Doctrine: What Christians Should Believe (RE: Lit) [Hardcover]

Mark Driscoll (Author), Gerry Breshears (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 18, 2010 | Series: RE: Lit: Vintage Jesus

Doctrine is the word Christians use to define the truth-claims revealed in Holy Scripture. Of course there is a multitude of churches, church networks, and denominations, each with their own doctrinal statement with many points of disagreement. But while Christians disagree on a number of doctrines, there are key elements that cannot be denied by anyone claiming to be a follower of Jesus.

In Doctrine: What Christians Should Believe, Driscoll and Breshears teach thirteen of these key elements. This meaty yet readable overview of basic doctrine will help Christians clarify and articulate their beliefs in accordance with the Bible.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

From the authors of Vintage Jesus comes a tome elaborating the 13 teachings they say every Christian should believe. Driscoll, a controversial pastor for his often brash teaching, and Breshears, professor of theology at Western Seminary, combine for this book that describes the heart of Christian truth claims or doctrines. The pair attempt—and accomplish—vigorous interaction with biblical texts, systematic doctrine, culture, and flawed thinking; they directly address the reader, urging repentance and faith. Drawing on orthodox Reformed and Protestant theology, the book moves from God, stays on God, and ends with God. The book is organized around the actions of God: God is, speaks, makes, loves, judges, pursues, comes, dies, saves, sends, transforms, gives, reigns. The book could be used in universities, churches, or seminaries for systematic teaching of this particular strain of Christianity; it makes the most plainspoken and comprehensive case for the new Reformed Protestant Christianity today. (Mar. 31)
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Review

"Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears have written a remarkably insightful treatment of central biblical teachings, with a few surprising but welcome choices. Doctrine is meaty, well-researched, clearly written, interesting, and refreshing—a rare combination. Those who know that truth matters will relish this book. If you don't know that truth matters you should read it anyway, and enjoy watching your mind and heart change."
—Randy Alcorn, Author of Heaven, Safely Home, and Deception

"Christianity is ineradicably doctrinal, and, contrary to popular instincts, doctrine unites, as Paul makes clear in Romans 16:17. The question for church leaders, therefore, is how to communicate Christian doctrine in a clear, faithful, and winsome way. It is therefore a pleasure to commend this book, an excellent primer in basic Christian teaching. It will serve as an introduction for new Christians, a refresher for church members, and a good text for Sunday school classes. Highly recommended."
—Carl R. Trueman, Academic Dean and Vice President, Westminster Theological Seminary

"Sadly, many Christians think that doctrine is terminally boring and inherently divisive. Driscoll and Breshears blow that stereotype out of the water as they tackle thirteen core doctrines with uncommon grace and penetrating clarity. This addition to my personal library will undoubtedly become well-worn."
—Larry Osborne, Pastor and Author, North Coast Church, Vista, CA

"This valuable resource will help Christians clearly understand and articulate their beliefs while igniting a deeper love and passion for Christ."
—Craig Groeschel, Founding Pastor of LifeChurch.tv and author of <cite>Confessions of a Pastor</cite>

"We used the unpublished manuscript of Doctrine as a textbook at ChangePoint. In short, the students loved it! They found it easy to read and very practical. Most are looking forward to buying a copy for their personal libraries. Our church has already benefited from Mark and Gerry's latest effort. Buy the book! Use it with your leaders and watch a deeper understanding of doctrine change their lives."
—Dan H. Jarrell, Teaching Pastor, ChangePoint Church, Anchorage, Alaska

"God is raising up a new generation of Christ-followers who long to know him and his missional ways in a theologically-robust manner. This latest book by Driscoll and Breshears is certain to play a major role in forming such doctrinally-sound Christians. Besides covering all the major theological topics, they address deep doctrinal issues in a clear and understandable way. And, as in all their books, they help us grasp what difference these doctrines can and should make in our lives and churches."
—Gregg R. Allison, Associate Professor of Christian Theology, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

