The Nature of Doctrine: Religion and Theology in a Postliberal Age

by Lindbeck, George A.

• ISBN13: 9780664233358
• ISBN10: 066423335X
• Edition: 25th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-07-20
• Publisher: Westminster John Knox Pr

Summary

The Nature of Doctrine, originally published in 1984, is one of the most influential works of academic theology in the past fifty years. A true classic, this book sets forth the central tenets of a post-liberal approach to theology, emphasizing a cultural-linguistic approach to religion and a rule theory of doctrine.In addition to his account of the nature of religion, George Lindbeck also addresses the relationship between Christianity and other religions, the resolution of historic doctrinal conflict among Christian communities, and the nature and task of theology itself. This is a work that all theologians and advanced students should know.This twenty-fifth anniversary edition includes an English translation of the foreword to the German edition and a complete bibliography of Lindbeck's work.

Author Biography

George A. Lindbeck is Pitkin Professor Emeritus of Historical Theology at Yale University. Bruce D. Marshall is Professor of Historical Theology at Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University.

Table of Contents

Introduction: The Nature of Doctrine after 25 Years	p. vii
Foreword to the German Edition of The Nature of Doctrine	p. xxix
Foreword to the Original Edition	p. xxxiii
Theory, Ecumenism, and Culture: The Proposal in Context	p. 1
The Ecumenical Matrix	p. 1
The Psychosocial Context	p. 1
Religion and Experience: A Pretheological Inquiry	p. 16
An Experiential-Expressive Model	p. 17
A Cultural-Linguistic Alternative	p. 18
The Inconclusiveness of the Comparison	p. 27
Many Religions and the One True Faith	p. 32
Unsurpassability	p. 33
The Interrelationships of Religions	p. 38
Salvation and Other Faiths	p. 41
Excursus on Religion and Truth	p. 49
Theories of Doctrine	p. 59
Doctrines and Their Problems	p. 60
Grammar and Doctrine, Continuity and Change	p. 65
A Taxonomy of Doctrines	p. 70
Testing the Theory: Christology, Mariology, and Infallibilityp77
Nicaea and Chalcedon	p. 78
Marian Dogmas	p. 82
Infallibility 84
The Superiority of a Regulative View	p. 90
Toward a Postliberal Theology	p. 98
The Problem of Assessment	p. 98
Faithfulness as Intratextuality	p. 99
Applicability as Futurology	p. 110
Intelligibility as Skill	p. 114
Conclusion	p. 120
Afterword: Interreligious Relations and Christian Ecumenism: Revisiting Chapter 3 of The Nature of Doctrine	p. 125
Bibliography	p. 141
Index	p. 167
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