Practicing Christian Doctrine: An Introduction to Thinking and Living Theologically

by Beth Felker Jones

Questions to Ask While Reading Theology What are the key Christian teachings being articulated? What is the author’s driving concern or main theme? What counts for the author as authoritative (Scripture, tradition, reason, experience . . .)? Is the author’s theological method implicit or explicit? How does the author deal with the witness of Scripture? Implicitly? Explicitly? Does the witness of the Old Testament matter? How about the witness of the New Testament? What biblical themes are privileged? What interpretative principles are at work? How do the claims being made in this piece relate to other doctrines? How does context (including gender, race, class, culture, and time) shape the theological voice? Is the theologian conscious of this? How does my own context shape my evaluation of the piece? What is the most charitable interpretation one could give of this piece, assuming that it reflects an attempt to be faithful to Jesus Christ? How do these theological claims relate to the life of faith? What questions come to mind as I consider the claims of this piece in relation to my experience? If this theological proposal were taken seriously, how would it shape Christian practice? Would it affect our participation in spiritual disciplines? Our understanding of faithful living? Our practice of evangelism? Our life as the church?