One of my favorite authors is Thomas Oden. While we may disagree in some points of doctrine, Oden has been a loud voice for orthodoxy. A radical liberal theologian, he was converted when a Jewish colleague told him he needed to master the greats of his own tradition. The fruit was true faith and a turning from all that is novel.
In a number of Oden's books he tells us outright that he hopes he will write nothing original. That takes us all by surprise. He sees truth as revealed by God, a given, to be passed on from generation to generation. Novelty, in the world of doctrine, is a bad thing.
All attempts at novelty are driven by pride (perhaps no one has thought of this before), unbelief in the power of God (if can just just rethink the Gospel, it will be appealing to modern people), and ignorance (after three years as Christian, I have found a new idea).
I recently spent a weekend listening to expositions of Isaiah -- statements about received doctrine --the merciful holiness of God, the sovereign rule of God, the covenant love of God. There was nothing original at all. Yet in conversations afterwards, I discovered that it was the power of long held truth restated that shaped people's hearts, changed their interpretation of events, corrected their unbelief, assured them of grace, and drew them to worship.
I am grateful to be in a place where novelty in doctrine is not embraced, where people can feed on truth, and not seek the stimulus of novelty. That all begins with the Gospel.
Recent Comments