Mumford, Stephen. Metaphysics: A Very Short Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press, 2012.
This is another excellent entry in Oxford’s Very Short Introduction series. Mumford begins with seemingly simple questions, like what is a table and progressively works his way into deeper and deeper problems of metaphysics. His treatment is accessible for the non-philosopher, but it also does a good job of initiating the reader into the current philosophical arguments about metaphysics.
For the theologian, the lesson should be to avoid making any philosopher’s metaphysical theory the foundation for one’s theologizing. Some views are more and others are less compatible with Scripture. But the views themselves are so open for debate that they cannot provide a starting point for the theologian. To speak in traditional terminology, metaphysics may serve as a handmaid to theology, but it cannot be its master.