Readings on the Nature of Doctrine

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Ever wondered what a doctrine is? The term’s definition is fairly straightforward. A doctrine is a teaching. As fair as this answer is, however, for the pedagogically minded among us, it really only invites further inquiry. For instance, if doctrines are teachings, how are they meant? What sense do they make? Let’s run through some options. Are doctrines statements of facts? Are they expressions of experiences? Are they rules of identity formation? Can they be a combination of these options? Might they be something else entirely? How do these matters bring to view what authority doctrines exercise relative to other theological norms? If questions like these are of interest to you, consider consulting some of the following works. They can introduce you to a live conversation in theology that’s got some far-reaching implications.

(listed chronologically – since the Yale School)

  • Paul L. Holmer, (1978) The Grammar of Faith.
  • George Lindbeck, (1984) The Nature of Doctrine: Religion and Theology in a Postliberal Age.
  • William Christian, (1988) Doctrines of Religious Communities.
  • Eds. Phillips and Okholm, (1996) The Nature of Confession: Evangelicals & Postliberals in Conversation
  • Kathryn Tanner, (1997) Theories of Culture: A New Agenda for Theology.
  • Ellen Charry, (1999) By the Renewing of Your Minds: The Pastoral Function of Christian Doctrine.
  • Reinhard Hutter, (1999) Suffering Divine Things: Theology as Church Practice.
  • Alister McGrath, (2003) Scientific Theology. Vol. 3, Theory.
  • Kevin Vanhoozer, (2005) The Drama of Doctrine: A Canonical Linguistic Approach to Christian Doctrine.
  • Daniel Treier, (2006) Virtue and the Voice of God: Toward Theology as Wisdom
  • Medi Ann Volpe, (2013) Rethinking Christian Identity: Doctrine and Discipleship.
  • Christine Helmer, (2014) The End of Christian Doctrine.
  • Kevin Vanhoozer, (2014) Faith Speaking Understanding: Performing the Drama of Doctrine.
  • Rhyme Putman, (2015) In Defense of Doctrine: Evangelicalism, Theology, and Scripture 
  • Eds. Crisp and Sanders, (2017) The Task of Dogmatics

Brian McLaren on parables

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Brian D. McLaren on Parables Why did Jesus speak in parables? Why was he subtle, indirect, and secretive? Because his message wasn’t merely aimed at conveying information. It sought to precipitate something more important: the spiritual transformation of the hearers. The form of a parable helps to shape a heart that is willing to enter […]

Wayne Booth on a complicated pronoun

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Wayne Booth on appealing to the authority of “WE” CON: Against the use of “WE” Something is wrong in these confident “we’s,” something worse than a mere stylistic tic. I am shocked at the confidence my younger self sometimes shows in reporting how “we” respond. Who are we, here? “We” flesh-and-blood readers are unpredictable, and […]

On The Meaning of Life and Narrative Identity Theory

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I won’t pretend this list is anywhere near approaching exhaustive, but for those with any interest in the philosophical study of the meaning of life (and narrative identity theory, a closely related pocket of inquiry, I’d submit), these readings can give you a decent introduction to the various questions, positions, and arguments in play, and what’s more valuable, the orientation you’d need to pursue this topic further yourself.

Anthologies

Monographs

  • Julian Baggini, What’s it all about? Philosophy and the Meaning of Life (Oxford UnivPr, 2007).
  • John Cottingham, On the Meaning of Life (Routledge, 2002).
  • John J. Davenport, Narrative Identity, Autonomy, and Mortality: From Frankfurt and MacIntyre to Kierkegaard (Routledge, 2012).
  • Terry Eagleton, The Meaning of Life: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford UnivPr, 2008).
  • Paul John Eakin, How our Lives Become Stories: Making Selves (Cornell UnivPr, 1999).
  • Peter Goldie, The Mess Inside: Narrative, Emotion and the Mind (Oxford UnivPr, 2012).
  • Garry L. Hagberg, Describing Ourselves: Wittgenstein and Autobiographical Consciousness (Oxford UnivPr, 2008).
  • Alan Jacobs, Looking Before and After: Testimony and the Christian Life (Eerdmans, 2008).
  • Dan MacAdams, The Stories We Live By (Guilford, 1997).
  • Todd May, A Significant Life: Human Meaning in a Silent Universe (UChicago Pr, 2015).
  • Thaddeus Metz, Meaning in Life (Oxford UnivPr, 2014).
  • Anthony Rudd, Self, Value, and Narrative: A Kierkegaardian Approach (Oxford UnivPr, 2012).
  • Marya Schechtman, The Constitution of Selves (Cornell UnivPr, 1996).
  • Susan Wolf, Meaning in Life and Why it Matters (Princeton UnivPr, 2010).

Chapters and Articles

  •  J. Bruner. “Life as Narrative.” Social Research 54/1 (1987): 11-32.
  • Daniel Dennett. “Why Everyone is a Novelist.” Times Literary Supplement (Sept 1988): 16-22.
  • A. C. Grayling. “The Meaning of Life.” In Thinking of Answers: Questions in the Philosophy of Everyday Life (Walker&Company, 2010), 325-328.
  • Gilbert Meilaender. “A Complete Life.” First Things (Jan 2012)
  • Stephen Mulhall. “Theology and Narrative: the Self, the Novel, the Bible.” International Journal for Philosophy of Religion 69/1 (2011): 29-43.
  • Thomas Nagel. “The Meaning of Life.” In What Does it all Mean? A Very Short Introduction to Philosophy (Oxford UnivPr, 1987), ch. 10.
  • Robert Nozick. “Philosophy and the Meaning of Life.” In Philosophical Explanations (Belknap, 1983): 571-650.
  • Marya Schechtman. “The Narrative Self.” The Oxford Handbook of the Self (Oxford UnivPr, 2011), ch. 17.
  • Galen Strawson. “Against Narrativity.” Ratio 17/4 (2004): 428-52.
  • J. David Velleman. “The Self as Narrator.” In Self to Self: Selected Essays (Cambridge UnivPr, 2006), ch. 9.
  • Bernard Williams. “Life as Narrative.” European Journal of Philosophy 17/2 (2007): 305-314.