The Nature of Christian Doctrine: Its Origins, Development, and Function

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The Nature of Christian Doctrine: Its Origins, Development, and Function
Copyright
Preface
Contents
1. On the Origins of Christian Doctrine
	Doctrine, Dogma, and Theology: Some Preliminary Reflections
	Paradigm Shifts and the Emergence of Christianity
	Christian Doctrine: A New Way of Seeing Things
	Metanoia: A Holistic ‘Change of Mind’
	A New Imagining of the Scriptures of Israel
	Christian Doctrine: A New Manner of Living
2. Theorizing the Identity of Christ: On Early Christian Doctrinal Development
	The Quest for the ‘Best Explanation’ of the Evidence
	The Metaphor of an Early Christian ‘Theological Laboratory
	Charles Taylor on the Quest for the ‘Best Account’
	Questioning Bauer’s Approach to Heresy and Orthodoxy
	‘Good Science’ and ‘Orthodoxy’: Problematic Historical Categories
	Doctrinal Development: Criteria of Theory Choice
	Athanasius on Testing Theological Theories
3. The Functions of Christian Doctrine
	George Lindbeck on The Nature of Doctrine
	Mary Midgley on Mapping a Complex Reality
	Doctrine and Christian Identity: Focus and Boundaries
	Doctrine and the Interpretation of Experience
	Doctrine as a Bridge between Past and Present
	Doctrine as a Marker of Social Identity
	Doctrine and Ecumenism
4. The Three Worlds of Christian Doctrine: Theoretical, Objective, and Subjective
	Karl Popper’s Three Worlds: Theoretical, Objective, and Subjective
	Doctrine as Articulation: Engaging Charles Taylor
	The Problem of Abstraction in Doctrine
	Awe and Glory: A Stimulus to Theoretical Reflection
	Doctrine and Poetry: Affect and Cognition in George Herbert
	The Incarnation: Objective and Subjective Themes
5. Seeing the Face of God: On the Doctrine of the Incarnation
	Aniconism: The ‘Image Ban’ in the Old Testament
	Aniconism and Early Christianity
	Incarnation and Image: The Move Away from Aniconism
	The Incarnation and the Face of God
	Christ as the Embodiment of Meaning
	The Incarnation and Suffering
6. Doctrine: Ontological Disclosure and Coordinating Framework
	Epistemic and Ontic Explanations in the Natural Sciences
	The Incarnation as Ontological Disclosure
	The Incarnation as a Coordinating Framework
	The Incarnation as an Intellectual Abstraction?
	Ontic and Epistemic Aspects of the Doctrine of the Trinity
7. The Doctrine of Salvation: Coherence, Comprehensiveness, and Theological Mapping
	On Theorizing the Atonement: The Problem of Intellectualization
	Coherence and Comprehensiveness as Theological Virtues
	The Doctrine of Salvation: Mapping the Benefits of Christ
	A Problem? Anselm of Canterbury on ‘Satisfaction’
	Imagining and Articulating Salvation: Four New Testament Metaphors
		Drawing Near to God: Salvation and Cultic Purity
		Healing the Blind: Salvation as Restoration of Wholeness
		Liberation: Salvation as Deliverance from Bondage
		Adoption: Salvation as Familial Relocation
	The Coherence and Complexity of Salvation
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index