Today I started reading The Drama of Doctrine (Kevin Vanhoozer).
Vanhoozer follows Paul Tillich in characterising 'cultural history as a series of anxiety attacks: ancient civilisation suffered the anxiety of death; the Middle Ages and Reformation, the anxety of guilt; modernity, the anxiety of meaninglessness ...' (p.2) and postmodernity, the anxiety of truthfulness. He then sets out his thesis that 'sound doctrine - authoritative teaching - is vital for the life of the church, and hence for the life of the world' (p.3). 'What the church uniquely has to say and do cannot be reduced to philosophy or politics [or sociology]. The church's unique responsibility is to proclaim and to practise the gospel, to witness in its speech and life to the reality of God's presence and action in Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit ...' (p.3).
I'm already being challenged to preach more doctrine and less sociology (and I'm only sixteen pages in)!
Vanhoozer follows Paul Tillich in characterising 'cultural history as a series of anxiety attacks: ancient civilisation suffered the anxiety of death; the Middle Ages and Reformation, the anxety of guilt; modernity, the anxiety of meaninglessness ...' (p.2) and postmodernity, the anxiety of truthfulness. He then sets out his thesis that 'sound doctrine - authoritative teaching - is vital for the life of the church, and hence for the life of the world' (p.3). 'What the church uniquely has to say and do cannot be reduced to philosophy or politics [or sociology]. The church's unique responsibility is to proclaim and to practise the gospel, to witness in its speech and life to the reality of God's presence and action in Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit ...' (p.3).
I'm already being challenged to preach more doctrine and less sociology (and I'm only sixteen pages in)!
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