Preaching Doctrine in the Church Today
Preaching doctrine, or dealing explicitly with theological questions and issues, has always been pastorally important. But another factor now makes preaching doctrine crucial—the lack of a deep understanding of the faith tradition can lead parishioners to imbibe aspects of our culture that present a radically different view from that of Christianity.
John H. Young served two pastoral charges prior to going in 1991 to the Queen’s School of Religion where he teaches in the areas of Ministry Studies and the History of Christianity.
Yes, I agree. Critical thinking is sadly lacking …… if no one counters the ideas of media commentators like Oprah and others, people seem to absorb them without question. We need to be reminded of the basics of the faith we say we believe, and where they differ from “pop” culture.
I agree that preaching on doctrine and theology is necessary and needful. There are United Church people who seem never to have heard of the Trinity, for example, or who assume that it’s something from the past, despite all those ubiquitous weekly repitions of the creed, at whose core is the Trinity. If people are to buy into whatever issues the Church is promoting, should they not also know why we think it’s important? That there are greater reasons than mere social justice for doing what we do? That we are more than a pop psycholog rooting section for political party X?
Does doctrine assembled by bishops and others in the third century take precedence over the teachings and actions of Jesus in the first century? Is it appropriate for humans to construct boxes to contain or define God?