Book Review: Salvation Belongs to the Lord by John M. Frame

July 30, 2006 Posted by Roger OvertoncloseAuthor: Roger Overton Name: Roger Overton
Email: rogeroverton@hotmail.com
Site: http://ateamblog.com
About: Roger Overton is currently pursuing a Masters degree at Talbot School of Theology. He has addressed various churches, schools and youth camps throughout the United States. Roger was co-editor of The New Media Frontier (Crossway, 2008) and God and Governing (Wipf & Stock, 2009). Roger can be emailed at rogeroverton@hotmail.com.See Authors Posts (570)

After the preface, the book is comprised of twenty-five
chapters covering the broad range of theological topics. These include who God
is, who man is, the relationship between God and man, salvation, the church,
end times, and how to live. At the back of the book is a list of recommended
reading as well as subject and scripture indexes- which are rather important
for a book of this nature.

This introduction to systematic theology applies John
Frame’s multiple-perspective approach to the wide scope of theology.
Specifically, he perceives all things through normative, situational, and
existential perspectives. “When you ask directly what God’s revelation says,
you are using the normative perspective… When you ask about God’s world,
trying to understand situations we get into, I call that the situational
perspective… Then when you ask about yourself, when you seek to know
yourself, you are seeking to know from what I call the existential
perspective.” (77)

Though Mr. Frame
claimed the book is seminary level in difficulty, I did not think it was that
difficult. He does an outstanding job of explaining complex terms and concepts
in a manner that requires no prior introduction to the material. I appreciated
that though he quotes from other theologically works and confessions, the vast
majority of references are to Scripture as the foundation for good theology.

Most of the book is very well thought out and explained on
the basis of Scripture. However, there are a few points that are not. For
example, when discussing whether there is still the gift of prophecy today, Mr.
Frame explains the view of Wayne Grudem at length. In response he simply
states, “I am not convinced of Grudem’s thesis.” (167) An argument or two
against the thesis would have been more helpful then simple disagreement. In
covering the function of the church, Mr. Frame puts forward that the purpose of
the church is evangelism. In all of his discussion of the church, however, he
does not really get into discipleship, and because of that the church he puts
forward seems rather unbalanced- very outward focused but somewhat hollow inside.

Those points aside, Salvation Belongs to the Lord is
a well-done and valuable introduction to systematic theology from which just
about anyone can benefit. John Frame’s multiple perspective approach makes the
unique enough to earn its place next to the other top systematic theologies in
our seminaries and homes.

Related posts:

1. Book Review: God is the Gospel by John Piper
2. Book Review: The Legacy of Sovereign Joy by John Piper
3. Book Review: Sex and the Supremacy of Christ ed by. John Piper and Justin Taylor
4. Book Review: The Roots of Endurance by John Piper
5. Book Review: The Power of Integrity by John MacArthur
6. Book Review: God of Promise by Michael Horton

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