Practicing Christian Doctrine

Felker Jones Beth

Description

This introductory theology text explains key concepts in Christian doctrine and shows that doctrine is integrally linked to the practical realities of Christian life. In order to grow into more faithful practitioners of Christianity, we need to engage in the practice of learning doctrine and understanding how it shapes faithful lives. Beth Felker Jones helps students articulate basic Christian doctrines, think theologically so they can act Christianly in a diverse world, and connect Christian thought to their everyday life of faith.This book, written from a solidly evangelical yet ecumenically aware perspective, models a way of doing theology that is generous and charitable. It attends to history and contemporary debates and features voices from the global church. Sidebars made up of illustrative quotations, key Scripture passages, classic hymn texts, and devotional poetry punctuate the chapters.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie
• Christian theology
• Christianity

Informations

• Publié par: Baker Publishing Group
• Date de parution: 15 avril 2014
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781441245595
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

© 2014 by Beth Felker Jones
Published by Baker Academic
a division of Baker Publishing Group
P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
www.bakeracademic.com
Ebook edition created 2014
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
ISBN 978-1-4412-4559-5
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1989, by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations labeled ESV are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Text Edition: 2011.
For my students— “May the mind of Christ our Savior live in us from day to day”
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Introduction: To Practice Doctrine

1. Speaking of God: Theology and the Christian Life
2. Knowing God: Doctrines of Revelation and Scripture
3. The God We Worship: Doctrine of the Trinity
4. A Delightful World: Doctrines of Creation and Providence
5. Reflecting God’s Image: Theological Anthropology
6. The Personal Jesus Christ: Christology
7. The Work of Jesus Christ: Soteriology
8. The Holy Spirit and the Christian Life: Pneumatology
9. Church in a Diverse World: Ecclesiology
10. Resurrection Hope: Eschatology

