The Substance of Our Faith: Foundations for the History of Christian Doctrine

By Douglas A. Sweeney

Doctrine is central to Christian discipleship and maturity. Unfortunately, it is often sidelined in churches' teaching ministry as irrelevant or impractical. Countering this, leading church historian Douglas Sweeney defines doctrine as church teaching intended for the shaping of daily faith and practice.

The Substance of Our Faith addresses introductory issues in the study and application of historical doctrine, incorporating a unique global and catholic perspective. It addresses the Spirit's role in the rise of doctrine in the early church, the authority of Scripture and tradition in the development of doctrine, the challenges of doing global historical theology, the nature and purpose of doctrine, and implications for teaching the faith today. Specifically, Sweeney advocates that those who teach the Christian faith in all churches do so in communion with the saints who have come before.

A future volume by the author will narrate the actual history of doctrinal teaching around the world.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
• Release date: Oct 24, 2023
• ISBN: 9781493444670

Douglas A. Sweeney

Douglas A. Sweeney (PhD, Vanderbilt University) is dean and professor of divinity at Beeson Divinity School, Samford University, in Birmingham, Alabama. He is the author or editor of more than twenty books on the history of Christian doctrine, early modern Protestant history, American church history, Christology, and global evangelicalism and is a highly respected Jonathan Edwards scholar.

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"The Substance of Our Faith is a pastoral and church-leadership gem, illuminating the transformative power of historical doctrine for our faith today. It invites church leaders to embrace the guidance of the Spirit, cherish the authority of Scripture and tradition, and foster communion and connection with the saints, as they shepherd their congregations with wisdom and grace."

—Laurent Mbanda, archbishop and primate of the Anglican Church of Rwanda and bishop of Gasabo Metropolitan Diocese; chairman of GAFCON (Global Anglican Future Conference)

This book excels in two aspects. First, it stands out in terms of its structured approach, demonstrating a keen dedication to understanding the history of Christian doctrine correctly. The range of materials presented is extensive, encompassing Protestantism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and Roman Catholicism. Second, it considers a perspective on the universal church and the practical aspects of an individual’s faith when seeking to understand the history of Christian doctrine. Sweeney’s proposal to understand the history of Christian doctrine within the context of ‘one church, with the church, and beneath the church’ resonates as the voice of the Lord in an age marked by division, much like today. I strongly recommend giving it a read!

—Nam Joon Kim, author of Busy for Self, Lazy for God; senior pastor of Yullin Church, South Korea

"In an era of specialization (and overspecialization?), this book takes us back to the general scholarship practiced in earlier eras that is sorely lacking today. Written to address those Christians who are suspicious of doctrine as something that only divides, The Substance of Our Faith is aimed primarily at ‘those who want to teach in the churches across time and space.’ Deeply committed to a ‘traditional and global’ Christianity, Sweeney advocates convincingly for a Christianity that is best ‘explained with the whole counsel of God—not the whole counsel of God as imparted in the West, but the whole counsel of God as conveyed by the whole people of God, past and present.’ In particular, Sweeney’s willingness to foray into the neglected Eastern fathers and explore patristics beyond Augustine is a welcome relief. Sweeney’s work is a useful textbook on the development of doctrine, authority, and mission in the global church."

—Rev. Fr. Gregory Edwards, St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary

Sweeney loves Christian truth. An expert historian of Protestant Christianity, Sweeney has a keen sense for global currents of faith. He is also a man of Scripture, which he discovers reflected in the creeds of those who have gone before us. In this book, Sweeney takes up the nature of doctrinal ‘development’ as understood by Christians from diverse times and confessional commitments. His winsomely Protestant proposal for an evangelical-catholic approach—normed by Scripture but pliable, interculturally engaged, and open-ended—will foster ecumenical conversation among all those who follow the Lord Jesus.

—Matthew Levering, Mundelein Seminary

This book is vintage Sweeney—brimming with wisdom, refreshing in its passion for biblical orthodoxy, and rooted in a deep love for the church. Sweeney has much to teach us from key thinkers and episodes in the church across time and space. But most of all, he will restore your faith in the glorious future of Christ’s bride. I cannot recommend this insightful book highly enough!

