Theology and Christian Practice

I've finally had a chance to engage Ellen Charry's oft-referenced book By the Renewing of Your Minds: The Pastoral Function of Christian Doctrine. The main thrust of the work is that Christian doctrine is designed to shape followers of Christ into wise and virtuous human beings.


In the opening chapter I was pleasantly surprised to read a defence of theological realism and the referential capacity of theological language as necessary grounds for the potency of doctrine to change lives. I appreciate the spirit of the book: let's not forget about the importance of truthfulness, but, having established that, let's get on to discussing how God wants theological truth to transform men and women in the likeness of Christ.

Another interesting piece of Charry's argument is her distinction between first order and second order doctrines. In her taxonomy, first order doctrines are the primary tenets of the faith and have direct practical payoff. Second order doctrines are meant to unpack and support first order doctrines and thus are indirectly practical. It seems to me that this would invite comparison with T. F. Torrance's distinction between "existence statements" (those which directly describe reality) and "coherence statements" (those which clarify the connections among theological existence statements).

Back to the big picture. Do evangelical churches put Christian doctrine to work for the renewal of minds and the formation of godliness? My sense is that some evangelical churches do try to walk the fine line of taking doctrine seriously while still heeding the call to lively Christian service. However, I do think that there are plenty of congregations infected by an anti-intellectual undercurrent. Perhaps their pastors didn't take seminary seriously, perhaps no one there has ever talked theology with any kind of interest or zeal.

Two questions, especially for anyone in the pastorate or preparing for it:

1) What is your take on the state of engagement with Christian doctrine in churches these days?

2) How can churches promote theologically wise (not necessarily "scholarly," for not all are called to scholarship) Christian practice aside from preaching with theological rigor?