{"id":2225,"date":"2011-07-27T07:02:59","date_gmt":"2011-07-27T14:02:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tgdarkly.com\/blog\/?p=2225"},"modified":"2011-07-27T07:02:59","modified_gmt":"2011-07-27T14:02:59","slug":"the-beauty-of-the-christian-faith-introduction-the-nature-of-doctrine-protestantism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/davidopderbeck.com\/tgdarkly\/2011\/07\/27\/the-beauty-of-the-christian-faith-introduction-the-nature-of-doctrine-protestantism\/","title":{"rendered":"The Beauty of the Christian Faith: Introduction: The Nature of Doctrine: Protestantism"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’m working on an adult curriculum titled “The Beauty of the Christian Faith.”\u00a0 It explores the basic elements of Christian faith as expressed in the Nicene Creed.\u00a0 I’ll be posting excerpts as they’re done.\u00a0 Here’s the sixth part of the introduction.\u00a0 Prior posts can be accessed through the Beauty of the Christian Faith Page<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Doctrines:\u00a0 Second Order Statements Derived from the First Order Sources of Theology<\/h2>\n

Doctrines<\/em> are propositional theological statements that summarize claims to knowledge about God.\u00a0 A \u201cpropositional\u201d statement is simply a discrete statement of claimed fact, such as \u201cwater is comprised of hydrogen and oxygen atoms.\u201d\u00a0 Doctrines historically have been collected in summary statements such as creeds and confessions.<\/p>\n

The manner in which doctrines function as theological authorities is the subject of some debate among different types of Christians.\u00a0 The debate relates to the relationship between scripture and tradition and also to the nature of scripture in relation to doctrinal propositions.\u00a0 The next sections discuss how this relationship is understood in Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestant traditions.\u00a0 You should understand, however, that there is considerable variety even within each of these traditions.\u00a0 The models discussed below are intended as broad and general illustrations of key themes and differences.<\/p>\n

Protestantism<\/h3>\n

Protestant approaches to the nature of doctrine are quite diverse.\u00a0 In general, protestants emphasize scripture as the final \u201cnorming norm\u201d (norma normans<\/em>) of theology and doctrine.\u00a0 Most Protestants therefore would argue that doctrines are not in themselves<\/em> basic sources of authority.\u00a0 Instead, doctrines are \u201csecond order\u201d statements because doctrinal propositions always derive from<\/em> the basic sources of theology (scripture, tradition, reason and experience).<\/p>\n

Protestants do not always agree among themselves about precisely how the first order sources of theological authority relate to second order doctrinal propositions.\u00a0 Many Protestants think scripture contains or is the immediate source of some direct, propositional doctrinal statements.\u00a0 For them, many doctrinal propositions are effectively irreformable because they are derived directly from scripture.\u00a0 Some Protestants argue that scripture is not fundamentally propositional in nature, or that scripture can only be understood dynamically as the Holy Spirit makes its meaning clear, and that doctrinal statements therefore in principle are always reformable.<\/p>\n

These two different types of Protestant views can be illustrated as follows:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Figure 3 illustrates a model in which scripture supplies direct or nearly direct doctrinal propositions.\u00a0 In this model, reason, experience and tradition mostly serve to aid in the understanding of scripture.\u00a0 Reason and experience are grouped together because they are understood as related sources.<\/p>\n

Another model for Protestant construction of doctrine is illustrated in Figure 4:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>This model is labeled \u201cWesleyan Postliberal \/ Postconservative\u201d because it reflects the pietist streams of Protestantism, particularly as led by John Wesley and by the Anabaptists before and after Wesley, and because it also reflects a contemporary effort to overcome the breach between \u201cconservative \/ fundamentalist\u201d and \u201cliberal\u201d theologies that erupted in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.<\/p>\n

John Wesley was a great evangelist and reformer who lived in the eighteenth century.\u00a0 He emphasized personal piety, including the experience of conversion, the devotional practices of prayer and Bible reading, and abstinence from cultural practices thought to be damaging, such as consuming alcohol.\u00a0 The four sources of authority we have discussed in this Module \u2013 scripture, tradition, reason and experience \u2013 are often called the \u201cWesleyan Quadrilateral,\u201d because they were emphasized by Wesley in contrast to the more \u201cintellectual\u201d approach of the Calvinist Reformed churches.\u00a0 Wesley also rejected the Cavlinist doctrine of \u201cdouble predestination\u201d \u2013 the belief that God chose in advance who will and will not be saved \u2013 and taught that salvation is available to everyone.\u00a0 In fact, the differences between Calvinism and Wesleyanism continue to represent one of the major dividing points in the history of American evangelicalism.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnabaptist\u201d refers to various Protestant groups that dissented from the Calvinist-Reformed churches on various matters starting in the fifteenth century, including on the nature of baptism.\u00a0 Calvinists baptized infants, whereas Anabaptists held that only adults should be baptized.\u00a0 Anabaptist also held that even people baptized as infants should be re-baptized as consenting adults.\u00a0 \u201cAna<\/em>-\u201cBaptist literally means \u201cre-\u201cbaptize.\u00a0 Anabaptists emphasized personal piety, including the direct illumination of the individual conscience by the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 The Anabaptists often were ferociously persecuted by Calvinists, including punishments such as burning at the stake.\u00a0 Most independent Evangelical churches in North America follow Anabaptist beliefs about baptism, although such churches usually are disconnected from other typical Anabaptist teachings (most Anabaptists, for example, were and are pacifist).\u00a0 Many Charismatic and Pentecostal practices also bear some relationship to the Anabaptist emphasis on direct illumination by the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n