—Hans Madueme, Covenant College

Sweeney makes a deeply persuasive plea for Christians, whether in the pews or in the academy, to attend to the full breadth and depth of the history of Christian doctrine—across time, space, and ecclesial boundaries. But this wise, measured, and beautifully written book does more than make a theoretical case. Sweeney illustrates history of and for the church at its best and gives his readers the background and key concepts they need to join in on the grand adventure.

—Han-luen Kantzer Komline, Western Theological Seminary, Holland, Michigan

The current volume is the first of two in which Sweeney endeavors to answer such questions as, How do we understand the church being holy, catholic, and apostolic? and What unites all churches in the world, whether those in the past, or those in the present with diverse backgrounds? In this book, Sweeney provides a lucid survey of the development of Christian doctrine. This much-needed study will be beneficial to God’s people, particularly in this day and age in which doctrine becomes seemingly obsolete.

—Aihe (Luke) Zheng, International Chinese Biblical Seminary in Europe

Driven by learning and devotion put in service to good history and theology, Sweeney offers here a convincing prologue to his forthcoming global history of Christian doctrine. He engages discerningly with relevant currents in contemporary theology to make the case for the possibility and necessity of global history today. The book treats a wide range of movements and theologians, emphasizing the catholicity of the faith across space and time. Readers will appreciate his open ecumenical posture and even-handed treatment of the teachings of the divided churches. Sweeney speaks convincingly across confessional lines. This is truly a book for all Christians!

—Mickey L. Mattox, Hillsdale College

© 2023 by Douglas A. Sweeney

Published by Baker Academic

a division of Baker Publishing Group

Grand Rapids, Michigan

www.bakeracademic.com

Ebook edition created 2023

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Control Number: 2023014298

ISBN 978-0-8010-4846-3 (paperback)

ISBN 978-1-5409-6736-7 (casebound)

ISBN 978-1-4934-4467-0 (ebook)

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition, copyright © 1989, 1995 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Baker Publishing Group publications use paper produced from sustainable forestry practices and post-consumer waste whenever possible.

To Kevin and Sylvie Vanhoozer,

cherished friends and fellow disciples:

̔Η φιλαδελφία μενέτω.

The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ. We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knitted together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love.

—Ephesians 4:11–16

Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

—Colossians 3:14–17

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. . . .

I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. Its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. People will bring into it the glory and the honour of the nations. But nothing unclean will enter it, nor anyone who practises abomination or falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

—Revelation 21:1–2, 22–27

Contents

Cover

Endorsements    i

Half Title Page    iii

Title Page    v

Copyright Page    vi

Dedication    vii

Epigraph    vii

Preface    xi

1. Jesus’ Promise of the Spirit    1

Kerygma, Rules of Faith, Canons of Scripture, and the Spirit

Interpreting the Word by the Spirit with the Church

Listening to the Spirit in an Era of Improvement

The Spirit-Bound Body of Christ as Pillar and Bulwark of Christian Teaching

2. From Every Tribe and Language    57

Modern Missions, Western Power, and the Rise of the Global South

But the Church Has Always Been Global

The Promise and the Peril of Postcolonial Christian Teaching

Teaching the Christian Faith across Both Time and Space

3. Doctrine as Church Teaching for the Shaping of Faith and Practice    97

What Is Christian Doctrine?

How Is Doctrine Devised?

Should Doctrine Ever Be Revised? How So? And by Whom?

Why Does Any of This Matter?

4. Teaching in, with, and under the Christian Church    149

Constructive Theology and Its Liberating Pedagogy

Retrieval Theology and Its Classical Instruction

Ressourcement Revisited

Free Church Theologies in Search of Deeper Roots

Late-Modern Work on the Concept of Tradition

Conclusion    181

Index    185

Back Cover    190

Preface

Only a tiny percentage of church adherents today understand very much about the substance of their faith. We profess to be spiritual. We say we love God and try our best to love others. But we know precious little about God, the Bible, the beliefs and practices of faraway Christians, or even those held dear by our own denominations. It is hard to love people we do not know well. We would not claim to love close friends we ignore. Christianity is often rife with acrimony and fractiousness. Our professions of love, then, to God and our neighbors have all too often rung hollow.