Benediction: A Prayer for the Practice of Christian Doctrine
Subject Index
Scripture Index
Notes
Back Cover
Acknowledgments
This project was born of teaching, and I am grateful to my students at Huntington University and Wheaton College, to whom this book is dedicated. It is my privilege to be in conversation with you. Thanks for the good questions, the thoughtful conversations, and the desire to put faith into practice. You have helped make doctrine come alive for me.
I am grateful to many friends and colleagues who helped make this book possible: for the wonderful team at Baker and Brazos; for the support of my dean, Jill Baumgaertner, and associate dean, Jeff Greenman; for the remarkable work of my research assistant, Ella Myer; for my colleague Keith Johnson, with whom I developed some of the early ideas for this text. Thanks to those who gifted me with time and talent, reading and commenting on portions of the text: Aimee Barbeau, Jeff Barbeau, Gary Burge, Lynn Cohick, Holly Taylor Coolman, Michael Graves, Gene Green, George Kalantzis, Tiffany Kriner, Christina Bieber Lake, Tim Larsen, David Lauber, Steve Long, Miho Nonaka, Amy Peeler, Nick Perrin, Noah Toly, and Dan Treier. The book is better because of you all.
Thanks piled on thanks to my husband, Brian, whose support of my work is one of the most tender gifts in my life, and to our children, Gwen, Sam, Tess, and Zeke, for hanging in there with me and enduring my speeches about things like the Trinity.
Chapter 8 and a small portion of chapter 2 appear in slightly different form in my God the Spirit: Introducing Pneumatology in Wesleyan and Ecumenical Perspective . Copyright Cascade Books, 2014. Used by permission of Wipf and Stock Publishers.
Beth Felker Jones Lent 2013
Introduction
To Practice Doctrine
Times were troubled when Josiah assumed the throne. A brutal invasion and the faithless leadership of several apostate kings had left Israel in chaos. The people of Israel were living desperate and uncertain lives. In the midst of their struggles, they still worshiped the Lord, the God of their ancestors, but they turned to other gods as well, hoping those other gods could help them meet the challenges they faced. God, however, had not forgotten his people or his promises to them. He worked in the heart of the young king, and Josiah began to “seek the God of his ancestor David” (2 Chron. 34:3). The temple in Jerusalem, the center of worship, had suffered years of neglect and misuse, and Josiah funded carpenters, builders, and masons to begin to restore it. In the midst of the dust flying, the high priest made a discovery, a “book of the covenant”—Scripture.
When Josiah heard the ancient words read aloud, he recognized the depth of Israel’s unfaithfulness. Tearing his robes in grief, he repented, and he took action. After consulting with the prophetess Huldah, Josiah gathered together “all the people both great and small” and read the book aloud to them. Then, in front of his people, Josiah “made a covenant before the L ORD , to follow the L ORD , keeping his commandments, his decrees, and his statutes, with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant that were written in this book” (2 Chron. 34:30–31). He led his people to join in the same commitment. The entire nation promised to perform the book , to return to faithful relationship with God. Josiah spent the following months purifying Israel. He purged the temple of idols, destroyed altars to idols, and scattered their remains over the graves of false priests. Josiah’s reforms culminated in a celebration of Passover, where the people remembered what God had done for them. The discovery of the lost book and the acceptance of its teaching changed the lives of God’s people.
This story may seem like an odd beginning to a book meant to introduce theology, but Josiah’s story provides a wonderful window into the relationship between Scripture, doctrine, and practice. Christian theology is a conversation about Scripture, about how to read and interpret it better, how to understand the Bible as a whole and imagine a way of life that is faithful to the God whose Word this is. This conversation about Scripture produces distinct Christian teachings, called doctrine , but the work of theology does not stop there. Notice the key to Josiah’s story. He moved directly from the teaching he found in the rediscovered book to action. He immediately connected belief with practice, the Word of God with reform, and he led the people to follow in his footsteps, bringing his community along with him as he sought faithfulness to the true God.
I open with the story of Josiah’s reforms in Israel because it displays the core premise of this book: our beliefs must be put into practice, and faithful practice matters for what we believe. When we, like Josiah and his people, perform the book of Scripture, when we connect truth with action and doctrine with discipleship, God does marvelous things.
This book’s title reflects my confidence that Christian doctrine is intimately interconnected with faithful practice in the Christian life. This book will introduce the basics of Christian doctrine, but without our practicing that doctrine, that introduction will be meaningless. Christian doctrine informs Christian identity and action. Certainly, the idea of doctrine implies belief, but doctrine is about so much more than just believing certain things. The word doctrine has taken on cold, hard connotations. Many assume that it is about rigidity and control or that it points to an inaccessible arena of knowledge outside the realm of ordinary Christians. I hope that this book does some work to rehabilitate the word doctrine , to show ways that good Christian teaching can help us to grow in faith, reach out in love, and look to the future in hope.
The study of doctrine belongs right in the middle of the Christian life. It is part of our worship of God and service to God’s people. Jesus commanded us to love God with our mind as well as our heart, soul, and strength (Luke 10:27). All four are connected: the heart’s passion, the soul’s yearning, the strength God grants us, and the intellectual task of seeking the truth of God. This means that the study of doctrine is an act of love for God: in studying the things of God, we are formed as worshipers and as God’s servants in the world. To practice doctrine is to yearn for a deeper understanding of the Christian faith, to seek the logic and the beauty of that faith, and to live out what we have learned in the everyday realities of the Christian life.
All of that becomes richer as we gain familiarity with Christian teaching. Practicing doctrine is not unlike practicing the piano or going to basketball practice. New pianists begin by becoming familiar with the instrument. Before they can play sonatas, they must spend a lot of time on basic exercises like running scales. New basketball players do not start with shooting three-pointers; first they have to learn how to dribble and how to run a play. Before playing a game, they must master rules and repeat basic drills until these things become second nature. Only after much practice are they ready to play. Newcomers to the study of doctrine are in a similar position and need to spend time becoming familiar with the discipline of theology. It takes time and patience to learn how to practice doctrine well. Learning Christian doctrine is something like learning a new language: it takes time to learn the vocabulary and concepts used in Christian thought in order to understand what other people are saying. Along with this basic study, students of doctrine have to immerse themselves in the teachings of Scripture, listen to the wisdom of other practitioners of doctrine throughout history, and pray for the insight and guidance of the Holy Spirit.
But there is an important difference between a beginning student of doctrine and a new pianist or basketball player. Many students new to the formal or academic study of doctrine will not be new to the Christian faith, and many basic habits and skills may be fami