Understanding Christian Doctrine

by Markham, Ian S.

• ISBN13: 9781405131520
• ISBN10: 1405131527
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2007-12-10
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Summary

Understanding Christian Doctrine is a wonderfully accessible and lively introduction to the central beliefs of Christianity. Each chapter introduces and explores a key area of doctrine - such as God, the Trinity, the Church, life after death - skillfully taking readers through the main approaches to each topic. Unlike other textbooks, however, Understanding Christian Doctrine, then goes on to encourage and show readers how to take a position on these theological issues.The book is sensitive to areas of contemporary concern, tackling questions that newcomers find particularly perplexing about the Christian worldview, and discussing topics such as religion and science, and religious pluralism. To help readers understand this rich area, the book contains timelines, vignettes of major figures, a glossary, and self-study questions.

Author Biography

Ian S. Markham is the Dean and President of Virginia Theological Seminary. He is also a Visiting Professor at Leeds Metropolitan University. Awards include the Robertson Fellow 2006, Teape Lecturer in India 2004, Claggett Fellow attached to Washington National Cathedral in 2000, and Frank Woods Fellow at Trinity College, Melbourne in 1997. He is the author and editor of twelve books, including A World Religions Reader, 2nd edition (Blackwell, 2000) and Do Morals Matter (Blackwell, 2006).

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. xi
Introduction	p. 1
Clarifying the Vantage Point	p. 2
Finding a Way In	p. 5
The Social Dimension	p. 6
Why Bother with the Christian Worldview?	p. 9
The Next Stage	p. 19
The Theistic Claim	p. 23
Natural Theology	p. 25
Arguments for the Existence of God	p. 29
The Design Argument	p. 35
Contemporary Physics	p. 37
Additional Arguments	p. 39
Conclusion	p. 44
The Nature of God	p. 48
Alternative Approaches to Christian Doctrine	p. 49
The Concept of God in the Hebrew Bible	p. 58
The Classical Account of God	p. 59
The Process Challenge	p. 62
Between the Two Views	p. 66
The Trinity	p. 70
Sources	p. 72
Biblical Roots of the Doctrine of the Trinity	p. 74
Development of the Doctrine of the Trinity	p. 75
Three Dangers in Interpreting the Trinity	p. 78
Modern Accounts of the Trinity	p. 79
Standing Back	p. 82
Conclusion	p. 85
The Problem of Evil and Suffering	p. 88
The Reason Why Suffering and Evil Are a Problem	p. 89
The Inadequacy of the Traditional Responses	p. 91
Ivan's Question and Critique	p. 95
Doctrine as the Christian Response	p. 97
Creation and the Significance of Humanity	p. 102
The Scientific Narrative	p. 103
The Biblical Narrative	p. 104
Reconciling Different Narratives	p. 109
The Fall	p. 113
Standing Back	p. 116
God Incarnate	p. 120
Reasons for the Doctrine of the Incarnation	p. 121
New Testament Witness	p. 123
Sorting It Out in the Early Church	p. 126
Making Sense of the Incarnation Today	p. 129
Dying to Sin, Living to Redemption	p. 133
Biblical Roots of Atonement	p. 134
Different Theories	p. 135
Christ as Sacrifice	p. 135
Christ Who Pays the Debt	p. 137
Christ as Victor	p. 138
Christ as Moral Example	p. 141
Problems with Atonement	p. 143
Moral Authority and Forgiveness	p. 144
Conclusion	p. 147
The Holy Spirit and the Church	p. 150
Biblical Roots of the Doctrine of the Holy Spirit	p. 152
The Development of the Holy Spirit in the Early Church	p. 153
The Work of the Holy Spirit Within the Church	p. 155
The Work of the Holy Spirit Outside the Church	p. 156
Ecclesiology	p. 158
Biblical Images of the Church	p. 159
Marks of the Church	p. 160
Conclusion	p. 164
Sacraments and the Life of Virtue	p. 167
Definition of Sacraments	p. 168
The Classical Roman Catholic Understanding	p. 168
Reformation and Protestant Views	p. 171
Standing Back	p. 174
Religious Diversity: What is God up to?	p. 179
Other Religions as a Problem	p. 181
The Pluralist Hypothesis	p. 182
Exclusivism	p. 186
Inclusivism	p. 188
Critical of the Categories	p. 190
Moving the Debate Forward	p. 192
Conclusion	p. 193
Hope Beyond the Grave	p. 196
Accounts of Life After Death in the Different Religions	p. 197
The Christian Tradition	p. 198
A Redeemed Creation	p. 203
Conclusion	p. 206
The End of the Age	p. 208
The Scientific Account	p. 209
The Fundamentalist Account	p. 210
Standing Back	p. 213
Participating in the Conversation	p. 222
Participating in the Tradition	p. 225
Internet Resources	p. 227
Index	p. 228
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.