There is no shortage of resources that overview Christian theology from an evangelical perspective. This means that newly published books in this field have the difficult task of making new, fresh contributions to theology while remaining within the boundaries of evangelical theology. One book that has come out in recent years that has accomplished this feat well is Fix Your Eyes by Amy Gannett. This is a great resource that reveals just how practical Christian theology can be by connecting key doctrines to everyday life. If the book is read with this expectation, it can be a great supplementary resource for any Christian looking to learn more about Christian doctrine.
Amy Gannett begins the book by defining theology and explaining why it is important for Christians to study theology. In the book’s introduction, she writes, “Here is a fundamental truth: we cannot love what we do not know” (p. 8). This point connects a Christian’s knowledge of God with their love of God. It’s a great starting point for the book and the study of theology in general. Gannett moves from the importance of the proper knowledge of God to the proper worship of God, demonstrating that those two things are also inextricably linked together, writing, “Theology without worship may be accurate, but it cannot be affectionate” (p. 14). This sets the tone for the rest of the book, as Gannett goes on to explore different doctrines of Christian theology, like Theology Proper (study of God the Father), pneumatology (study of the Holy Spirit), soteriology (study of salvation), etc.
But she does this in a way that connects these doctrines with the proper worship of God. Rather than simply providing academic information and arguments in these chapters, she moves quickly from information to application, explaining why certain doctrines are important and how they should cause believers to love God more.
It’s Gannett’s quick movement from information to application that is the defining feature of this book. Gannett covers a lot of key Christian doctrines in the book, but she does not belabor many of the points. In fact, Gannett really only provides as much information as is necessary for a general understanding of each doctrine and then moves quickly to the application of each doctrine. This contrasts with many other books on Christian theology which focus more on the academic side of theology and less on the practical aspects.
For that reason, this book stands out as a great resource for anyone interested in how and why theology matters to daily life. It is not a comprehensive, one-stop resource for all points of theology (like many other systematic theology volumes), but is a great complement to those works. So if you are someone who likes studying theology, I’d recommend this as a practical, supplementary resource that will encourage you even more to connect your knowledge of God to your everyday life.
Sam Hitchcock (ThM, Dallas Theological Seminary) serves as the Director of Spiritual Formation at Oklahoma Christian School in Edmond, OK.
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