Recherche – Detailansicht
Ausgabe: | Mai/2021 |
Spalte: | 463–464 |
Kategorie: | Systematische Theologie: Dogmatik |
Autor/Hrsg.: | Thompson, Geoff |
Titel/Untertitel: | Christian Doctrine. A Guide for the Per-plexed. |
Verlag: | London u. a.: Bloomsbury T & T Clark 2020. 188 S. = Guides for the Perplexed. Kart. US$ £ 19,99. ISBN 9780567673336. |
Rezensent: | Risto Saarinen |
Geoff Thompson teaches systematic theology at Pilgrim Theological College in Melbourne, Australia. His book is published in Bloomsbury Guides for the Perplexed, a series of basic textbooks targeted for undergraduates. The most extensive chapter 2 (27–81) deals with Origen, Augustine, Peter Lombard, Thomas Aquinas, Catherine of Siena, John Calvin, Friedrich Schleiermacher, Karl Barth, Karl Rahner, and Sarah Coakley. Other chapters treat the origin, forms, and functions of Christian doctrine, its relationship to Bible and truth, as well as the renewal of doctrine and its social imaginary. The entire textbook consists of 150 pages, not counting the notes and bibliography. Therefore, each topic is discussed very briefly and Greek, Latin, and German linguistic background is for the most part avoided. As the book is addressed to undergraduate students, a European reader would expect more encouragement towards learning the technical vocabulary of systematic theology.
Th. gives a working definition of his theme right at the beginning (1) as follows: »Christian doctrine is communally recognized and authoritative teaching of the Christian community about Christianity’s beliefs and practices.« This definition is employed and refined in the chapters. One challenge of this definition lies in the significant role attached to the Christian community. The book presents a variety of authors from different periods and different churches, representing very different communal backgrounds. As the book does not describe the doctrinal basis of different churches in different periods of their history, the communal dimension of the presented theologians remains undiscussed. In addition, the above-mentioned teachers often present their own and innovative visions rather than communally recognized teaching. For these reasons, the working definition may not be always adequate for the material treated.
In addition to historical theologians, Th. presents some contemporary reflection on the nature of doctrine. He mentions the historical reflections of Alister McGrath and Rowan Williams. He also discusses the theories of George Lindbeck, Kevin Vanhoozer and Christine Helmer in a more detailed fashion. Some attention is paid to contextual, social-political and non-Western thinking about doctrine. While the issues presented are fairly complex, Th. manages to outline them in a clear and pedagogical fashion.
At the same time, the reader is left with the impression that doctrinal thinking is mainly performed by individual authors. The role of ecclesial magisterium is not elaborated, and the synodal, conciliar and ecumenical processes of doctrinal decision-making do not receive proper treatment. As Th. highlights the communal recog-nition in his concept of doctrine, he should in any case describe the role of these elementary communal instances in the emergence of Christian doctrine.
As a historical concept, doctrine has many dimensions which cannot all be subsumed under the rubric of »teaching«. (see. e.g. Vera doctrina, ed. P. Buttgen et al., 2009). While Th. treats different authors from different periods, he does not pay attention to the actual intellectual history of the concept. This may be understand-able in an undergraduate textbook, but sometimes it just leads to platitudes. For instance, Thompson notes that Augustine’s links »between doctrine, practice, and prayer« give »his writings a certain contemporary ring« (36).
While the book is not suitable for those undergraduate students who want to achieve a deeper conceptual understanding of theol-ogical matters, Th.’s lucid style may be informative for interested laypeople who do not want to learn classical vocabulary. Also in such use, the textbook would need to be complemented with some information about the basic structures of ecclesial decision-mak-ing in doctrinal matters.