This audio interview with Michael Horton is helpful in getting a handle on the definition and necessity of systematic theology, its relationship to biblical theology and historical theology, and how we should do theology in a holistic way.
Horton’s systematic theology, The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims on the Way, is due out from Zondervan in January 2011. Here’s the publisher’s description:
Michael Horton’s highly anticipated The Christian Faith represents his magnum opus and will be viewed as one of—if not the—most important systematic theologies since Louis Berkhof wrote his in 1932. A prolific, award-winning author and theologian, Professor Horton views this volume as “doctrine that can be preached, experienced, and lived, as well as understood, clarified, and articulated.” It is written for a growing cast of pilgrims making their way together and will be especially welcomed by professors, pastors, students, and armchair theologians.
Features of this volume include: (1) a brief synopsis of biblical passages that inform a particular doctrine; (2) surveys of past and current theologies with contemporary emphasis on exegetical, philosophical, practical, and theological questions; (3) substantial interaction with various Christian movements within the Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodoxy traditions, as well as the hermeneutical issues raised by postmodernity; and (4) charts, sidebars, questions for discussion, and an extensive bibliography, divided into different entry levels and topics.
For more on the relationship between systematic and biblical theology, see the resources linked here.