Doctrine is central to Christian discipleship. In the Greek New Testament, a disciple (μαθητής) is said to be a follower of Jesus who learns what he says and puts it into practice, becoming more like him in the process. Some Christians today are active in discipleship, at least from time to time. They talk about their Christian lives in small-group settings, enabling one another to persevere in faith. But too little of this talk helps them get to know the Lord. Too many Christian leaders think that doctrine, in fact, turns disciples away, suppressing their desire to participate in church. They believe that the faith spreads best when presented as a minimal reliance on Jesus’ death for sin and a grateful, if tranquil, tolerance and kindness. The knowledge and the love of God and neighbor, however, are meant to coincide, informing one another, not competing for attention. And most of what passes for discipleship today leaves its subjects in need of much more solid food (Heb. 5:11–14).1 It impoverishes the church. It stunts the body of Christ. It contributes to the juvenilization of Christian faith and practice.2 It impedes Christian love.

This book is the first of what will be two volumes on the substance of the faith. The project as a whole is designed to help readers come to understand God and his will for their lives, growing to maturity, as Saint Paul urged, to the measure of the full stature of Christ (Eph. 4:13). The future volume will be much longer than this first one. It will narrate the history of the teaching of our churches all around the world, from the late first century to the twenty-first century (a daunting task indeed). This first book, though, has a rather different aim. It will survey a wide range of prefatory issues that accompany the study and application of this history: the role of God’s Spirit in guiding our instruction; the authority of Scripture, creeds and confessions, traditions and instructors approved by the churches in clarifying what the Spirit wants from disciples; recognition of the global composition of the church and the difference this should make in the way we teach the faithful everywhere today; the debates about the nature, purposes, and changes in our doctrine over time; the modern reconception of the notion, value, and force of tradition in contemporary teaching; and the chronic disagreements over whether and how best to use history—tradition—in the making of disciples, forming them in fellowship with all of God’s family. This project takes for granted that doctrine is important, or should be important, to everyday people and highlights the ways in which different kinds of Christians have attended to the task of conveying it to others—in a global, orthodox, and edifying manner.

This book has four main chapters. The first zooms in on the sending of the Spirit and rise of Christian doctrine during early church history, exploring debates among Christians through the ages on the relative authority of Scripture, tradition, and leaders of the churches in handing on the faith. Chapter 2 treats the challenges of writing a global history of Christian faith and practice. It investigates the rise of what we call the global south in modern church history and shows that the Christian church has always been global, or at least international. It anticipates the aim of the longer, future volume to teach Christian faith across both time and space by accounting for the views of believers in the past and our kindred in Christ in other parts of the world as we inculcate the faith in our own backyards. Chapter 3 answers questions about the origins, nature, and purposes of doctrine and engages the history of learned conversation on adjudicating rival doctrinal developments. The fourth and final chapter limns the ways in which teachers employ the tradition in their ministries today, offering advice about using church history in Christian catechesis moving forward.

As I specify below, I define Christian doctrine as a form of church teaching intended for the shaping of daily faith and practice. While I deal at some length in this project with the work of academic theologians, I do so in view of its effect on church teaching (not independent research or academic trends). Doctrine means teaching. It is given by the Lord to assist the people of God. It is inculcated best in communion with the saints—past and present, at home and around the world.

I will major, in what follows, on the authorized teachings of the mainstream churches, paying most attention to the doctrines conveyed across multiple traditions of the worldwide church. I am writing this project for Christians everywhere—Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant, and other—but speaking most directly to Christians who mean it, who find doctrine important and want to get it right, who hold ecumenism, orthodoxy, and real catholicity in high esteem, who desire to mature and help others mature as they hand on the faith. I will not devote as much time to topics stressed in only one of the branches of the global family of God (the priority of Saint John Chrysostom’s liturgy, papal infallibility, glossolalia as evidence of Spirit baptism) as to topics taught by all (the nature of the church, the triunity of God, the way of salvation, the love of God and neighbor in the lives of believers). I will take due pains to describe and interpret the doctrinal divergences between our traditions but will foreground teachings most Christians share in common.