Because both Wesleyans and Anabaptists focused more on personal experience than intellectual knowledge, they were less attuned the particularity of doctrinal statements.\u00a0 This does not mean they ignored doctrine, but it does mean that their approach was closer to the \u201cpost-conservative \/ post-liberal\u201d approach described below.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Model 3, the \u201cProtestant-Propositionalist\u201d model, was the dominant approach in the Calvinist-Reformed and, to a certain extent, in the Lutheran-Reformed churches, until the mid-Nineteenth Century.\u00a0 In the 19th<\/sup> Century, in connection with various philosophical, cultural, and other changes, \u201cLiberal\u201d theology began to challenge all notions of religious authority.\u00a0 In many cases, Liberal theology eventually relegated all theological claims \u2013 including basic claims such as the divinity of Christ \u2013 to the realm of private emotional sentiment.<\/p>\n

Some branches of Protestantism, including Fundamentalism and some varieties of Evangelicalism, clung (and still cling) ferociously to the Protestant\u2013Propositionalist model, in an effort to avoid the specter of Liberal theology.\u00a0 These theologies, however, tend to make claims that cannot be sustained about what the Bible is or how it should be interpreted.[1]<\/a>\u00a0 Moreover, more often than not, this approach simply produces profound, basic, and irresolvable disagreements about what doctrinal propositions the Bible actually is thought to state.[2]<\/a><\/p>\n

In recent decades, many Protestants in both \u201cMainline\u201d and \u201cEvangelical\u201d circles, wary of the excesses of both Liberal theology and Fundamentalism, have focused on theological methods that appreciate the divine-human nature of scripture and the contextual-historical nature of doctrinal statements, while recognizing the importance of continuity and stability.\u00a0 Figure 4 is one way of thinking of this relationship.[3]<\/a><\/p>\n

Since Figure 4 is a Protestant model, scripture is the central source of theological authority.\u00a0 Reason, Tradition, and Experience are also sources of authority, which inform how scripture is read and understood, but which are also subject to scripture as a final norm.\u00a0 Unlike in the Protestant-Propositionalist model, however, scripture is not here understood primarily as a direct sourcebook of doctrinal propositions.\u00a0 Although scripture does contain direct doctrinal statements, the texts of scripture are for the most part not given in the form of creedal statements.\u00a0 Instead, scripture is given to us in the diverse forms of narratives, stories, poems, songs, letters, visions, and so on.\u00a0 Doctrinal propositions derive from<\/em> scripture (along with and informed by reason, tradition, and experience), but scripture is not essentially<\/em> a rational-propositional sourcebook.<\/p>\n

This is an important point, because it helps situate doctrinal propositions as fallible, human statements.\u00a0 We do not worship \u201cdoctrine\u201d \u2013 we worship the living God.\u00a0 In an effort to understand and explain what we know of God, we engage in the process of formulating doctrinal propositions from the basic sources of knowledge God has made available to us.\u00a0 This perspective helps us engage the scriptures and the other sources of theological authority with greater humility.\u00a0 It also encourages patience and dialogue when we disagree with each other.<\/p>\n

This does not mean that faithful Christians are free to modify at will the essential meaning of basic doctrines that have been passed down throughout the history of the faith.\u00a0 This also is a vitally important point.\u00a0 A central core of Christian doctrine has stood the test of time because of its deep connection to the first order sources of Christian theology.\u00a0 This is the case with the Nicene Creed, which is the doctrinal statement that forms the backbone of this class.\u00a0 To depart substantially from this central core of doctrine is to think in a way that is less than fully \u201cChristian.\u201d\u00a0 We study the Nicene Creed to explore how its propositions tie together the first-order sources of theological authority in a way that is coherent, satisfying, beautiful, and unifying.\u00a0 When we recite the Creed, we proclaim publicly that its propositions express essential truth about God and the world.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, we recognize that even great doctrinal documents such as the Nicene Creed are second order statements.\u00a0 Our purpose is not merely to study and recite historical words.\u00a0 Our purpose is to participate more deeply in the living faith the Creed proclaims.\u00a0 In the next Module, we will begin to explore the contours of that living faith through the articles of the Creed.<\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n

[1]<\/a> An example of this is the effort in some circles to read the ancient texts of the Bible as modern \u201cscientific\u201d documents.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[2]<\/a> An example of this are the deep disagreements between Calvinist and Dispensational conservative evangelicals, about matters as basic as the nature of human free will, Divine predestination, and the economy of salvation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[3]<\/a> Many contemporary Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox theologians would adopt a similar model, somewhat in contrast to the more \u201ctraditional\u201d models in Figures 1 and 2, but perhaps with a different relationship between scripture and the other sources of authority.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’m working on an adult curriculum titled “The Beauty of the Christian Faith.”\u00a0 It explores the basic elements of Christian faith as expressed in the Nicene Creed.\u00a0 I’ll be posting excerpts as they’re done.\u00a0 Here’s the sixth part of the introduction.\u00a0 Prior posts can be accessed through the Beauty of the Christian Faith Page. Doctrines:\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[69,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2225","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-beauty-of-the-christian-faith","category-theology"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p824rZ-zT","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidopderbeck.com\/tgdarkly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2225","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidopderbeck.com\/tgdarkly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidopderbeck.com\/tgdarkly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidopderbeck.com\/tgdarkly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidopderbeck.com\/tgdarkly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2225"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/davidopderbeck.com\/tgdarkly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2225\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidopderbeck.com\/tgdarkly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2225"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidopderbeck.com\/tgdarkly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2225"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidopderbeck.com\/tgdarkly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}