Living for God

Living For God by Mark Jones is an outstanding book about the basic building blocks of the Christian faith.

The books description reads:
What difference should doctrine make on our day-to-day Christian life? This book summarizes Christianity in 5 core truths―the Trinity, the Son of God, the Spirit, the church, and heaven and hell―to show how theology is intended to bring people closer to God. Drawing from writers throughout church history―particularly St. Augustine, Richard Baxter, and C. S. Lewis―this book summarizes the building blocks of “pure Christianity” and how they shape minds, hearts, and actions, so readers can know simply and concisely what it means to live for God.

Reading this book has helped me to grow so much in my own faith and understanding. I would highly recommend this book be in every church library. It would make a lovely gift for someone new in the faith or for anyone seeking to know more.

This book is basically a concise systematic theology, pretty easy read and pretty basic. Not sure it is necessary.

Canadian pastor Mark Jones has a simple message in Living for God: A Short Introduction to the Christian Faith. "Good theology (that which is well received) results in good living (that which is well delivered)." Jones writes from a perspective of solid, historical, biblical Christianity, and defines Christian faith "as that which is 1. Trinity focused, 2. Christ focused, 3. Spirit energized, 4. Church inhabited, 5. Heaven anticipated."



This list sets up the structure of the book. Jones draws extensively from scripture, as well as from a broad cross-section of theologians and writers from throughout Christian history. Jones keeps the focus on lay people; he doesn't want the people in the pews to be left out of the discussion. He provides plenty of references, clear explanations, and a systematic, if nontraditional, presentation.



I like his focus and fresh approach. He wants Christians everywhere to recognize that Christians who want to know God should strive to know about God, and that if we want to live for God, good theology is a necessary foundation. While he writes for laypeople, I did get a sense of trying to put too much too simply in too small a package. There is a reason that theology books tend to be much bigger than this one! Nevertheless, this is a good place to start for the Christian who wants a strong framework for theological thinking.





Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!

This introduction to a system of theology is Mark Jones at his best. If you can condense most of his previous books you end up with this synthesis. This book touches on the main loci of theology from not just a theoretical standpoint, but from a practical one, and this hits home. Jones uses the whole Christian tradition as he cites from the greatest theologians of all time to make his points clear, from Church Fathers to Reformed Orthodox to Puritans.

The book’s cover reveals the contents of the book; following Goodwin, Mark Jones connects heaven and Earth by moving from Trinitarian theology, to Christ to the Spirit’s role, to the Church as the body of Christ to our heavenly hope. Every chapter deals with the most central points where doctrines are grounded, and while Jones avoids being controversial, he makes his positions clear while being charitable to dissenting positions.

This is a great book for anybody wanting to get their feet wet on basic Christian doctrines; great for a gift too. It makes a great devotional book where practical theology is emphasized for daily Christian living.