"I like Doctrine very much. It is a relatively short, clear, and accurate topical summary of biblical teachings, focused on the practical application of doctrine. There is much here to aid readers who have thought in the past that theology was too complicated, uninteresting, or irrelevant. This book is none of those things. It takes off on wings of eagles. It is so important today that believers understand and become committed to all that God's Word says. This book is a wonderful tool to help them do that."
—John M. Frame, Professor of Systematic Theology and Philosophy, Reformed Theological Seminary, Orlando

"Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears have accomplished the unusual: they have written a book on doctrine that is both interesting and subs --Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 464 pages
• Publisher: Crossway Books; First Edition edition (March 18, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1433506254
• ISBN-13: 978-1433506253
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.7 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (69 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #58,451 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding Book On God's Story And Our Lives April 12, 2010

By ryan

Format:Hardcover

Doctrine is in my opinion an essential book that every Christian and Pastor should make sure to have on their library. It is excellently written and thoroughly enjoyable to read. The authors nailed their goal of writing a book that is both helpful for the pastor but engaging for the layman. This book will be a great blessing to the church as it will be one that could serve for discussion groups or classes.

The book is laid out to follow along the meta-narrative for God and the story of the Bible. To highlight just a few chapters I would say the chapters on creation, Trinity, and the death of Jesus are worth the price of the book alone.

So why with all the warm word would I give this book only four stars? Good question. As I mentioned the greatest strength of this book is how broad its appeal and function will be. At the same time this forced the book (seemingly) to limit itself in a critical area of theology; the doctrine of Salvation. It was shocking for me to read through such a wonderful book on theology by a theologically solid pastor like Mark Driscoll and find no chapter on salvation. This is understandable if the book is striving to reach the entire range of evangelicals. The doctrine of salvation is historically and usually the most controversial chapter and topic any theologian writes on, and sadly, often serves as a litmus test by many pastors and readers. I am left to conclude either they forgot this (which is highly unlikely given the credentials of the authors and that I have heard Driscoll preach on it countless times). Or that they left it out in the ambition of giving the book a wider audience....

Though I am sure some could point to the chapter of worship and highlight that it does talk about regeneration, this is far from an adequate treatment on the doctrine of salvation. I had such high hopes for this book and the uses it could have in the church where I pastor. Now I am left though wanting the second edition of the book to come out so they can fix this glaring omission! Or...maybe just put this chapter on the book website for those who would not want it left out. Read more ›

131 of 157 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Often Solid, But Be Careful May 15, 2010

By Travis Peterson

Format:Hardcover

Theology matters, and greatly so. Churches that have lost their hold on the truths of the faith are destined to drift into destructive errors or to simply become social clubs with a religious overtone. This is why books like Mark Driscoll's Doctrine are so important.

What I Liked

Perhaps the best thing about Doctrine is that Driscoll took the time to write it. It is good for churches to see their leadership caring about the teaching of the Scripture in more than a simplistic or superstitious sense. Driscoll does his best to address important issues of the faith in a serious way--his trademark sarcasm is simply not present in this work.

Many of the chapters of this book are worthy of applause. Driscoll handles some heavy topics such as the trinity (chapter 1), the cross and atonement (chapter 8), and the church (chapter 11) with a great deal of insight. In most of these chapters, Driscoll addresses the issues with a nice balance of complexity on the one hand and explanation, simplicity, and application on the other.

What I Did Not Like

There are a few places where discerning Christians will have some questions for Driscoll as they work their way through Doctrine. In some of these cases, the issues may be quite secondary. In others, however, it appears that Driscoll makes some fairly dangerous statements.

The most serious error in this book comes early, in the chapter on divine Revelation (chapter 2). In explaining that general revelation will not bring a person enough knowledge of God to save their souls, Driscoll asserts that in countries closed to missionaries, God might send dreams, visions, or even angels to the lost to bring them the good news of Jesus Christ.... Though I have no doubt that such stories have indeed been told, and perhaps by those whom Driscoll trusts, this is a direct contradiction of Romans 10:13-ff. In that passage of perfectly-inspired holy Scripture, God tells us that people will not be saved without a preacher, and the clear understanding of that passage is that the preacher will be one of God's children, a human preacher or missionary, not an angelic messenger. Besides coming from outside of the Scripture, this issue matters, because if Christians believe that God might save others without human contact through personal communication or written word (including the Bible), this will do harm to the missionary Endeavour.

