows Calvin’s policy of making no compromise in church matters.

Sunshine does not end with these reformers but continues to examine the Counter Reformation, Spain and the Dutch Revolt, Henry VIII, Elizabeth I, the Reformation in Great Britain, John Knox, Phillip II, Reformation in France, the Thirty years war, and the Peace of Westphalia.

Each chapter ends with discussion questions designed to make the reader think, thereby making this series an excellent resource for small groups, both high school and adult. The author of this volume does an excellent job of presenting this era of church history. Even the cartoons and puns help lighten this serious subject. As a historian, I enjoyed Sunshine’s approach in this book. However, even as a book for “armchair” theologians, he at times seemed rather light on the theology of the reformers. The Reformation is a complicated event, yet Sunshine manages to present it in an enjoyable manner and with a good amount of humor.

Reviewed by Patricia Riley

Preview: http://books.google.com/books/about/The_Reformation_for_Armchair_Theologians.html?id=2LLkEVPiykkC