He starts with an investigation into the nature of God, challenging the philosophical ideas of how God must be, including some ideas that have been adopted by classic Christian theology. Not surprisingly, however, his somewhat unique purpose leads him to present these categories with varying amounts of emphasis and, to a degree, in an order outside of the ordinary. With the idea of human suffering as his central theme, Allen addresses the major topics of classical Christian systematic theology. This book is Allen’s extended response to questions posed to him by a thoughtful and intelligent man a friend seeking to make sense of the world and, particularly, of the Christian faith in light of both the significant suffering that exists in the world and the fact that we live “in a world very different than the one inhabited by the biblical writers.” Allen’s goal is to aid his readers in gaining the skills necessary to put the various pieces of life’s puzzle together in a coherent fashion, to help them make more sense of the world through a Christian perspective, and to move them beyond simply a “notional” understanding of the faith to something more “real.” While he engages most of the classical topics in systematic theology in this book, his approach is, to a degree, novel. In addition, he holds the rare distinction of being ordained in both the Episcopal Church and the Presbyterian Church (USA). Allen, though currently retired, had a long and prestigious career as the Stuart Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at Princeton Theological Seminary. The mastery of a subject necessary to accomplish all three is not common. His teaching was, at the same time, profound, understandable, and practical. Allen as a Sunday School teacher and, consequently, eagerly looked forward to the opportunity to interact with him again. While in graduate school, I had the great pleasure of having Dr. When I was first offered the opportunity to review Diogenes Allen’s new book, Theology for a Troubled Believer, I immediately welcomed the opportunity. Christ committed this faith for safekeeping, administration, and proclamation to a visible, institutional community, the church.Diogenes Allen, Theology for a Troubled Believer: An Introduction to the Christian Faith (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2010), 223 pages, ISBN 9780664223229. In God's joyous transaction, our sin was reckoned to Christ and his righteousness was credited to all who believe, to all whom God has given the grace of faith. God the Son became incarnate as the Last Adam, obeyed, died, and was raised on the third day for our justification. We confess that we freely rebelled against God, violating God's law, introducing sin and death into the world. It is that image-bearing status that constitutes us as human. The Bible faith, confessed by the ancient church, is that the triune God made humans in his image. God acts through his created agents (Exod 9:16) and with them but never in dependence upon created agents. This picture of the transcendent and triune God acting freely to create ex nihilo (from nothing) sets the pattern for God's dealing with humanity in providence and redemption. The Father spoke, and nothing came into being that came into being except through God the Son, the Word (John 1), with the Holy Spirit hovering over the face of the deep (Gen 1). Scripture says that, in the beginning, God spoke creation into existence, it teaches that all three persons of the Trinity were involved. In the biblical faith there is only one sovereign Creator and Redeemer: the Holy Trinity. Come here to find thoughts, articles, sermons and poems. Nikhil Raj Gupta is a pastor and a Bible teacher in Itarsi, India.
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