There are at least two other areas where I found myself concerned about the content of this work. I found myself uncomfortable with Driscoll's openness to an old-earth creation story in chapter 3. I believe in a literal six day creation, and while I will not make this a first-level issue, I fear that old earth theories play fast and loose with the interpretation of Scripture. Also, again in chapter 2, Driscoll leans in a more charismatic understanding of revelation than I am comfortable with. I believe that a closed cannon of Scripture does not leave the door open to divine revelation in the form of predictive prophecy; Driscoll disagrees.

Conclusion and Recommendation

Overall, I am grateful to Mark Driscoll for the work that he has done in writing this very accessible systematic theology. Works like this need to be written, and well-known figures in evangelicalism need to show that such things are important. There are certainly areas where I could caution readers to read with discernment and even to reject Driscoll's conclusions, but such areas are not enough to make me recommend not reading the book as a whole. I have no doubt that my own point-of-view still needs much work before I understand all of what God wants me to grasp doctrinally, and thus I have much grace for a brother in Christ who is doing the work in a far more expansive way than I. So, my recommendation: Read Doctrine, but read it carefully--as you should any book you pick up or download.

Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears. Doctrine: What Christians Should Believe. Wheaton: Crossway, 2010. 464 pp.

[For this review, I read the excellent audio book from [...] Read more ›

41 of 49 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential Doctrine for Christians April 8, 2010

By Mike Robinson

Format:Hardcover

Christians are called to know, appreciate, and dispense the crucial doctrines of the biblical faith. Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears have stepped up and endowed the church with a modern and simple presentation of the most important doctrinal teachings of the Christian religion. The authors previously published the "Vintage Jesus" and in this new volume they help make theology appealing in their straightforward writing style.

Pastor Driscoll (Mars Hill) and Breshears (professor of theology Western Seminary) combine to bestow this volume to Christians whereby this very readable book instructs the reader in the most basic truths of Christianity. Yes this is not Berkoff, Grudem, or Reymond, but the authors approach theology from a Reformed position as they present doctrines concerning:

- Who God is
- How God speaks
- How God loves
- How God saves
- And much more

I came to this book because of the strong endorsement from John Frame and this work is excellent for the new believer, teens, busy housewives, and others who want to learn the basic doctrines of the Christian faith in a non-technical manner. Effective, exceptional, simple, educational, and edifying.
Truth, Knowledge and the Reason for God: The Defense of the Rational Assurance of Christianity
or
"God Does Exist!: Defending the Faith using Presuppositional apologetics, Evidence, and the Impossibility of the Contrary"

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Helpful Book April 26, 2010

By Jonathan

Format:Hardcover

Recently I received a copy of Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears' book titled "Doctrine: What Christians Should Believe". My first impression of this book was very positive. I opened the table of contents and discovered that the first doctrine they included was the Triune God. I found this refreshing. Many books or religious movements list the Bible as their first belief. Many times listing the Bible first does not change someone's view of God or their view of the Bible, but by listing God first we are reminded that the Bible is God's Word and there is much more to God than what God chose to provide for us in the Bible.

Sometimes when I pick up a book and look at the table of contents I get excited by the topics that are included, but I am only let down as I work my way through how those topics are presented. Such is not the case with this book. While I do not agree with everything that Driscoll and Breshears set forth I have found this book very helpful in my continuing journey to learn more about God. The sections that I agreed with were helpful to see how someone else related a shared belief. On the other hand, the sections that I disagreed with were helpful as well. They were helpful because they forced me to critically look at what I believe and evaluate why I believe what I believe. It some cases their very well informed and well researched claims have broadened my understanding on those issues, but other issues I am still grappling with. While I will never agree on everything that they posit in this book they have succeeded in educating and challenging me.

Driscoll and Brashears have a very reader friendly writing style and an easy to follow outline. This is book is a great read and well worth taking the time to work through it.