Christian doctrine is unique in that it is an intellectual response to the historical activity and revelatory disclosure of God. Doctrine is rational reflection upon God’s saving activity in Jesus Christ. Foundational to the idea of “doctrine” is the fact that we need to be told what God is like. It is not ours to determine what kind of God we will believe and obey. It is God’s to determine to show Himself to us. Doctrine is our effort to articulate what He has made known. Doctrine is the divinely authorized attempt to describe God in accordance with how He has revealed Himself in creation, in history, in Jesus Christ and in the Scriptures. In doing so, doctrine also serves to expose false interpretations of reality, false concepts of God. It is the aim of doctrine to make sense of the individual’s and the church’s experience of God as He has made Himself known in Jesus Christ.
Alister McGrath, Understanding Doctrine: Its Relevance and Purpose for Today
Related Doctrinal Resources
- Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine by Wayne Grudem
- Doctrine: What Christians Should Believe by Mark Driscoll
- Bible Doctrine: Essential Teachings of the Christian Faith by Wayne Grudem
- Great Doctrines of the Bible: God the Father, God the Son; God the Holy Spirit; The Church and the Last Things by Martyn Lloyd-Jones
- Doctrine of God by John Frame
- Doctrine of the Knowledge of God by John Frame
- The Doctrine of the Christian Life by John Frame
- The Doctrine of the Word of God by John Frame