I take this approach because I truly believe, in the words of the creed, that we share one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church. In the mercy of God, all Christians everywhere are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light (1 Pet. 2:9). In the pages that follow, I will highlight our ethnic and doctrinal diversity. But because I believe that real followers of Jesus compose one family, my burden in this project is to narrate the story of the history of doctrine as a tragicomic tale of our reconciled diversity. In the book of Revelation, the kings of the earth are said to bring their glory to the new Jerusalem. People will bring into it the glory and the honour of the nations, we read. This cultural display is not the endgame, however. As the nations assemble around the throne of God, their cultural treasures are presented to the Lord. Then all those written in the Lamb’s book of life are enraptured—together, unselfconsciously, joyfully—in wonder, love, and praise (Rev. 21:24–27). God’s unity prevails.

divider

I refer in this project to churches and Churches, orthodoxy and Orthodoxy, catholics and Catholics. I capitalize words like these only in proper nouns or when quoting from others. Thus churches in this project are groups of believers referred to in general (e.g., the churches of Asia), while Churches are particular, institutional bodies (e.g., the Roman Catholic Church). The orthodox are those who maintain views authorized within their traditions, while the Orthodox are members of Eastern Orthodox churches. Proponents of catholicism are those who prefer a comprehensive, international approach to the faith, while proponents of Catholicism are those who prefer views favored by bodies with Catholic in the name (usually Roman Catholic churches). These usages are common, and nearly unavoidable in books like this. Attention to their details may help some readers.

The global history of doctrine is immense in scale, impossible to trek without help from one’s friends. I am grateful to mine for assistance of various kinds. Carl Beckwith, Gregory Edwards, John Hannah, Gerald Hiestand, Glenn Kreider, Matthew Levering, Scott Manetsch, Ken Minkema, Tom Oey, Craig Ott, David Pao, Tite Tiénou, Kevin Vanhoozer, and Lionel Young lent timely advice. Before COVID-19, Matthew Levering and his colleague Emery de Gaál, and Glenn Kreider and his president Mark M. Yarbrough, invited me for lectures in Mundelein and Dallas that helped me flesh out some material adapted for use in chapter 1.3 Colby Brandt, Samuel Hagos, Bradley Hansen, and Theo Siu worked as research assistants, tracking down sources and engaging me in learned conversation as I wrote. Luke Buttram and Caroline Bass compiled the index. Most importantly of all, David Kirkpatrick, David Kling, David Luy, and Hans Madueme worked through the manuscript, making thoughtful suggestions, pointing out problems, and offering encouragement. My work is much better for their friendship.

I will be forever grateful to my brothers and sisters in the global family of God for the ways in which many of them have shaped my faith and practice, enriching my life. I extend special thanks, though, to Kevin and Sylvie Vanhoozer, the dearest of friends. I dedicate this work to them with love and great joy in the fellowship we share.

1. After much deliberation, I have decided to use the Anglicised Edition of the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) when citing the Bible in English. Its translation committee included scholars from all three branches of the worldwide Christian church (Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant). It has since been approved for use in more denominations than any other English Bible (including thirty-three Protestant churches and the American and Canadian conferences of Catholic bishops). Though a Protestant myself, I employ the Catholic edition of the NRSV where it differs from the Protestant (such as in Esther and Daniel, or when quoting from the Apocrypha, where both Catholics and Orthodox prefer to follow the canon of the Greek Old Testament, known as the Septuagint, rather than the Jewish/Hebrew Bible). If/when citing 1 Esdras, the Prayer of Manasseh, Psalm 151, or 3 Maccabees (deemed canonical by the Greek and Slavonic Orthodox, the latter of whose Bibles also include 2 Esdras), I