A Review Essay of The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims On the Way
©2011 by Michael Horton
Introduction
I keep corn for deer and hogs in my garage. I couldn’t figure out why neither were stopping for it. Then I discovered mealworms had gotten to the corn. They had eaten out the inside of the kernels leaving them intact on the outside, but empty of any nutritional value. Even a pig knew there was nothing worth eating in them. Consulting the all-knowing internet I found this was a common problem. The solution? Sevin Dust. Sprinkle around the bucket and on top of the corn. It works. There is helpful theology in Horton’s 1052-page tome, but being solidly old school, Calvinistic, Reformed theology there is more there that will eat the very heart out of Lutheran theology, its two chambers being justification and the Real Presence. If you want shorter, but accurate, Lutheran reviews of this book, see Dr. David Scaer’s 2012 book review here https://ctsfwmedia.s3.amazonaws.com/CTQ/CTQ%2076-1%2C2.pdf . If you just want a pithy conclusion of Scaer’s it’s “Horton’s dogmatics shows that Lutherans and the Reformed live in different universes, not as allies but opponents” (188). You can read Wisconsin Synod’s Pastor Benjamin Tomczak’s 2015 three-page review at https://www.wls.wels.net/pilgrim-theology/ .
Perhaps a word is in order for how it is that I came to read this work.
The rest of the paper can be read here: http://trinityaustin.com/docs/HortonReview.pdf
