Church Doctrine, Volume 1

The present volume is the first in a five-volume study of church doctrine. The multivolume set will cover the major parts of church doctrine: Canon, God, Creation, Reconciliation, and Redemption. This first volume begins with an introduction on why doctrine matters, which stresses the ecumenical, global, and above all biblical horizons of church doctrine as a primary expression of Christian witness. The purpose of this volume is to begin a search for an alternative to the many theologies available on the religious left and the religious right. Where doctrine is absent, the church is held captive to ideology; the same is as true among conservatives as it is among liberals. The present work is an attempt to struggle toward the meaning of orthodoxy in church doctrine--an orthodoxy that is never merely a given, but which always has to be sought and found again and again in each new generation of the church. Church doctrine is not a luxury, but a necessity for the living community of faith, by which its witness in word and deed is tested against the one true measure of Christ the risen Lord. ""Here is a clear, learned, accessible, and profoundly courageous volume that directs the reader to the heart of the faith. In deep conversation with the past and present, McGlasson has his eye on the future and offers here the necessary provisions for the church to move forward in faithfulness and good cheer."" --Thomas W. Currie, Union Presbyterian Seminary ""In a wonderfully lucid way, Paul McGlasson makes a convincing case for the vital importance of Christian doctrine. While he listens carefully to the tradition, McGlasson also takes care to speak to pastors and teachers in today's church. He notes the follies and inconsistencies of voices on the left and right and instead charts a creative and independent path that seeks genuine renewal of faith and life."" --Mark Tranvik, Augsburg Center for Faith and Living ""Church Doctrine promises to be a major contribution to theological synthesis for our day. His opening volume on canon is a unique and wonderful down payment that examines the way Scripture and its proclamation frame the entire context of our theology and life in Christ. McGlasson writes concretely, pertinently, and practically, applying his vast learning judiciously and with a perfect pitch. Catholic in scope, robustly Protestant in sensibility, this is a gift to the whole church."" --Ephraim Radner, Wycliffe College, University of Toronto ""For over a thousand years the dogmatic task--the believing mind's quest to understand how the Christian faith hangs together in all of its complexity--has been the summit of the Christian intellectual life. Few now attempt it, but Paul McGlasson offers here the first volume of a full dogmatics, clearly Reformed in outlook, yet informed by the faith of the wider church. May his effort rouse other Christians to join him in the task."" --Bruce D. Marshall, Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University Paul McGlasson is pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Sullivan, Indiana. He received his MDiv from Yale Divinity School and his PhD from Yale University in systematic theology. He is the author of several books, including God the Redeemer, Canon and Proclamation, and Invitation to Dogmatic Theology. Before entering the parish ministry, McGlasson taught theology for several years in college and seminary.